Up-and-down Terriers eye strong run

Wofford coach Mike Young has seen firsthand what the Terriers are capable of achieving when they put their minds to it.

Back in December, Wofford — the fourth-smallest school in NCAA Division I with an enrollment of just over 1,300 students — traveled to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on Big Ten Conference power Purdue.

Listed as an 18-point underdog, the Terriers were given little chance to upset the Boilermakers. But behind a strong effort from senior guards Drew Gibson and Shane Nichols, the Terriers left a stunned crowd at Mackey Arena with a 69-66 victory. It was the first time in school history that the Boilermakers had lost to a Southern Conference team.

"It was a great win, a magical game for the players and the program," Young said. "And it's not like Purdue didn't play well and we played out of our minds. We played well; Purdue played well. We just made a couple of plays down the stretch, and that turned out to be enough to beat them that particular game.

"I don't think anyone knew back then just how good Purdue was going to be this season. They have been nationally ranked for most of the season and have been in contention for the Big Ten regular-season title."

The Terriers have had plenty of highlights this season besides the win over Purdue. From mid-January to early-February, the Terriers were the hottest team in the SoCon, recording six wins in seven league games. But a six-game losing streak in February has left Young scratching his head wondering what went wrong down the stretch this season.

"We've had some great moments this season, but certainly consistency has not been our forte," Young said. "It's tough for any team to maintain a high level of consistency over a 20-game conference schedule. We've had some great wins. Beat Georgia Southern. Beat College of Charleston. We won six of seven conference games. Even in some of the games we've lost, we've probably played well enough to win. A missed blockout here, a turnover at a critical time there and you find yourself on the short end of the score.

"If you don't bring your 'A' game every night in this league it's going to be a struggle, and we've had games where we've been very good and games where we haven't been at our best. But that's life in the Southern Conference."

One constant for the Terriers this season has been the play of Gibson and Nichols. Aside from Davidson's Stephen Curry and Jason Richards, Gibson and Nichols might be the most talented backcourt in the SoCon.

"Those two guys have been the heart and soul of what we've done here for the last four years," Young said. "Not only are they great basketball players, but they are as fine a people as you're going to come across. They've meant the world to me. Their leadership and approach to the game each season has just been exemplary. They've been great players for us."

If Wofford has been vulnerable anywhere on the court it has been in the post, where the Terriers start two freshmen: Terry Martin and Noah Dahlman. With the departure of Tyler Whatley, the Terriers will have to lean heavily on Martin and Dahlman during the SoCon Tournament.

"We play four freshmen in the frontcourt," Young said. "We're 30 games into the season, so they really are not freshmen anymore. Noah has been our most consistent performer the last three weeks. I fully expect him to be on the (SoCon) all-freshman team. The problem has been getting them all dialed in at the same time.

"If it's a weakness, it's because they don't have the experience that other teams have up front. If we're going to win down in Charleston, we're going to have to have those young guys to step up for us."

With Nichols and Gibson on the floor, Young thinks the Terriers have a legitimate chance to win this week's tournament.

"It all comes down to those four days in Charleston," Young said. "I don't feel like we've played a great game yet this season, and I think we're still capable of doing that. There's still a lot to play for. We can still achieve some of the goals we set at the beginning of the season, and now it's just a matter of playing our best basketball over a four-day period.

"Day in and day out, this bunch has played incredibly hard. This group wants badly to do special things, and that's been our complete focus for the last half of the season."