ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s basketball concludes its opening weekend of Colonial Athletics Association play on Sunday, Dec. 30, with a 4 p.m. contest against James Madison inside Schar Center. The 10th all-time meeting between the Phoenix and the Dukes is part of the CAA’s “Game of the Week” package and be televised by CBS Sports Digital on CollegeSportsLive.com.
COVERAGE
You can watch the game live on CBS College Sports Live as Jeff McCarragher 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 3:30 p.m.
SUNDAY’S GAME IS…
• The 10th meeting all-time between the Elon Phoenix and the James Madison Dukes.
• The 2,711th game in Elon’s program history.
• The 9th game overall in program history played inside Schar Center.
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 win over James Madison since Feb. 2, 2017.
THE MATCHUP
• Sunday will be the 10th all-time meeting between Elon and JMU.
• The Dukes hold a 7-2 lead in the all-time series.
• In the last meeting, JMU spoiled Elon’s final game inside Alumni Gym on Feb. 26, 2018 with a 90-84 victory.
• Elon’s last win against James Madison came on Feb. 2, 2017 when the Phoenix claimed a 67-61 victory inside Alumni Gym.
• The last 8 meetings have been played since Elon joined the CAA in 2014-15. Elon and James Madison met for the first time on Nov. 29, 1975 and JMU claimed the 108-94 victory.
SCOUTING JAMES MADISON
• James Madison (7-7, 0-1 CAA) heads into its matchup against the Phoenix after dropping a hard-fought CAA opener, 79-74, at William & Mary on Friday night. Matt Lewis led the Dukes with a season-high 26 points, which included a career-best five three-pointers. The Tribe outscored the Dukes 9-4 over the final 4:46 to earn the win.
• The Dukes have lost four straight games heading into its matchup against the Phoenix with its last win coming on Dec. 4 against Radford.
• JMU has three players scoring in double figures this season, led by Stuckey Mosley’s 16.7 points per contest. Lewis is averaging 14.6 points and Darius Banks is tallying 12.8 points per game. Dwight Wilson is the team’s leading rebounder at 7.9 per contest.
• The Dukes rank in the top-4 in several statistical categories. JMU ranks second in the league on the offensive glass as they average 12.0 rebounds per game. James Madison will be tough to break down defensively as they lead the league in steals (7.7), rank second in blocked shots (3.9), and are fourth in scoring defense (70.9) and field goal percentage defense (43.8%). They also rank third in three-point field goal percentage defense (33.1%).
• James Madison finished its non-conference slate with a 7-6 record, which included wins against Radford (was receiving votes in the AP poll at the time), East Carolina, Charlotte, Northern Illinois, Coppin State and Bridgewater.
ABOUT ELON
• The Phoenix started its 2018-19 campaign with a 4-10 record and is 0-1 in CAA action after falling 77-60 to Towson on Friday in its leage opener.
• Elon has played 8 times at home this season, including seven times in non-conference games.
• Elon has two players scoring in double figures. Steven Santa Ana is Elon’s leading scorer and rebounder at 16.6 points and 6.2 boards per game. Tyler Seibring is tallying 15.5 points.
• The Phoenix ranks top-3 in the CAA in two categories. Elon is 1st in 3-pointers made (10.5) per game and 3rd in assists (14.6) per contest.
• Santa Ana is currently 7th in the league in scoring (16.6), while Seibring ranks 11th (15.5).
• The Phoenix is currently making 10.5 three pointers per game this season, which ranks first in the CAA and 12th at the NCAA Division I ranks.
• 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 season 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.
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.
• 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.
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 95 points (Career Total: 1,484) and 76 rebounds (Career Total: 659) 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.
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 makes its first conference road swing of the season starting on Thursday, Jan. 3, with a trip to Drexel to face the Dragons at 7 p.m. Elon will then head to Delaware on Saturday, Jan. 5, for a 7 p.m. matchup against the Blue Hens.