Drew Pember will look familiar to Presbyterian College’s returning players when he trots onto the Templeton Center court on Saturday for the 2 p.m. game between the Blue Hose and Pember’s UNC Asheville Bulldogs.

The last time they saw him, Pember dropped 48 points on the Blue Hose in Asheville. UNC Asheville won that game, 88-80, in overtime, on Jan. 25, 2023. PC didn’t win again until its upset of Vanderbilt to open the current season.

Pember, in his third season at UNCA after transferring from Tennessee, is hard to miss. He’s 6-11, 215, and last season he averaged 21.0 points and 9.2 rebounds. Naturally, he was the Big South Player of the Year. The Bulldogs went 27-7 and lost to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

So far this season, Pember is a bit off – 18.9 points, 7.1 rebounds – and so are the Bulldogs. Both UNCA and PC enter the game 9-7, 1-0 in the Big South. In Wednesday openers, the Bulldogs plastered USC Upstate, 95-67, while the Blue Hose were winning at Charleston Southern, 68-61.

Two more UNCA players – Josh Banks (13.1) and Fletcher Abee (11.8) – score in double figures.

Make no mistake. A PC victory would be considered a major upset, but a lot has changed in a year. Presbyterian head coach Quinton Ferrell has invigorated and replenished his team. This season’s Blue Hose are a paragon of balance.

Six players average between 6.9 (Kory Mincy) and 13.3 (Marquis Barnett) points. In between are Kaleb Scott (7.6), Jamahri Harvey (8.9), Jonah Pierce (9.3) and Samage Teel (11.8). Five of the six are newcomers.

Five Blue Hose average between 4.4 and 5.5 rebounds, led by Pierce.

The pattern of the Big South scheduling format pits the same men’s and women’s teams against each other on the same date, one at home and the other away. Hence, the Blue Hose are playing the UNCA women in Asheville on Saturday, also at 2 p.m.

Presbyterian (9-7, 0-1) fell at home to Charleston Southern (61-57) while the men were defeating the Buccaneers in North Charleston on Wednesday. At the same time, USC Upstate was thumping UNCA (6-8, 0-1) by a score of 71-44.

Tilda Sjokvist, sophomore from Huskvarna, Sweden, almost brought the Blue Hose back from a 15-point deficit (after three quarters) by scoring 14 of her 26 points in the fourth quarter against Charleston Southern.

Bryanna Brady (12.9), Sjokvist (12.2) and Mara Niera (11.8) lead the Blue Hose in scoring. Christina Kline leads PC in rebounding (4.9), a tick ahead of Brady (4.4).

McKinley Brooks-Sumpter, a redshirt-senior guard from Columbia, leads UNCA with averages of 12.9 points and 7.5 rebounds.

Keep those cards, letters and donations coming. The sports seasons are back at full speed. In the fall, I’m up all night on weekends. In winter, I’m up late most nights.

I’m thankful for your support, whether by advertising, contributing or reading.

Thanks so much for the recent contributions. My goal is to provide unique coverage of local sports. I’m aware that folks appreciate what I do, particularly the kids, coaches, parents and fans.

I used to list an address to send a check (DHK Sports, P.O. Box 768, Clinton, S.C. 29325). I finally got it through my thick head that not that many people write checks nowadays. For example, me. A more convenient means might be sending a reasonable contribution to DHK Sports on Venmo.

Support the advertisers, and help keep the site – the game stories, the blogs, the photos – alive by making, if you choose, a monthly donation via Patreon. The Laurens County site is here. The Furman site is here.

Another way I can make a little is if you purchase my books at MonteDutton.net. They’re quite entertaining in spite of the fellow who wrote them. Two of my novels, Cowboys Come Home and Lightning in a Bottle, are available in audio versions. The latest, The Latter Days, is about baseball.

Photo galleries are posted on Instagram @furmanatt and @laurenscountysports.