HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s basketball team (1-1) flies north to Philadelphia to take on CAA foe Drexel on Wednesday.
Tip-off inside the Daskalakis Athletic Center is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday’s game will be streamed live on CAA.tv. In addition, the game will air live on the High Point Panthers Radio Network, with “Voice of the Panthers” Evan Lepler providing analysis. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. (EST).
PAW PRINTS
• HPU is 104-90 all-time against CAA opponents.
• HPU excelled away from the Millis Center last season, posting Div. I program bests in road wins (9) and road winning percentage (.600). The Purple & White dropped their road opener this season on Nov. 13 at Texas Tech (77-73).
• Last time out, the Panthers opened their home slate with a 93-69 win over NC Wesleyan on Sunday in Millis. Redshirt-senior forward John Brown led the Panthers with 23 points (8-10 FG) and tied a career-high with six blocked shots.
• HPU shot 58.2 percent (32-55) against the Battling Bishops and had five players in double figures, including Brown (23), Lorenzo Cugini (15), Adam Weary (14), Ricky Madison (12) and Anthony Lindauer (10).
• The Panthers are shooting 53.6 percent (15-28) from 3-point territory through two games this season, which ranks fourth nationally. Cugini (.727) and Lindauer (.625) are both shooting above 60 percent from international waters.
• HPU head coach Scott Cherry is 97-92 (.513) in six seasons with HPU, including a 62-42 (.596) mark in league play. With a victory over North Carolina Wesleyan, Cherry became the all-time winningest head coach in the school’s Div. I history.
A LOOK AT THE DRAGONS (0-1, 0-0 CAA)
Drexel was picked eighth out of 10 teams in the 2015-16 CAA preseason poll. The Dragons opened the season with a close 82-81 setback at Saint Joseph’s on Friday. Preseason All-CAA honorable mention pick Tavon Allen led Drexel with 20 points (6-15 FG) and two assists. Freshman guard Terrell Allen added 18 points and four assists while sophomore guard Rashann London added 11 points, four rebounds and three assists. Head coach Bruiser Flint is in his 15th season as head coach at Drexel and has compiled a 239-193 record (.553).
HISTORY vs. DREXEL
Friday’s game vs. Drexel will mark the first meeting all time between High Point and the Dragons in men’s basketball.
ALL-TIME CAA SERIES
The Panthers are 104-90 (.536) all-time against current members of the Colonial Athletic Association. The bulk of those meetings have come against new CAA member Elon, with the two teams matching up 162 times during HPU’s NAIA, Division II and Division I days. Elon competed in the Big South from 1999-03 during HPU’s Division I era. High Point posted a 2-0 record vs. CAA teams in 2014-15, recording wins vs. William & Mary (66-63) and at James Madison (80-71). HPU also will play William & Mary this season on Dec. 21.
HISTORY vs. PHILADELPHIA SCHOOLS
HPU has never played Drexel, but the Panthers have played one of Philadelphia’s famed Big 5 programs (La Salle, Temple, Saint Joseph’s, Penn, Villanova). The Purple & White battled La Salle in just the second game of the program’s Div. I era. HPU fell to the Explorers, 85-62, as part of a preseason tournament in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 26.
UP NEXT
HPU returns home to battle in-state foe Western Carolina on Saturday (Nov. 21) inside the Millis Center. Tip-off between the Panthers and Catamounts is set for 7 p.m. HPU and WCU have met 61 times, although just two of those games have occured in the Div. I era. Pre-game coverage on the High Point Panthers Radio Network begins at 6:30 p.m.