Bob Jones vs Furman prediction: Preseason SoCon favorite Furman tests its new pieces against crosstown Bob Jones
A Greenville matchup against an NCCAA opponent is less about the result than about how Bob Richey's reshaped Paladins choose to score.
- Furman should control this from the opening tip. The real interest is in rotations, newcomers and shot selection, not the final margin.
- Watch Furman's perimeter shooting. Last season the Paladins launched threes at the 31st-highest rate but made just 32.8%.
- No spread or total has been posted. Furman's deliberate pace last season, 240th of 365, is the best guide to the game's shape.
A crosstown tune-up
Furman enters its 10th season under Bob Richey as the team to beat. SoCon voters picked the Paladins first, and forwards Charles Johnston and Marcus Kell made the preseason All-SoCon team. That follows a 22-13 season that ended with a SoCon tournament title and an 82-71 NCAA Tournament loss to UConn.
Bob Jones crosses town from a different level of the sport. The Bruins play in the NCCAA's Division II, where they have won three straight region championships and were a #7 seed at the 2026 national tournament. It's unclear whether this game counts as an exhibition. Furman lists it on its regular schedule, but Bob Jones called last season's Furman game an exhibition. One past meeting shows how lopsided this series can get: Alex Williams scored 31 as Furman won 100-58.
What Furman's offense looked like
Last season's Paladins built their offense on an unusual split. Furman made 60.6% of its two-pointers, seventh-best in Division I, and that drove an effective field goal percentage (threes count 1.5 times) of 55.2%, which ranked 39th. Yet it took a large share of its shots from three and made them at a below-average rate.
A game like this one offers a low-stakes look at whether Furman keeps that heavy diet of threes or leans harder on the interior. The defense is the other thing to watch. Last season Furman forced turnovers at the 337th-ranked rate of 365, so a mismatch is a chance to see whether it pressures the ball more.
New faces in the rotation
Luka Toews arrives as a transfer, and Nikos Koulisianis joined the roster over the summer. Neither has a track record in our data, so minutes here will say more than any preseason projection.
The early returns are mixed. Furman gave up 111 points in an Oct. 8 exhibition loss at Alabama, a 111-93 result in which six Crimson Tide players reached double figures. An exhibition against Georgia Southern on Oct. 18 comes before this game. Bob Jones added eight recruits, but little else is known about its roster, and its coaching situation for this season hasn't been confirmed.
Numbers that matter
| Two-point percentage, last season | 60.6% | Seventh in Division I, this was the engine of Furman's efficient offense. |
|---|---|---|
| 3-point percentage, last season | 32.8% | Ranked 254th even though Furman's attempt rate was among the highest in the country. |
| Pace rank, last season | 240th | Furman played slower than most teams, which caps how many possessions a mismatch produces. |
| Forced turnover rate, last season | 14.3% | Ranked 337th, so Furman rarely won games by taking the ball away. |
Bob Jones vs Furman: quick answers
When is Bob Jones vs Furman?
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 at 12:00 AM ET.