NCAA Basketball: Khalil Ahmad and Furman top mid-major performers of the week

Best Performance, Team – Furman Paladins

What a week for the Paladins.

First, junior Jordan Lyons tied the Division-I record with 15 three-pointers in a 107-67 win over DII North Greeneville. (Shoutout to Josh Williams of Robert Morris for ALSO tying that record this week on a more efficient 15-25 from long-range).

Lyons shot 15-34 from the field (he only took one other shot from inside the arc, a miss!) and 9-12 from the free throw line for 54 points.

Then, just two days later, Furman took down the defending national champions in No. 8 Villanova. The same team that has won two of the last three national titles and that people were claiming is the closest thing we can get to a college basketball dynasty in the one-and-done era.

Granted, the Wildcats lost five guys to the NBA, but still. That’s a massive win for Furman.

When the game went to overtime, I really questioned whether Furman could pull off the upset. But they did, 76-68, thanks to 17 from Lyons and a 15-17-3-4-2 from senior Matt Rafferty.

Also, Furman upset Loyola-Chicago 60-58 during the opening week of play, so they’ve now taken out half of the 2018 Final Four participants. They’re also a perfect 5-0 on the season thus far.