Elon MBB Welcomes Blue Hens to Alumni Gym on Saturday

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s basketball team hosts its second game of the week on Saturday night, Jan. 24, when the Phoenix welcomes the Delaware Blue Hens to Alumni Gym. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. Watch the game live on Phoenix All-Access.

ELON VS. DELAWARE: Saturday night marks the second all-time meeting between the Phoenix and Blue Hens, but the first since Elon joined the CAA. Elon and Delaware previously met on Feb. 8, 1934, when the maroon and gold claimed a 45-22 decision. The game marked the fourth of six games in six days for Elon. The Phoenix and Blue Hens play again this season on Feb. 21, in Newark, Del.

ELON IN JANUARY: Heading into Saturday’s game, Elon has a 21-28 record in the month of January under head coach Matt Matheny. In January games at Alumni Gym under Matheny, Elon is 12-11.

GETTING DEFENSIVE: Elon held Towson to a 9.1 percent clip (1-of-11) from three on Jan. 22, marking the lowest three-point percentage by an opponent since Marist went 0-for-14 from three against the Phoenix last season on Nov. 10, 2013. It ties the lowest percentage Elon has ever held a league foe to at the Division I level since the Phoenix held College of Charleston to a 9.1 percent mark (2-of-22 from three) on Feb. 5, 2009, in Charleston, S.C.

LOOKING AHEAD: Following Saturday’s game against UD, the Phoenix hits the road for two straight games. Elon travels to Wilmington, N.C., to face UNCW on Jan. 28 before a Jan. 31 contest in Boston against preseason CAA favorite Northeastern.

READY FOR LIFTOFF: When it’s all said and done, the Phoenix will have traveled a total of 17,415 miles on the road this season via flight and bus. Elon’s longest trip was a 5,764-mile round-trip to Cancun, Mexico. The team’s shortest trip was a 44-mile round-trip to the Greensboro Coliseum.

FROM DEEP: Tanner Samson sits at 202 threes in his career entering Saturday’s game, good for fifth in school history. With three more triples, Samson will pass Scottie Rice for fourth in school history. The Littleton, Colo., native trails only Jack Isenbarger (264), Chris Kiger (259), Sebastian Koch (242) and Rice (204) in career threes.

281 AND COUNTING: The Elon men’s basketball program has made at least one three-point field goal in 281 consecutive games. The last time Elon did not make a three in a game was Jan. 30, 2006, at Georgia Southern when the team went 0-of-14 from deep.

FIRST-YEAR SUCCESS: Rookie guard Elijah Bryant is leading all CAA freshmen in scoring at 13.9 points per game. Bryant has been tabbed CAA Rookie of the Week four times this season and garnered player of the week honors once.

HEAD COACH MATT MATHENY: The 2014-15 season marks the sixth year at Elon for head coach Matt Matheny. Matheny enters Saturday’s game with a career record of 87-92. Matheny was voted by the Southern Conference media as the Coach of the Year in 2012-13 and was a finalist for CollegeInsider.com’s Hugh Durham award, which honors the nation’s top mid-major coach.

ROAD TO BALTIMORE: The 2015 CAA Men’s Basketball Championship is scheduled for March 6-9 in Baltimore, Md., at Royal Farms Arena. Last year, Delaware topped William & Mary, 75-74, in the championship game to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.