By MONTE DUTTON

Life was but a dream until Furman happened upon Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. As it relates to the Napoleonic palindrome: Able was I ere I saw Elba.

A 10-point loss to the Terriers did not negate the five victories that preceded it. It creates pain and anxiety, but it doesn’t diminish the improvement of a team that overcame injuries to mow down five conference opponents in a row.

Wofford socked it to the Paladins like Mama at the Harper Valley PTA. The score was 77-67, but Furman never led.

“We’ve got to be better getting to the basket, being efficient at the basket and being efficient shooting twos,” Furman head coach Bob Richey said. “You’ve got to cut. You’ve got to move. You’ve got to get the ball side to side. You can’t just go down there with one attack and try to go score.

“That’s never been a good formula for us, and to be honest, for anybody. … We’re a really, really good team when we play for one another. I’m talking really good.”

Naturally, as a mischievous Southern Conference scheduler must have intended or at least noticed, Furman (11-10, 5-3 SoCon) is now sentenced duty at another ancestral dungeon, McAlister Fieldhouse, which is The Citadel’s citadel of basketball.

A funny thing happened to the Paladins last season en route to Southern Conference and NCAA tournament glory. On Feb. 15, in the midst of eight Paladin victories before and seven after, The Citadel defeated Furman at its dear fieldhouse, 69-65. The Bulldogs wound up finishing 10-22 overall and 5-13 in the SoCon. Right now The Citadel is 9-12 and 1-7.

Little matter.

Last season Furman won by 25 in Greenville and lost by four in Charleston. A similar pattern exists, though not so radically, most seasons.

This is the 220^th meeting between Furman and The Citadel, dating back to a pair of FU losses in 1919-20. The Paladins lead the series, 131-88.

In the past 20 seasons, by comparing point spreads, Furman has played better in Greenville than in Charleston 14 times. The most glaring example was in 2017-18, when the Paladins won by 40 (107-67) at Timmons Arena and lost by eight (100-92) at McAlister Fieldhouse.

“The way we played Saturday, if we don’t come out with an edge and an understanding of how hard it’s going to be to win there, then we’re just not in the right head space,” Richey said. “That’s what I’ve got to do. I’ve got to make sure I’ve got our team focused and dialed in. They beat us there last year.”

This season the Bulldogs beat one of Notre Dame’s lesser teams, 65-45. Wofford escaped McAlister with 72-71 relief. The Citadel has also fallen to Presbyterian, which is 1-6 in the Big South. Of the Bulldogs’ eight SoCon games so far, seven have been lost but four by single digits. Furman won the home game earlier this season, 82-68, on Jan. 10.

Wednesday figured to be a prime spot for a slip-up until pratfalls occurred at Wofford. The Paladins figure to be suitably alerted when they arrive in the Holy City of the Low Country.

A.J. Smith (15.4) and Elijah Morgan (15.0) lead the Bulldogs in scoring. Madison Durr averages 11.3 points and 3.3 assists. Quentin Milora-Brown, who averages 10.1 points, also averages 9.1 rebounds.

Furman also averages four players – Marcus Foster (19.5), J.P. Pegues (16.7), Alex Willams (16.2) and Pjay Smith (10.2) – in double figures. Foster averages 7.0 rebounds and Williams 5.2. Pegues averages 4.9 assists, Carter Whitt 3.9. The most accurate three-point shooter is Williams with a .409 success rate.

Furman head coach Bob Richey seldom mentions The Citadel’s Ed Conroy without praising his ability.

“Ed can really coach, and that’s a hard place to play,” Richey said. “We’ve lost numerous games there. Against Mercer, they’re down 11 with 5:44 to go, and they win. You have to realize it’s going to be a 40-minute battle. If you take anybody for granted in this league, you’re going to get beat. That’s just the reality.”

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