COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (19-7, 10-3 CAA) vs. WILLIAM & MARY (13-11, 7-6 CAA)
Game #27
February 11, 2017 • 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Kaplan Arena (8,600)
at Williamsburg, Va.
 
Television: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM)
Series History: William & Mary Leads 5-3                                                                                     
Last Meeting: CofC def. William & Mary, 77-67, on Jan. 14, 2017 in Charleston, S.C.
Internet: Free Live Statistics at www.TribeAthletics.com
Live Video: Free Live Video at www.CAA.tv
Twitter: @CofCBasketball
 
THE COACHES
College of Charleston: Earl Grant
Third Year at CofC: 45-45
Third Year Overall: 45-45
William & Mary: Tony Shaver
14th Year at W&M: 189-236
31st Year Overall: 547-357
 
TELEVISION (Comcast SportsNet)
Play-By-Play: Al Koken
Color Analyst: John Feinstein
Sideline Reporter: Chase Hughes
 
RADIO (College of Charleston Radio Network)
Play-By-Play: Everett German
 
GAME PREVIEW
The College of Charleston men's basketball team (19-7, 10-3 CAA) will play three of its final five games of the regular season on the road beginning with a rematch at William & Mary (13-11, 7-6 CAA) on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. (ET) in Williamsburg, Va. The game will be televised live regionally on Comcast SportsNet and locally on MeTV. Both teams are looking to rebound from tough losses to Northeastern (72-73) and Drexel (61-79) respectively on Feb. 9. The Cougars are currently in second place in the latest league standings, while W&M is in a three-way tie for fourth. Redshirt junior guard Joe Chealey is coming off a game-high 28-point performance in the buzzer-beater loss to Northeastern and ranks ninth in the CAA with nine 20+ point outings this season. Once again, the CAA's top scoring defense (62.2 ppg) will look to hold down the Tribe's second-best scoring offense (80.8 ppg). W&M is the first stop of a three-consecutive game league road swing that will also take the Cougars up North next week to Hofstra on Feb. 16 and Northeastern on Feb. 18.
 
A LOOK AT WILLIAM & MARY
William & Mary has won five of its last eight league games since both teams last met on Jan. 14 including an upset of previously unbeaten and league favorite UNCW (96-78) on Jan. 28. The Tribe is the only team in the CAA still undefeated on their home court at 11-0 this season at Kaplan Arena. This will be the second-straight game in which CofC will face the Top 2 scorers in the league in Reigning CAA Player of the Week Daniel Dixon who is averaging 18.0 points per game, which is second only to T.J. Williams of Northeastern (21.0 ppg).
 
ROAD WARRIORS
College of Charleston has put together an impressive 8-3 road record this season including a 5-1 mark in league play. This year, the Cougars pulled off their first-ever road wins at Delaware, Drexel and UNCW since joining the Colonial in 2013. They have yet to win on the road at William & Mary (three tries) and Hofstra (three tries). Their only blemishes away from the friendly confines of TD Arena this year have been at defending national champion Villanova, LSU and Towson in overtime. CofC is one of only 19 teams in NCAA Division I with eight wins or more on the road next to Saint Mary's, Texas Southern, Middle Tennessee State, Florida Golf Coast, Monmouth, Bucknell, Tennessee State, Samford, UMBC, UT Arlington, UNC Asheville, Furman, Rider, UNCW, Vermont, North Carolina Central, Canisius and Jacksonville State.
 
"We've played well on the road. But, all of the games are the same to us. Every game is tough and every team is capable. You have to make sure to execute your game plan all the way through the season." – CofC Head Coach Earl Grant
 
COUGARS CLOSING IN ON 20-WIN CAMPAIGN
The Cougars are closing in on their first 20-win campaign since the 2012-13 season where they compiled a 24-11 overall record and advanced to the CBI First Round. College of Charleston has recorded 20-win seasons on 16 occasions since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1991-92.
 
COFC NCAA DIVISION I ALL-TIME 20-WIN SEASONS
1993-94: 24-4 (NCAA First Round)
1994-95: 23-6 (NIT First Round)
1995-96: 25-4 (NIT Second Round)
1996-97: 29-3 (NCAA Second Round)
1997-98: 24-6 (NCAA First Round)
1998-99: 28-3 (NCAA First Round)
1999-00: 24-6
2000-01: 22-7
2001-02: 21-9
2002-03: 25-8 (NIT Second Round)
2003-04: 20-9
2006-07: 22-11
2008-09: 27-9 (CBI Quarterfinals)
2009-10: 22-12 (CBI Quarterfinals)
2010-11: 26-11 (NIT Quarterfinals)
2012-13: 24-11 (CBI First Round)
 
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 will call the action live from Kaplan Arena on the College of Charleston Radio Network.
 
PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS
#13 Joe Chealey, G, 6-4, 195, RS-Jr. (16.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.1 apg, 33.6 min)
#1 Grant Riller, G, 6-3, 185, RS-Fr. (13.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.1 apg, 25.9 min)
#12 Cameron Johnson, G, 6-4, 200, Jr. (6.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.8 apg, 31.4 min)
#5 Jarrell Brantley, F, 6-7, 250, So. (13.0 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.2 apg, 31.6 min)
#23 Nick Harris, F, 6-10, 250, So. (5.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 0.2 apg, 24.0 min)
 
PROJECTED WILLIAM & MARY STARTERS
#34 David Cohn, G, 6-2, 168, RS-Jr. (6.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.5 apg, 28.8 min)
#0 Daniel Dixon, G, 6-6, 210, Sr. (18.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.2 apg, 28.0 min)
#5 Greg Malinowski, G/F, 6-6, 210, Jr. (7.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 21.1 min)
#4 Omar Prewitt, G/F, 6-7, 195, Sr. (14.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 3.0 apg, 30.4 min)
#13 Nathan Knight, F, 6-10, 247, Fr. (7.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.9 apg, 17.1 min)
 
SERIES HISTORY
William & Mary leads 5-3 in the all-time series with College of Charleston. The Cougars are 0-3 when playing at Kaplan Arena in the series. Three of the last four meetings have been decided in single digits. Even though both schools are two of the oldest universities in the country, the Tribe and Cougars met for just the first time in program history during the 2013-14 campaign.
 
LAST EIGHT GAMES IN SERIES
W, 77-67 (+10) on Jan. 14, 2017 in Charleston, S.C.
L, 61-63 (-2) on Jan. 14, 2016 in Charleston, S.C.
L, 70-78 (-8) on Jan. 2, 2016 in Williamsburg, Va.
W, 80-72 (+8) on Feb. 5, 2015 in Charleston, S.C.
L, 45-75 (-30) on Jan. 3, 2015 in Williamsburg, Va.
L, 59-70 (-11) on March 8, 2014 in Baltimore, Md.
W, 87-54 (+33) on Feb. 19, 2014 in Charleston, S.C.
L, 63-74 (-11) on Jan. 27, 2014 in Williamsburg, Va.
 
NORTHEASTERN RECAP
Northeastern 73, College of Charleston 72
• Northeastern now leads 5-2 in the all-time series with College of Charleston since the Cougars joined the CAA in 2013. The Huskies are 2-1 in games played at TD Arena.
• For the ninth time this season, Joe Chealey scored 20-or-more points in a game with a game-high 28 points against Northeastern. He extended his double-digit scoring streak to eight consecutive games in league play.
• Grant Riller knocked down 19 points versus Northeastern to extend his double-digit scoring streak to 10-straight games against league opponents.
• Jarrell Brantley was close to another double-double performance with 14 points and seven rebounds against Northeastern.
• Nick Harris turned in his third double-figure rebounding game of the season (11) against Northeastern. He also added a season-high tying three blocked shots. The Cougars and Huskies tied in the rebounding column, 32-32.
• It marked the third game in conference play this season for CofC in which the contest was decided by two points or less next to a win at James Madison (+2) on Jan. 12, a win at UNCW (+1) on Feb. 2 and the one-point loss to Northeastern.
 
COUGAR SOUND BITES
"We have to stay the course and can't forget what got us to this point. There is a lot of season left for us. One game isn't going to define us. But, we have to be true to who we are. We have to understand we are a team that wants to continue to climb and reach our potential. Nothing is going to be easy. We know there are challenges ahead of us. Bottom line, we have to do a better job of who we are and how we got to this point – which is playing better defense and rebounding." – College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant on moving forward and focusing on the next game at William & Mary
 
"They (Northeastern) made seven threes in the second half and that was a big part of it. We usually defend the three really well. We had some uncharacteristic mistakes. They got open looks and we couldn't stop the bleeding." – Coach Grant on the Northeastern loss
 
"We have to learn from it. They (Northeastern) made shots. Part of that had to do with us. We didn't get back on defense and they had three-straight offensive rebounds to open the second half. We made some mental mistakes. It's tough. I'm not sure how we will bounce back, but there isn't another option – we have to bounce back. We just need to learn from it. It's conference play. You can play as well as you want to play, but all it takes is one second and it's a loss on your record. We have to embrace that it hurts a little bit. At the same time, we have to put it in the back of our minds and bounce back." – Redshirt Junior Guard Joe Chealey on moving forward from the Northeastern loss