Elon MBB Meets Delaware for the First Time This Season in Newark

ELON, N.C. – The Elon Phoenix men’s basketball team looks to bounce back at the Bob Carpenter Center for a Colonial Athletic Association road contest at Delaware on Thursday, Feb. 9. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. on CAA.TV. It will be the first time the two teams have met this season.

GAME NOTES

COVERAGE
Watch the action online at CAA.TV. You can also listen to the action on the Elon IMG Sports Network on 104.5 FM, 1200 AM or on the TuneIn app. Taylor Durham and Ryan Meizinger will have the call from the Convocation Center and the pregame show begins at 4:30 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY
• Thursday will be the sixth all-time meeting between the Elon Phoenix and Delaware Blue Hens and the fifth time the sides have met since Elon joined the CAA in 2014-15.
• Last year, the Phoenix swept the season series against the Blue Hens in 2015-16, winning by 18 or more in both games.
• The last time both teams met in Newark, the Phoenix earned the 77-59 victory led by 43 combined points from Tyler Seibring, Dmitri Thompson and Dainan Swoope.
• Both teams have faced each other four times during Elon’s Division I era. The only time the teams met prior to Elon’s Division I era was the first all-time meeting. Elon defeated Delaware 45-22 on Feb. 8, 1934 in the first meeting.

ELON TIP INS
• The Phoenix has now won 15 or more games in five consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1987-88 season.
• Elon is 11-4 this season when leading at halftime, 11-4 when winning the rebound battle and 8-1 when holding teams to under 40% from the field.
• The matchup at Northeastern on Jan. 26 was the first time Elon has held an opponent to 50 points or less since holding Furman to 49 points on Feb. 24, 2014.
• Elon won three straight conference games at home by 10+ points from Jan. 7-19, the first time the Phoenix has done so in the program’s Division I era (since 1999-00).
• The maroon and gold has won seven of its last nine games. Elon is outscoring its opponents by a combined 78 points in its last seven wins.
• Against College of Charleston, Brian Dawkins scored 16 points in the first half for the second-consecutive game on the road this season. He also finished with a career-high 29 against the Cougars.

GOING BACK-TO-BACK
• Tyler Seibring repeated as CAA Co-Player of the Week on Jan. 30, after averaging 19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists during Elon’s 2-0 week. The sophomore also shot 53.6% from the floor.
• The Normal, Ill. native scored a team-high 15 points and added eight rebounds as the Phoenix handed Northeastern its first home loss of the season, 51-49, on Thursday. He followed with a team-best 23 points and six boards in an 84-70 triumph at Hofstra on Saturday.
• The sophomore also earned CAA Co-Player of the Week honors on Jan. 23 after averaging a team-high 22.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 blocks in victories over Drexel (1/19) and William & Mary (1/21). He shared the honor with Hofstra’s Justin Wright-Foreman. He also shot 51.9% from the floor, including a 7-for-11 mark behind the arc.

FREE THROW SUCCESS
• In conference games only, Elon is first in the league shooting 78.5% from the line through 12 games. Elon has made 80% of above from the line in five of those contests.
• The Phoenix had its best shooting performance from the line on Thursday, Feb. 2, against James Madison, finishing 22-of-23 (95.7%) from the stripe.

350 AND COUNTING
• The Elon program has made at least one three-point field goal in 350 consecutive games (not including exhibition games). The matchup on Feb. 4 at College of Charleston marked the 350th consective game.
• 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.
• Elon is currently averaging 9.5 triples per game, which is second in the CAA and tied for 24th in the NCAA. The Phoenix averaged 9.5 made three pointers a game last season.

LUKE EDDY MILESTONE
• Senior point guard Luke Eddy reached 200 assists in his career with three against South Florida on Nov. 17. He currently sits at 270 for his career and is six assists away from moving into the top-10 in program history. Tony Chavis ’89 is 10th all-time with 275 career assists.

HEAD COACH MATT MATHENY
• Head coach Matt Matheny won his 123rd game at Elon on Thursday, Feb. 2, against James Madison. With the win, he tied D.C. “Peahead” Walker (1927-1937) for the third most in program history. Matheny currently has 123 career victories and is one wins away from moving into sole possession of third all-time.

DELAWARE STORYLINES
• Delaware plays three of its next four games at the Bob Carpenter Center, the final three home games of the year for the Blue Hens.
• UD dropped a 108-80 decision at UNCW last Saturday, as the Seahawks knocked down a program record 21 three-pointers.
• UNCW’s 69.2 field goal percentage is the highest allowed by the Blue Hens since at least 1983-84 when individual game box scores are available. The 21 three-pointers allowed tied for the most ever by a UD opponent, along with Northeastern earlier this year.
• The Blue Hens allowed the ninth most points in a game in school history, and gave up 100 points in a regulation game for the first since a 107-106 win over Troy on Dec. 21, 1993.
• Eric Carter scored a career-high 20 points, going 9 of 10 from the field. Carter has gone 19 of 28 (67.9%) from the floor over the last three games.
• Ryan Daly also scored 20 points, his seventh 20-point effort of the season. Jacob Cushing scored a career-high 11 points in the game.

UP NEXT
Elon returns to Alumni Gym on Saturday, Feb. 11, to host CAA co-leader UNCW at 4 p.m. on American Sports Network.