ELON, N.C. — The Elon men’s basketball team will be looking to remain perfect this year against teams from the Palmetto State when it visits TD Arena for a showdown with the College of Charleston Cougars on Saturday, January 14. The game is slated to begin at 7 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN3 with Jeff McCarragher calling the play-by-play and former CofC coach John Kresse providing the color commentary.
Site: Charleston, S.C.
Arena: TD Arena
Series: CofC leads 10-4
Streak: CofC has won three
Radio: WPCM 920 AM — Taylor Durham and Dick Stewart will call the action
TV: ESPN3
FREE THROWS
• Elon snapped a five-game losing skid on Thursday night with a win at The Citadel.
• Elon is 3-5 in road contests this year including 2-0 against league opponents.
• This is the best SoCon start for Elon during the Matt Matheny era that began in 2009-10. The last time Elon opened 3-1 in league action was in the 2007-08 season.
• Elon has held opponents to under 40 percent shooting in all eight wins this year — but opponents have shot above 40 percent in all but one of the seven losses. The Phoenix ranks second in the SoCon in field goal percentage defense (.399). Opponents are shooting only 29.9 percent from three-point territory.
• Senior Drew Spradlin has preyed on SoCon opponents during his career, averaging 11.4 ppg over his three and a half years. He has hit 88 triples against league foes and shoots 43 percent from the field.
• Lucas Troutman moved into Elon’s all-time career blocks list with two swats against South Carolina. He is averaging 1.5 bpg, second in the league. The sophomore now has 70 blocks in a year and a half of action and is in seventh place all-time at Elon.
• The Phoenix has shot better than its opponent in all eight wins this year but has won the battle on the glass only three times this season.
LAST TIME OUT
• Elon won its third straight against The Citadel, holding a double figure lead for the entire second half in a 70-55 victory on Thursday night. Ten Elon players scored in the game.
• Drew Spradlin led all scorers with 21 points, shooting himself out of a recent slump with a 6-of-13 shooting performance.
• Elon turned the ball over only 10 times in the contest — point guard Austin Hamilton had six assists and kept a clean turnover slate.
• The Phoenix had an impressive second half, shooting 56 percent (14-of-25). Elon finished the game 27-of-58 (46.6 percent) for the game, its best showing since Dec. 11 against Lynchburg.
ELON VS. COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
• Elon’s last win over College of Charleston was a 59-53 victory in Charleston on January 31, 2009.
• The Cougars took the regular-season meeting last year and then ended Elon’s season with a 78-60 victory in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Tournament.
• Drew Spradlin was the lone Phoenix in double figures against CofC in the conference tournament, scoring 13 points in 19 minutes of action.
• The game can be seen on ESPN3 with Jeff McCarragher doing the play-by-play and former CofC coach John Kresse providing the color commentary.