ELON, N.C. — The Phoenix men’s basketball team will be looking to remain unbeaten on its home court this season when it opens Southern Conference action against the Furman Paladins on Wednesday, November 30 at 7 p.m.
THE SERIES
Series Record: Elon leads, 7-4
First Meeting: Furman won, 71-51, 1/24/04
Last Meeting: Furman won, 80-65, 12/1/10
Largest Victory: 15 pts, 52-37, 3/7/08
Largest Defeat: 20 pts, 71-51, 1/24/04
Streak: Furman has won 1
FREE THROWS
• Elon is 3-5 in Southern Conference openers. Elon hasn’t opened the SoCon season at home since 2008-09 when College of Charleston visited Alumni Gym. The last time Elon won a home conference opener was a 59-49 victory against Western Carolina on November 27, 2007.
• Elon is 64-93 (including tournament action) against teams in the Southern Conference since the Phoenix joined the league in 2003-04.
• Elon has been impressive on the defensive end of the floor this year, ranking first in the SoCon in field goal percentage defense (.376) and in three-point field goal percentage defense (.256).
• While Elon defends the long ball well, the Phoenix also shoots the three-point shot with accuracy. Elon ranks second in the league in three-point field goal percentage (.357) and is second in the conference (39th in the country) with 8.2 made triples a game.
• The 2011-12 Phoenix is a youthful team with only one senior on the roster. Four sophomores and a freshman have each earned starting nods this year.
• Lucas Troutman moved into Elon’s all-time career blocks list with two swats against South Carolina. The sophomore now has 52 blocks in just over a year of action, 10th all-time at Elon.
LAST TIME OUT
• Elon had its three-game winning streak snapped with an 82-67 loss at NC State on Friday night.
• After holding its previous three opponents to under 33 percent shooting, the Wolfpack shot an impressive 45.7 percent in the victory.
• Lucas Troutman was one point off his career best with 22 points on a 9-of-17 shooting performance. He also pulled down seven boards.
• Elon was below its average in three-pointers for the second straight game, connecting on only 7-of-22 (.318), and struggled from the line at 12-of-20. The Phoenix is 24-of-43 from the stripe in the past two contests, but its opponents aren’t shooting any better at 28-of-50.
ELON VS. FURMAN
• Furman has an identical 3-2 record with one road victory — a 62-58 win at Columbia. The Paladins are coming off a 59-49 defeat at Clemson last Friday night.
• The Paladins have the top scoring defense in the SoCon, allowing only 56.6 ppg, but they also rank next to last in scoring at only 59 ppg.
• Elon is 4-2 against Furman when playing at Alumni Gym. The Paladins did come away with the most recent meeting in Elon, a 53-48 victory on January 7, 2010.