Cougars To Be Tested By UCF With Spot In Charleston Classic Championship Game On The Line

Friday, November 18

TD Arena

9:30 PM

College of Charleston

UCF

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Photo by: Al Samuels

Cougars To Be Tested By UCF With Spot In Charleston Classic Championship Game On The Line

11/18/2016 2:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

UCF Game Notes

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (3-0, 0-0 CAA) vs. UCF (2-0, 0-0 AAC)
ESPN GILDAN CHARLESTON CLASSIC
Game #4
November 18, 2016 • 9:30 p.m. (ET)
TD Arena/John Kresse Court (5,100)
at Charleston, S.C.

Television: ESPNU
Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM)
Series History: CofC Leads 12-4
Last Meeting: UCF def. CofC, 74-63, on Nov. 24, 2011 in Paradise Island, Bahamas
Internet: Free Live Statistics at www.CofCStats.com
Live Video: WatchESPN.com
Twitter: @CofCBasketball

THE COACHES
College of Charleston: Earl Grant
Third Year at CofC: 29-38
Third Year Overall: 29-38
UCF: Johnny Dawkins
First Year at UCF: 2-0
Ninth Year Overall: 158-115

TELEVISION (ESPNU)
Play-By-Play: Doug Sherman
Color Analyst: Miles Simon

RADIO (College of Charleston Radio Network)
Play-By-Play: Everett German
Color Analyst: Danny Johnson

GAME PREVIEW
The College of Charleston men's basketball team (3-0) will be tested by Central Florida (2-0) as both teams fight for a spot in the championship game of the ESPN Gildan Charleston Classic on Friday, Nov. 18 at 9:30 p.m. (ET) at TD Arena. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The Cougars are off to their best start since the 2011-12 season under former head coach Bobby Cremins, who is still chairman of the tournament, and has noted that current head coach Earl Grant has done a great job with the program over the last three years and observed that the program could go very far this season. With the combination of its signature defense and added firepower on offense, CofC has shown growth and maturity with a rather young squad. Sophomore Jarrell Brantley, who was last year's Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year, recorded a double-double with 11 points and season-high 13 rebounds in the team's 60-47 win over Boise State in the opening round, while redshirt junior Joe Chealey added a team-high 15 points. The Cougars are currently holding opponents to 59.7 points per game, which ranks No. 40 nationally, and also rank No. 45 in field-goal percentage defense (35.8%) and No. 49 in three-point field goal percentage defense (25.3%). The winner and loser of the evening semifinal matchup will either face defending national champion and No. 3-ranked Villanova (3-0) or Wake Forest (3-0) in the championship or third-place game on Sunday.

A LOOK AT UCF
The Knights are under the direction of first-year head coach Johnny Dawkins, who inherited a veteran squad composed of eight returning letterwinners and three starters. UCF opened the season with an 80-56 victory over Nicholls State on Nov. 14 and an 86-61 opening-round win over Mississippi State on Nov. 17. The Knights are led by 7-foot-6 bigman Tacko Fall, who is averaging a double-double with 21.0 points and 14.0 rebounds per game. The program recruiting CofC current leading scorer Joe Chealey (17.7 ppg), who is a native of Orlando and starred at Apopka High School.

COUGARS IN THE CHARLESTON CLASSIC
The Cougars last participated in the Charleston Classic during the inaugural season of the tournament in 2008 and in 2012. They are now 4-3 all-time in Charleston Classic games. CofC went 2-1 with a 72-66 opening-round win over SIU Edwardsville on Nov. 14, 2008 – the first game ever played in TD Arena under former head coach Bobby Cremins. CofC also defeated TCU, 86-75, in its final game of the tournament on Nov. 16, 2008, after dropping a five-point decision to Temple (70-65) on Nov. 15, 2008. During the 2012 Classic, the Cougars went 1-2 against St. John's (L, 53-64), Auburn (L, 51-55) and Boston College (W, 71-67).

OFF TO A GOOD START
The Cougars are off to a 3-0 start to the season for the first time since 2011-12 where they last defeated Holy Cross, Morehead State and Clemson in a row. Ironically, current CofC assistant coach Milan Brown was the head coach at Holy Cross and head coach Earl Grant was an assistant coach at Clemson during CofC's run. Charleston last started the year at 4-0 during the 2002-03 season under former head coach Tom Herrion (Charleston Southern, Webber International, Wyoming and Oklahoma State).

DEFENSE, COUGARS, DEFENSE
The CofC defense has frustrated all three of its early opponents to under their scoring average from a year ago. The Citadel, who ranked No. 2 in the nation in scoring offense last season, was held to 68 points and an opponent season-low 29.9 percent shooting from the field on Nov. 11 at TD Arena.

