Elon Men’s Basketball Hosts #15/16 UMass on Saturday Night

ELON, N.C. – Winners of three straight and coming off an impressive overtime win at Davidson on Thursday night, the Elon University men’s basketball team returns to Alumni Gym on Saturday, Jan. 18, to host No. 15/16 UMass. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Alumni Gym. Standing room only tickets are available and will be sold at the Elon Ticket Office beginning at 6 p.m. the day of the game.

The game will be broadcasted exclusively on Phoenix All-Access. Click here to purchase a subscription.

ELON VS. UMASS: Saturday night marks the third meeting all-time between Elon and UMass. UMass has won the two previous meetings, including a 78-73 overtime decision last year in the Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase game in Springfield, Mass. Elon opened its 2011-12 campaign at UMass on Nov. 11, 2011, dropping an 85-67 decision.

CHAZ WILLIAMS CONNECTION: Elon is the only team in the nation to face UMass’ Chaz Williams every year of his collegiate career. Elon faced Williams his freshman season at Hofstra before the guard transferred to UMass. Williams sat out the 2010-11 season due to NCAA transfer rules, but played the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons for the Minutemen and against the Phoenix on both occasions. This year marks the fourth year Elon has faced Williams.

ELON VS. NATIONALLY RANKED OPPONENTS: Saturday’s game vs. No. 15/16 UMass marks Elon’s 20th against a nationally ranked opponent during the school’s Division I era. Elon has already faced 21st-ranked Colorado this season and seventh-ranked Duke this season. Saturday is the first time Elon has hosted a nationally ranked team in Alumni Gym during the school’s Division I era.

Elon vs. nationally-ranked opponents:
Dec. 13, 2013, at #21 Colorado……………………….L, 63-80
Dec. 20, 2012, at #1 Duke ……………………………….L, 54-76
Dec. 29, 2011, at #5 North Carolina ……………. L, 62-100
Dec. 20, 2010, at #1 Duke………………………………..L, 72-98
March 10, 2008, vs. #23 Davidson………………….L, 49-65
Dec. 16, 2006, at #21 Notre Dame………………….L, 63-94
Nov. 10, 2006, at #23 Georgia Tech………………..L, 49-83
Dec. 3, 2005, at #22 Wake Forest…………………….L, 59-78
Dec. 15, 2004, at #5 Wake Forest…………………….L, 67-85
Nov. 18, 2004, at #19 NC State………………………..L, 45-71
Dec. 30, 2003, at #12 Cincinnati………………….. L, 63-102
Nov. 22, 2003, at #19 Wake Forest………………….L, 55-97
Jan. 7, 2003, at #17 Wake Forest……………………..L, 56-98
Dec. 21, 2002, at #14 Marquette…………………….L, 57-89
Nov. 30, 2011, at #16 Ball State……………………. L, 65-106
Dec. 30, 1999, at #24 DePaul…………………………..L, 56-80
Nov. 22, 1999, at #17 Tennessee……………………..L, 56-95
*Dec. 21, 1998, at #6 Stanford…………………………L, 58-82

*Division I transitional year

ELON VS. THE ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE: Saturday night marks Elon’s 15th game all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Elon is 1-13 against the A10, with its lone win coming against George Washington.

LOOKING BACK: In a battle for the ages, the Phoenix came away victorious in overtime with an 87-85 win over the Davidson Wildcats on Thursday night, Jan. 16, at Belk Arena. Elon closed the final 4:27 of regulation on a 15-2 run, tying the game with 2.4 seconds left on a Jack Isenbarger triple. In the extra session, The Phoenix led by as many as four points, until Davidson made it a two-point game with two seconds left on a Tom Droney basket. Davidson stole Elon’s inbound pass on the ensuing possession, but Jake Belford’s jumper from the corner rimmed out as time expired.

LOOKING AHEAD: Following Saturday’s game against UMass, Elon hits the road for back-to-back road games versus Chattanooga (Jan. 23) and Samford (Jan. 25).

STREAK SNAPPED: Elon snapped a nine-game losing skid at Davidson’s Belk Arena on Thursday, Jan. 16, with an 87-85 win in overtime. The win also snapped Davidson’s 23-game home winning streak against Southern Conference foes. It marked Elon’s first win over the ‘Cats since Jan. 20, 2011.

HOME COOKING: Over the last three years, Elon has a 29-8 record inside the friendly confines of Alumni Gym. Elon has sold out Alumni Gym 10 times under head coach Matt Matheny, with Saturday’s game against #15/16 UMass being the most recent. Elon is off to a 7-1 start at home, which is its best home start since the 1990-91 season when the team began 9-0. Elon has won 14-of-16 inside Alumni Gym.

ELON IN SOCON PLAY: The Phoenix is in its 11th season as a member of the Southern Conference. Elon is 85-94 (including tournament action) against current members of the Southern Conference since the 2003-04 campaign. Elon went 13-5 against league foes during the regular season last year, winning the SoCon North Division title. Matt Matheny has a 37-39 record in SoCon play.

FROM LONG RANGE: Elon currently leads the Southern Conference in three-point field goal percentage at 39 percent and threes made with 154. Sebastian Koch (53) and Tanner Samson (48) rank first and second in the league in threes made. The long-distance duo rank fourth and fifth in the league in three-point field goal percentage, respectively.

KOCH HONORED: Sebastian Koch scored a career-high 27 points at 21st-ranked Colorado on Dec. 13, and was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 17. Koch’s nine triples are the most in a single game during Elon’s Division I era. His 27 points mark the most by an Elon player since Jack Isenbarger’s 34-point performance against The Citadel on Feb. 4, 2012.

SAMSON HONORED: Tanner Samson was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 10 after scoring a career-high 23 points in an 87-70 win over VMI on Dec. 3. Samson connected on 5-of-8 from three-point land in the win and was 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. He added a career-best nine rebounds, three assists and three steals in 36 minutes against the Keydets.

MILESTONE WATCH: Both Sebastian Koch (987 points) and Ryley Beaumont (951 points) are in line to be the next Elon players to reach 1,000 career points. Elon currently has two players with over 1,000 career points in Lucas Troutman (1,424) and Jack Isenbarger (1,298). Troutman is currently tied with Larry Scott for 12th all-time in scoring and needs 33 points to pass Don Haithcox for 11th all-time. Isenbarger ranks 16th all-time and needs eight points to pass Brett James for 15th all-time in school history.

BLOCK PARTY: With two blocked shots at Davidson on Jan. 16, Lucas Troutman extended his program-best career mark to 187 blocks. Troutman set Elon’s all-time blocks record last season and ranks 10th all-time in Southern Conference history in blocks and needs four to pass UNCG’s Ryan Hines (2004-08) for ninth all-time. Troutman is the league’s active leader in career blocks.

TRACKING THE THREES: Jack Isenbarger enters Saturday’s game with 235 career three-pointers made, which ranks second all-time in Elon history behind Chris Kiger’s (1994-98) career mark of 259. Isenbarger is the Southern Conference’s active leader in career triples.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Lucas Troutman has scored in double figures in 13 of Elon’s last 15 games this season and in 42 of the team’s last 49 games. Troutman has scored 20 or more points in nine of those contests, including a career-high 28 at Davidson on Jan. 16.

HEAD COACH MATT MATHENY: Matt Matheny is in his fifth season as the Elon head men’s basketball coach. The 2013 Southern Conference Coach of the Year by the media, Matheny enters Saturday’s game with an overall record of 69-76. Matheny was a finalist for CollegeInsider.com’s Hugh Durham Award last season, which honors the nation’s top mid-major coach.