GAME NOTES: Earl Grant will make his head coaching debut as his College of Charleston Cougars invade Timmons Arena for a matchup with the Furman Paladins.

Grant was hired in August after coach Doug Wojcik was fired amid allegations of verbal abuse toward players and assistant coaches. Wojcik was replaced by Grant, who spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach under Brad Brownell at Clemson. With the Tigers, Grant primarily worked with the team's backcourt and was responsible for recruiting 2014 first-team All-ACC selection K.J. McDaniels. Grant will be looking to instill some normalcy and stability within the College of Charleston, which finished last season 14-18 overall and 6-10 in the conference.

2013-14 was certainly a down year for Furman, which finished 9-21 overall and 3-13 in SoCon action under first-year coach Niko Medved. But in the second year of the Medved era, the young Paladins expect better results. Furman has a bona fide star in junior guard Stephen Croone, who was the only Furman player to average a scoring total in the double digits last season (19.1 ppg), and the all-around guard made strides in other areas as a sophomore (4.4 rpg, 112 assists, 50 steals). This year Croone is expected to compete for a possible SoCon Player of the Year award, assuming he can cut back on the ghastly number of turnovers he committed in 2013 (108).

The season opener will mark the 83rd all-time meeting between Furman and College of Charleston with the series knotted at 41-41. The Cougars have won the last three meetings between the schools, including an 89-55 decision last season.

Charleston is expected to be led by senior center Adjehi Baru. The Ivory Coast native is a preseason second-team pick after averaging 9.0 ppg and 7.5 rpg a season ago, when he turned in six double-doubles with nine double-digit rebounding performances. He currently ranks eighth all-time in career rebounding (715) in the CofC record books which is also fourth all-time in the program's NCAA Division I history. The Cougars' backcourt is loaded with returners such as Joe Chealey (6.9 ppg), Canyon Barry (9.3 ppg) and Anthony Stitt (10 ppg), who could turn Charleston into a sleeper pick to compete for the CAA crown.

In addition to Croone, the Paladins also return second-leading scorer Kendrec Ferrara (9.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg), third-leading scorer Larry Wideman (9.0 ppg) and add a host of freshman talent. Maybe this year isn't the one for the Paladins to challenge for the Southern Conference title, but there's only one senior and four juniors on the roster (Aaron O'Neill), so there is reason for Furman fans to have some optimism. However, the Paladins struggled in their exhibition matchup against Division II North Greenville on Saturday, barely escaping with a 64-60 victory.

Although Furman should have much better chemistry in its second year under Medved, it will struggle on the interior against Baru. The Cougars should be able to escape with a road win if they can contain the Paladins' backcourt of Croone and William Gates Jr.