Elon MBB Hosts UNCW on Thursday Night

ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s basketball returns to Schar Center to continue its final homestand of the season on Thursday night, Feb 21, with a matchup against UNCW. The rematch between the Phoenix and the Seahawks is set to tip-off at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES (PDF) | PREVIEW

COVERAGE
Watch the game live on Phoenix All-Access through elonphoenix.com/live, or you can listen to the coverage on the Elon Sports Network from Learfield/IMG College through TuneIn, elonphoenix.com/live, or on CAA.tv and the CAA.tv app. The Phoenix All-Access and Elon Sports Network coverage will be provided by Taylor Durham and Brian Morris starting with the pregame show 6:30 p.m.

THURSDAY’S GAME IS…
• The 21st meeting all-time between the Elon Phoenix and the UNCW Seahawks.
• The 2,725th game in Elon’s program history.

AN ELON WIN WOULD…
• Be the 1,410th win in program history and Elon’s 260th Division I win.
• Be the 149th win for Elon head men’s basketball coach Matt Matheny.

THE MATCHUP
• Thursday marks the 21st all-time meeting between Elon and UNCW. The Seahawks have won eight of the last 11 meetings and have an 11-9 lead in the series. UNCW is 10-3 against the Phoenix in Elon’s Division I era.
• In the last meeting, Elon earned its first-ever victory inside Trask Coliseum and first win at UNCW in 43 years. Elon’s last win in Wilmington prior to Saturday was on Jan. 24, 1976 inside Hanover Hall.
• Last season, UNCW earned a season sweep of the Phoenix with an 87-63 victory on Feb. 15, 2018 inside Trask Coliseum and an 80-78 overtime win on Jan. 11, 2018 inside Alumni Gym.
• Elon’s last win at home against the Seahawks came in a 77-76 thriller on Feb. 11, 2017 inside Alumni Gym. It was Elon’s first win against UNCW since Feb. 28, 2015, when the Phoenix defeated the Seahawks 74- 55 on Senior Day inside Alumni Gym.
• Elon is 2-2 against UNCW at home since the Phoenix joined the CAA in 2014-15.

SCOUTING UNCW
• UNCW (9-19, 5-10 CAA) snapped its six-game losing streak on Saturday night, Feb. 16, upsetting league-leader Hofstra 87-79 on Senior Night at Trask Coliseum.
• Devontae Cacok leads the team in scoring (15.2) and rebounding (12.0). Cacok’s 12.0 rebounds per contest ranks 1st in the CAA and 3rd at the NCAA Division I ranks. Jeantal Cylla is 2nd on the team in scoring with 13.7 per game, while Ty Gadsden is tallying 11.1 a game. Freshman Kai Toews has tallied 221 assists this season and is averaging 7.9 per game, which ranks 2nd at the NCAA Division I ranks.
• The Seahawks have the second-highest scoring offense in the league (77.2 ppg) and has the second-highest assist total (15.3 apg). They also rank second in the league in offensive rebounds (11.9) per game, and first in offensive rebounds (12.1) in league games only.
• C.B. McGrath, an assistant coach on the University of North Carolina’s 2005, 2009 and 2017 national championship teams, was named the 11th men’s basketball history in UNCW history on April 3, 2017. In his second season with UNCW, McGrath has a 19-34 record with the Seahawks.
• During non-conference action, UNCW faced off against some tough competition, which included Stanford in its home opener, UNCG, Davidson, #14 North Carolina and #23 Furman. The Seahawks picked up wins against Arkansas State, East Carolina, and Eastern Illinois.

ABOUT ELON
• The Phoenix has a 8-19 record overall and is 4-10 in CAA action in 2018-19 after suffering its fourth straight loss on Saturday, Feb. 16, against William & Mary at Schar Center.
• Elon has two players scoring in double figures. Seibring is Elon’s leading scorer at 16.4 points and is also grabbing 5.8 boards per game. Steven Santa Ana is second on the team in scoring as he is tallying 14.8 points and leads the team in rebounding at 6.3 per game.
• The Phoenix ranks first in the CAA in three-pointers made with 9.8 per game, which also ranks 20th in the nation. Elon’s 265 total three-pointers this season ranks 16th nationally at the NCAA Division I level.
• Seibring is currently 7th in the CAA in scoring (16.4), while Santa Ana ranks 14th (14.8) in the league. Santa Ana’s 6.3 rebounds ranks 11th and Seibring’s 5.8 ranks 13th in the league.
• Sheldon Eberhardt leads the team with 86 total assists, which is an average of 3.4 per contest and ranks 8th in the CAA. He is also the team’s third-leading scorer with 9.6 points per game and has the second-highest free throw shooting percentage (.830) on the team.
• In conference play only, Elon continues to improve defensively as it ranks 4th in the league in field goal percentage defense (.446). The Phoenix is also ranked 3rd defensive rebounding averaging 25.4 per game.
• Seibring is once again is playing his best during conference play. The senior is bettering his season scoring average with 16.9 points per game and his rebounding at 6.6 per contest in 14 conference games.
• The maroon and gold has played 12 times at home inside its brand-new Schar Center this season, including seven times in non-conference games.
• 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 year 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 four players (Seibring, Santa Ana, Eberhardt and Karolis Kundrotas). Swoope will redshirt at the end of the season and is eligible for a 5th year.
• 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.

IN RARE COMPANY
• Senior forward Tyler Seibring is now ranked in the top-10 in both career scoring (1,709 points) and rebounding (747 rebounds). He is the program’s all-time scoring leader and rebounder during the program’s NCAA Division I era and ranks 7th and 10th in each category, respectively.
• Seibring is the first Elon player at the NCAA Division I level (since 1999) to join the top-10 in both categories of scoring and rebounding. He is also just the sixth player in program history to have a top-10 ranking in both categories.

THERE’S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
• During Elon’s three-game road trip from Jan. 19-26, the Phoenix posted a 2-1 mark, which included victories at William & Mary and UNCW.
• The Phoenix claimed its first-ever victory in Williamsburg and first win in Kaplan Arena on Jan. 19 with a 76-71 victory over the Tribe.
• Elon then bounced back from a loss at Charleston to earn its first-ever win inside Trask Coliseum with a 89-82 victory over UNCW. It was the program’s first win in Wilmington in 43 years with the previous victory coming on Jan. 24, 1976 at Hanover Hall.

DYNAMIC SENIOR DUO
• Seniors Tyler Seibring and Steven Santa Ana have combined for 827 of Elon’s 1,863 points this season, which is 44.4 percent of the team’s scoring in 2018-19.
• Seibring is having his best scoring season of his career at 16.4 points per game and ranks 7th on Elon’s all-time scoring list with 1,709 career points. Santa Ana is also having the best season of his Elon career averaging 14.8 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per contest. His 1,298 career points currently ranks 20th in program history.

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 during the final week of the Phoenix’s non-conference slate.
• 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.

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
Elon plays its final home game of the season on Saturday, Feb. 23, hosting the Cougars of College of Charleston on Senior Night at Schar Center. The matchup between the Phoenix and the Cougars will tip-off at 7 p.m.