Elon MBB Set to Clash with Charleston on Saturday

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s basketball team takes a five-game winning streak into TD Arena for a Colonial Athletic Association clash on Saturday, Feb. 4, against the College of Charleston Cougars. The game will tip off at 5 p.m.

COVERAGE
Watch the action in Charleston on MyTV Charleston or 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
• Saturday’s game against College of Charleston will be the 24th all-time meeting and the second time the teams have gone head-to-head this season. Elon has only won one of the last five contests against the Cougars. Both teams were Southern Conference rivals from 2003-2013.
• Earlier this season, the Cougars claimed a 12-point victory on New Year’s Eve, 66-54, inside Alumni Gym, holding the Phoenix to its second-lowest scoring output of the season.
• The teams split the season series in 2015-16. College of Charleston narrowly defeated the Phoenix 66-62 on Feb. 13, 2016 inside Alumni Gym. Last time in Charleston, Dainan Swoope hit a game-winning triple for the 65-64 win on Jan. 16, 2016.

ELON TIP INS
• Elon’s five-game conference winning streak marks the largest for the program since 2013-14 when the Phoenix won eight-straight.
• The Phoenix has now won 15 or more games in five consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1987-88 season.
• Elon is now 11-3 this season when leading at halftime and 11-4 when winning the rebound battle.
• The maroon and gold holds an 8-1 edge when holding teams to under 40% from the field.
• Head coach Matt Matheny won his 123rd game on Thursday, Feb. 2, tying him with D.C. “Peahead” Walker for the third-most wins in program history.
• 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.
• The maroon and gold has won seven of its last eight games. Elon is outscoring its opponents by a combined 78 points in its last seven wins.
• Brian Dawkins scored a career-high and notched his first-career 20+-point game with 22 against the Pride. He has now scored in double figures a team-high 19 times this season.

GOING BACK-TO-BACK
• Tyler Seibring repeated as CAA Co-Player of the Week 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 80.1% from the line through 11 games. Elon has made above 80% of its free throws 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. It was the first time Elon made over 90% of its free throws in a game since going 6-of-6 on Jan. 15, 2013 against Princeton.

349 AND COUNTING
• The Elon men’s basketball program has made at least one three-point field goal in 349 consecutive games (not including exhibition games). 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 10.1 triples per game, which is first in the CAA and 11th 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 261 for his career. He is currently 15 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 MATHNEY
• 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.

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STORYLINES
• Charleston is coming off a victory over league-leading UNCW on Thursday night. With the win, College of Charleston claimed its first-ever road win at Wilmington since joining the Colonial Athletic Association in 2013.
• For the fourth-straight contest, Grant Riller led the Cougars in scoring with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. It marked his sixth career game having scored 20+ points in a single game this season. Over the last three games in league play, he has totaled 77 points. Riller is on a career-best eight-game double-digit scoring streak.
• The Cougar defense held the Seahawks to 4-of-19 shooting from beyond the arc (21.1%) and the league’s No. 1 scoring offense (86.0) to their second-lowest scoring output of the season (66 points).
• Charleston currently has the top-ranked defense in the league holding opponents to an average of 61.9 points per game. That also ranks 11th in the NCAA. The Cougars also hold their opponents to 41.9% from the floor and 27.9% from three, both which rank first in the CAA. CofC’s three-point field goal defense ranks third in NCAA Division I.

UP NEXT
Following Saturday’s game, the Phoenix will face Delaware for the first time this season on Thursday, Feb. 9, inside the Bob Carpenter Center at 7 p.m.