ETSU looks to keep momentum against The Citadel

East Tennessee State and The Citadel come into their Southern Conference game Friday 7 p.m. in much different positions than the first time they played in late December. The Bucs were reeling with a three-game losing streak and the Bulldogs had lost seven of their previous eight games. Fast forward a month later, the Bucs are 14-6 overall and leading the Southern Conference at 6-1 after a 67-66 road win Wednesday at Chattanooga. It's also different for the Bulldogs who pulled off a 77-75 upset of Furman on Wednesday night. In fact, three of the last four Citadel games have gone to overtime. While the Bulldogs (6-14, 3-4) are underdogs Friday night, it's expected to be a much tougher game than the Bucs' 74-49 rout in Charleston. Blake Barkley, who has scored the winning points in each of the Bucs' last two victories, led ETSU that first game with 17 points. Brian Taylor II, the team's leading scorer at 14.5 points per game, had 13 in the win a month ago. Jordan McCullum also netted 13 and Jaylen Smith had 10 in a balanced effort. Taylor continues to play at an extremely high level as his drive opened up Barkley for a chance to be fouled and score the two free throws against Chattanooga. Cam Morris III had 21 points and 11 rebounds and moved to second on the team at 14.4 points per game. Barkley, who finished with 10 points, now has a 14.2 per game average. While ETSU coach Brooks Savage places so much emphasis on defense and rightfully so with Gabe Sisk poking the ball away to clinch the Chattanooga game. The Bucs are also getting it done on the offensive end, averaging 77.5 points per game. The defensive numbers have been impressive with the Bucs' opponents turning the ball over 14 times per game, 6.6 of those on steals. ETSU is converting those to 17.9 points per game off turnovers. ETSU's biggest improvements from the previous season have been more balance overall, not dependent on a couple of players for the majority of the offense, and consistently going 8-9 players deep. ABOUT THE BULLDOGS The Citadel had an early 14-12 lead over ETSU in the first contest, but the Bucs went on a 26-6 run and never looked back. They led 40-23 at the half, and maintained a large lead throughout the second half, going up by 30 on an Isaiah Sutherland layup. Christian Moore was the only player to reach double figures against ETSU with 10 points. The Bucs held the Bulldogs' leading scorer Braxton Williams to just seven points. Williams has started only 11 of The Citadel's 20 games, but still leads the team with 26.7 minutes per game and 13.6 points per game. Moore, who like Williams is a powerfully built 6-6 forward, is the only other Bulldog player in double figures with 11 points. The Citadel got it going offensively in the second half against Furman by scoring 39 points. Sola Adelbisi went 9-for-10 from the field for the game and finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. He ranks fourth on the team in scoring as his 8.4 points per game is right behind 6-5 senior guard Carter Kingsbury at 8.6 per game. Kingsbury was the star of Citadel's win over Western Carolina when he also scored 22 points. Logan Applegate, who didn't score in 10 minutes of action against ETSU, has produced lately for the Bulldogs. Since that scoreless effort, he's been in double figures in three of the last six games. Eze Wali, a 6-1 sophomore, leads the team with 19 starts. He's much like ETSU's Allen Strothers, not much of a scorer, but a good distributor of the basketball with a team-high 43 assists. ETSU has won the last seven meetings between the programs and hold a 54-20 all-time series advantage. The Bucs have been particularly tough inside Freedom Hall with a 10-1 home record.