Elon MBB Closes Non-Conference Action at UMKC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Elon University men’s basketball wraps up non-conference action on Saturday, Dec. 22, with a road contest at UMKC. The first-ever matchup between the Phoenix and the Roos will tip-off at 3 p.m. eastern time at Municipal Auditorium.

GAME NOTES (PDF) | PREVIEW

COVERAGE
You can watch the game live on the WAC Digital Network, or you can 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 2:30 p.m. eastern time.

SATURDAY’S GAME IS…
• The 1st meeting all-time between the Elon Phoenix and the UMKC Roos.
• The 2,710th game in Elon’s program history.

AN ELON WIN WOULD…
• Be the 1,406th win in program history and Elon’s 259th Division I win.
• Be the 145th win for Elon head men’s basketball coach Matt Matheny.
• Be Elon’s first-ever win against a member of the Western Athletic Conference.

THE MATCHUP
• Saturday will be the first-ever meeting between the Elon Phoenix and the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Kangaroos.
• Elon has never faced off against any current members of the Western Athletic Conference.
• The last time the Phoenix faced a member of the conference was when Boise State was a member of the WAC in 2004. Elon fell 83-67 on Dec. 21.
• Boise State left the WAC in 2011 to join the Mountain West Conference.
• Elon also faced another former member in Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors were members of the WAC when then Elon College faced Hawaii during the 1980-81 season.

SCOUTING UMKC
• UMKC (4-9) fell 81-72 on Wednesday night at Central Michigan inside McGuirk Arena. Despite the loss, UMKC has won 3 of its last 5 games.
• They have picked up wins against Avila, Fort Wayne, South Dakota and McNeese State. UMKC has faced some tough oppoents in non-conference action, including Iowa, UConn, Loyola-Chicago, Drake and Central Michigan.
• Early this season, Bishop tops the Roos at 17.0 points, while Whitfield is at 13.4. On the glass, Dixon (5.1) leads the team, while Bishop’s 4.5 assists also top the squad.
• UMKC returns four starters from last year’s squad in Aleer Leek, Xavier Bishop, Jordan Giles and Brandon McKissic.
• The Roos were picked to finish 7th in the WAC Preseason poll by both the coaches and media.
• Kareem Richardson enters his sixth season at the helm of the UMKC program in 2018-19 and has led the Roos to unprecedented success during his tenure.

ABOUT ELON
• The Phoenix has started its 2018-19 campaign with a 4-8 record, including a 2-5 mark in its first season inside the brand new Schar Center.
• Elon has three players scoring in double figures. Tyler Seibring is Elon’s leading scorer and rebounder at 16.7 points.
• Steven Santa Ana is second at 16.3 points and leads the team averaging 6.5 boards per game. Sheldon Eberhardt is tallying 10.3 points per contest.
• The Phoenix is currently making 11.0 three pointers per game this season, which ranks 7th at the NCAA Division I ranks.
• Elon and gold returns 11 total players and three of its five starters from a year ago.
• 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 112 points (Career Total: 1,467) and 83 rebounds (Career Total: 652) away from entering the top-10 in program history for each category.
• Seibring would be the first player in Elon’s NCAA Division I era (since 1999) to achieve that feat.

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.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2018-19
• 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 began its two-game road swing to close non-conference action at Kennesaw State, and concludes non-conference action against UMKC.
• Elon opens CAA play with a pair of home contests against Towson (Dec. 28) and James Madison (Dec. 30).

UP NEXT
The Phoenix opens Colonial Athletic Association play with two straight home games beginning with Towson on Friday, Dec. 28, at 7 p.m. inside Schar Center.