Elon MBB: Delaware to Visit Schar Center on Thursday Night

ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s basketball returns to Schar Center on Thursday, Jan. 31, for its rematch against the Delaware Blue Hens. The second matchup of the season between the Phoenix and the Blue Hens will tip-off at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES (PDF) | PREVIEW

COVERAGE
You can watch the game live on CBS College Sports Live as Elon alum Jay Burnham and Mack McCarthy will have the call from Schar Center. Listen to the coverage on the Elon IMG Sports Network through TuneIn, elonphoenix.com/live, or on CAA.tv and the CAA.tv app. The Phoenix All-Access and Elon IMG Sports Network coverage will be provided by Taylor Durham and Brian Morris starting with the pregame show 6:30 p.m.

THURSDAY’S GAME IS…
• The 12th meeting all-time between the Elon Phoenix and the Delaware Blue Hens.
• The 2,721st game in Elon’s program history.

AN ELON WIN WOULD…
• Be the 1,409th win in program history and Elon’s 260th Division I win.
• Be the 148th win for Elon head men’s basketball coach Matt Matheny.

THE MATCHUP
• Thursday will be the 12th all-time meeting between the Phoenix and the Blue Hens and the second time the two teams have met this season.
• Elon leads the all-time series 7-4, but Delaware has won the last three matchups.
• Earlier this season, Delaware earned a 77-65 victory over Elon in Newark on Jan. 5.
• Prior to this season, the last meeting against Delaware was in the 2018 CAA Men’s Basketball Championships on March 3 as the Blue Hens defeated Elon, 86-79.
• The teams split the regular season series in 2017-18. Both Elon and Delaware have split in the regular season for the past two seasons.
• The Phoenix won five straight of the previous meetings before the 2016-17 season. Both teams have faced each other 10 times during Elon’s Division I era since 1999. The only time the teams met prior to Elon’s Division I era was the first all-time meeting.
• Elon’s first-ever matchup against Blue Hens came on Feb. 8, 1934 as Elon College defeated Delaware 45-23 in Newark.

SCOUTING DELAWARE
• Delaware (14-8, 6-3 CAA) is currently tied for second with Northeastern in the CAA standings after edging Drexel 76-75 on Saturday, Jan. 26, in Newark. The Blue Hens have tied its second best start in CAA play since joining the league in 2001-02. The 2007-08 and 2012-13 squads also were 6-3 at the midway point.
• The Blue Hens have won three of its last five games. They began conference play with a 4-1 mark, which included a four-game winning streak from Dec. 30-Jan. 10. Delaware beat Elon in Newark during that winning streak.
• Delaware has four scoring in double figures, led by Eric Carter who leads the team in scoring (17.0) and rebounding (10.3) this season. Each stat ranks 6th and 2nd in the league this season, respectively. Additionally, Ryan Allen (16.6 ppg), Ithiel Horton (13.1 ppg),and Kevin Anderson (10.3) are averaging double figures in the scoring column this season.
• This season, Delaware has been the best in the league in two categories ranking 1st field goal percentage defense (.432) and defensive rebounds per game (26.5). The Blue Hens are also tied for 3rd in scoring defense (70.9) and offensively rank 2nd in three-point field goal percentage (.384).
• During non-conference play, the Blue Hens posted an 8-5 record, which included wins against St. Peter’s, Chestnut Hill, Cornell, Wilmington (Del.), Louisiana Tech, Maryland Eastern Shore, Columbia and Saint Francis (Pa.).

ABOUT ELON
• The Phoenix has a 7-15 record overall and is 3-6 in CAA action in 2018-19 following its 89-82 victory over UNCW at Trask Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
• Tyler Seibring posted a career-high 32 points on 12-16 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds in the win. He is now 7th on Elon’s all-time scoring list and is the program’s all-time leading scorer during the program’s NCAA Division I era.
• Elon has two players scoring in double figures. Seibring is Elon’s leading scorer at 17.4 points and is also grabbing 5.2 boards per game. Steven Santa Ana is second on the team in scoring as he is tallying 16.4 points and leads the team in rebounding at 6.6 per game.
• The Phoenix ranks first in the CAA in three-pointers made with 10.0 per game, which also ranks 16th in the nation. Elon’s 221 total three-pointers this season ranks 9th nationally.
• Seibring is currently 5th in the CAA in scoring (17.4), while Santa Ana ranks 8th (16.4) in the league. Santa Ana’s 6.6 rebounds ranks 11th in the CAA.
• Sheldon Eberhardt leads the team with 74 total assists, which is an average of 3.7 per contest and ranks 6th in the CAA. He is also the team’s third-leading scorer with 9.5 points per game and has the second-highest free throw shooting percentage (.814) on the team.
• The maroon and gold has played 11 times at home inside its brand-new Schar Center this season, including seven times in non-conference games.
• Elon and gold returns 11 total players and three of its five starters from a year ago. One of its three returning starters, Dainan Swoope, is out for the year after having season-ending foot surgery.
• The Phoenix returns four of its top six scorers, including its 2017-18 leading scorer and rebounder in Seibring (15.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg).
• The program’s senior class is made up of five players (Seibring, Swoope, Santa Ana, Eberhardt and Karolis Kundrotas). Heading into the season, the five players had combined to play in a total of 437 games and make 209 starts.
• Elon made four new additions to the squad for 2018-19 in first-year players Chuck Hannah, Andy Pack, Federico Poser and Kris Wooten.
• The Phoenix has been predicted to finish eighth in the league as the CAA released its preseason men’s basketball poll on Oct. 17, during the conference’s digital media day. Tyler Seibring collected preseason All-CAA honors as he was named to the second team.