OPPONENT                            2015-16 SCORING OFFENSE        POINTS SCORED vs. COFC
The Citadel           86.0 ppg                   68 Points
Coastal Carolina      73.0 ppg                   64 Points
Boise State           77.5 ppg                   47 Points

COUGARS ON THE AIRWAVES
Fans can listen to all CofC men's basketball games throughout the 2016-17 season on ESPN Radio 910 AM in Charleston or via a live audio link at: www.charlestonsportsradio.com. Voice of the Cougars Everett German and color analyst Danny Johnson will call the action live from TD Arena on the College of Charleston Radio Network.

PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS
#13 Joe Chealey, G, 6-4, 195, RS-Jr. (17.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.3 apg, 29.3 min)
#12 Cameron Johnson, G, 6-4, 200, Jr. (7.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.3 apg, 29.3 min)
#3 Payton Hulsey, G, 6-5, 225, Sr. (5.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.3 apg, 26.0 min)
#5 Jarrell Brantley, F, 6-7, 250, So. (12.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.7 apg, 28.3 min)
#23 Nick Harris, F, 6-10, 250, So. (4.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 0.0 apg, 17.7 min)

PROJECTED UCF STARTERS
#1 B.J. Taylor, G, 6-2, 200, RS-So. (15.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 7.5 apg, 31.0 min)
#12 Matt Williams, G, 6-5, 215, RS-Sr. (15.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 35.0 min)
#0 Tank Efianayi, G/F, 6-6, 210, Sr. (17.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, 33.0 min)
#14 Nick Banyard, F, 6-8, 230, RS-Sr. (9.0 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 34.5 min)
#24 Tacko Fall, C, 7-6, 290, So. (21.0 ppg, 14.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 26.0 min)

SERIES NOTES
CofC is 12-4 versus UCF in the all-time series including a 7-1 record on its home court. The Cougars last met the Knights at the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis (L, 63-74) in 2011 in Paradise Island, Bahamas. Both were former members of the Trans America Athletic Conference in the early 90s.

BOISE STATE RECAP
College of Charleston 60, Boise State 47
• It was a first time meeting between College of Charleston and Boise State. The last time the Cougars defeated a Mountain West Conference opponent was former member TCU (86-75) in the fifth-place game of the 2008 Charleston Classic.
• Jarrell Brantley records his first double-double of the season with 11 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. It marked his sixth career double-double and he is currently on a three-game double-digit scoring streak.
• Once again, the Cougars found their way to the free throw line making 20-of-27 attempts versus Boise State.
• Brantley also perfect from the free throw line this season 11-for-11 including 5-for-5 against Boise State.
• For the third-consecutive game, Joe Chealey led all CofC scorers with a team-high 15 points and went a career-high 11-of-13 from the free throw line. He is currently on a three-game double-digit scoring streak.
• The Cougar defense held Boise State to a season-low 47 points. The Broncos averaged 77.5 points per game in 2015-16.

COUGAR SOUND BITES
"Thank goodness it's at 9:30 p.m. We have some hours to rest and watch film. We have scouted all of these teams since this summer, so we've had a feel for Central Florida. Johnny Dawkins is doing a great job there. They are a very good team. It's going to be a humungous challenge. We will have a great game plan prepared and hopefully our plan is successful. But, the bigger the challenge, the bigger the opportunity for us." – CofC Head Coach Earl Grant on the quick turnaround and prepping for UCF in the next round

"It's a combination of things. We had a lot experience last year and 21 of our games were decided between 4-6 points. So, 65-to-80 percent of our games were close last year. It helps because we play so many guards. With all of our different ball handlers, it helps against the pressure at the end of the games. We have been taking care of the ball better and making better decisions this year." – Coach Grant on why the team has had more success this year with closing out games

"Our approach is still the same. They (UCF) are the next opponent. They recruited me. As far as their big man (Tacko Fall), we will defend him the same way as we do for any opponent. Whatever game plan Coach (Grant) comes up with defensively is what will do. We don't pay too much attention to who we are playing and just focus on what Coach tells us to do night-in and night-out." – CofC Redshirt Junior Guard Joe Chealey on playing his hometown team UCF in the next round

"It definitely makes teams scout us really well. We have nine-plus players who can play and can contribute in different ways. We just have a lot of weapons, but we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. We are still working individually and coming together as a team. It feels good to have depth this year." – CofC Junior Guard Cameron Johnson on how other teams guard Charleston