NEARING ELON HISTORY
• Senior forward Tyler Seibring is closing in on history that no player in program history at the NCAA Division I level has ever done.
• He is now in the top-10 in scoring and has 1,650 career points and is the program’s all-time scoring leader during the program’s NCAA Division I ear. He is 31 rebounds (Career Total: 704) away from entering the top-10 in program history for rebounding.
• Seibring would be the first player in Elon’s NCAA Division I era (since 1999) to achieve that feat.

THERE’S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
• During Elon’s three-game road trip from Jan. 19-26, the Phoenix posted a 2-1 mark, which included victories at William & Mary and UNCW.
• The Phoenix claimed its first-ever victory in Williamsburg and first win in Kaplan Arena on Jan. 19 with a 76-71 victory over the Tribe.
• Elon then bounced back from a loss at Charleston to earn its first-ever win inside Trask Coliseum with a 89-82 victory over UNCW. It was the program’s first win in Wilmington in 43 years with the previous victory coming on Jan. 24, 1976 at Hanover Hall.

DYNAMIC SENIOR DUO
• Seniors Tyler Seibring and Steven Santa Ana have combined for 727 of Elon’s 1,548 points this season, which is nearly 47 percent of the team’s scoring in 2018-19.
• Seibring is having his best scoring season of his career at 17.4 points per game and ranks 8th on Elon’s all-time scoring list with 1,650 career points. Santa Ana is also having the best season of his Elon career averaging 16.4 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per contest. His 1,257 career points currently ranks 22nd in program history.

WOOTEN TABBED CAA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
• Wooten averaged 11.5 points while shooting 60 percent from the floor (9-15) and 55.6 percent from three-point range (5-9) as Elon split a pair of road games Nov. 18-22 during the final week of the Phoenix’s non-conference slate.
• He is Elon’s first player to earn a weekly accolade from the conference this season. He is also Elon’s first CAA Rookie of the Week selection since Tyler Seibring earned the honor for the third time his freshman campaign on Jan. 18, 2016.

SEIBRING NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE
• Tyler Seibring has been named one of the 30 NCAA Division men’s basketball candidates for the 2018-18 Senior CLASS Award®
• The Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
• Seibring carries a 3.91 grade-point average as a double major in English and Economics.
• The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2019 NCAA Men’s Final Four® this spring.

JOINING THE 1,000-POINT CLUB
• Senior guard Steven Santa Ana became the 43rd player in program history to reach 1,000-career points against Central Penn on Nov. 27.
• Elon currently has three 1,000-point scorers on the team in Tyler Seibring, Dainan Swoope and Steven Santa Ana. Swoope and Seibring each joined the 1,000-point club as juniors.
• Seibring was the first to join, becoming the 40th player overall and the 11th junior to reach the mark. Dainan Swoope became the 42nd player overall, the 12th junior.

RECORD-SETTING PERFORMANCES
• The Phoenix have twice set a program record with 19 three-pointers made in a game this season.
• Elon set the record of 19 triples in its 98-71 victory over Milligan College on Nov. 15, 2018, the program’s first-ever win in Schar Center.
• The team then matched the mark on Nov. 27, 2018 inside Schar Center during its 92-59 win over Central Penn.

SCHAR CENTER
• Elon University men’s basketball will play its games inside its new facility, Schar Center, this season after calling Alumni Gym its home since since 1950.
• Schar Center officially opened its doors in July of 2018 and was dedicated on October, 19, 2018. The 161,000-square-foot convocation center has a current capacity of 5,100-seats.
• Not only does it serve as the home for Phoenix basketball and volleyball programs, but it also serves as an event venue that will provide a large gathering space for a wide variety of major campus events such as convocations and concerts.
• The facility is named for Dwight and Martha Schar, of Palm Beach, Fla., parents of Stuart Schar ’16 and Spencer Schar ’19.
• Among Elon’s most generous donors for the project, the Schars have contributed $13 million to the university to provide lead funding for the convocation center and the expanded School of Communications facilities, which features Dwight C. Schar Hall as the centerpiece.

HOW 2018-19 BEGAN
• Elon’s 110th season of basketball opened with a marquee matchup as the Phoenix hosted the No. 8-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels on ESPNU in the program’s first regular season basketball game inside Schar Center on Friday, Nov. 9.
• Prior to that contest, the Phoenix opened the 2018-19 season on Nov. 6 on the road at Manhattan. Elon then competed in the Tiger Thanksgiving Classic, Nov. 22-24, at Pacific University on Thanksgiving week.
• During its non-conference slate, the Phoenix scheduled a total of seven home contests, which have included North Carolina, Boston University, No. 25 Furman, UNCG and Canisius. The Phoenix then concluded non-conference action on the road at Kennesaw State and UMKC.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns to Schar Center to complete its two-game CAA homestand on Saturday night, Feb. 2, against Drexel. That game will also tip-off at 7 p.m.