Three-Game Homestand Begins With South Carolina State

Wednesday, November 28

TD Arena

7:00 PM

College of Charleston

South Carolina State

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Three-Game Homestand Begins With South Carolina State

11/27/2018 9:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

South Carolina State Game Notes

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (5-2, 0-0 CAA) vs. SOUTH CAROLINA STATE (1-6, 0-0 MEAC)
Game #8
November 28, 2018 • 7:00 p.m. (ET)
TD Arena/John Kresse Court (5,100)
at Charleston, S.C.

Television: None
Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM | 94.7 FM)
Series History: CofC Leads 13-8
Last Meeting: CofC def. South Carolina State, 80-64, on Dec. 19, 2017 in Charleston, S.C.
Internet: Free Live Statistics at www.CofCStats.com
Live Video: Free Live Video at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/charleston/
Tickets: www.CofCSports.com/tickets
Twitter: @CofCBasketball

THE COACHES
College of Charleston: Earl Grant
Fifth Year at CofC: 82-58
Fifth Year Overall: 82-58
South Carolina State: Murray Garvin
Sixth Year at SC State: 63-113
Sixth Year Overall: 63-113

TELEVISION (None)

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

GAME PREVIEW
Riding a two-game win streak, the College of Charleston men's basketball team (5-2) returns home for a three-game homestand beginning with South Carolina State (1-6) on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. (ET) at TD Arena. The Cougars compiled a 2-1 tournament record at the AdvoCare Invitational over the Thanksgiving holiday break that concluded a tough four-game stretch that included the likes of Oklahoma State (Big 12), No. 19-ranked LSU (SEC), UAB (Conference USA) and Memphis (American). They beat UAB and Memphis behind back-to-back 30-point outbursts from junior guard Grant Riller as well as solid shooting from the field, long range and free throw line against the Blazers and Tigers. It has been 15 days since CofC last defeated Rhode Island (Atlantic 10) at TD Arena to extend the program's home-court win streak to 18 games on Nov. 13. The Cougars are ready to get back into action in front of their home crowd before the start of final exams and the end of the fall semester. Charleston is currently led by two of the top scorers in the country in Riller (43rd, 20.7 ppg) and senior forward Jarrell Brantley (82nd, 19.3 ppg).

A LOOK AT SOUTH CAROLINA STATE
South Carolina State is coming off tough losses at the Buckeye Basketball Classic where it faced Cleveland State (L, 69-84), host Ohio State (L, 61-89), Purdue Fort Wayne (L, 68-72) and Samford (L, 60-77). The Bulldogs are led in scoring by junior forward Damani Applewhite (19.4 ppg), who is also one of the nation's top field-goal percentage shooters making 57.3 percent of his attempts this season. As a team, SC State also ranks No. 88 in the country in offensive rebounds per game (12.00).

COUGARS ON THE AIRWAVES
Fans can listen to all CofC men's basketball games throughout the 2018-19 season on ESPN Radio 910 AM and 94.7 FM in Charleston or via a live audio link at: www.charlestonsportsradio.com. Voice of the Cougars Everett German will call the action live from TD Arena along with color analyst Danny Johnson on the College of Charleston Radio Network.

PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS
#10 Zep Jasper, G, 6-1, 170, RS-Fr. (6.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.3 apg, 31.0 min)
#1 Grant Riller, G, 6-3, 190, Jr. (20.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 5.0 apg, 36.6 min)
#2 Brevin Galloway, G, 6-2, 215, So. (10.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.9 apg, 27.4 min)
#5 Jarrell Brantley, F, 6-7, 255, Sr. (19.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.3 apg, 34.0 min)
#23 Nick Harris, F, 6-10, 270, Sr. (0.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 0.3 apg, 19.6 min)

PROJECTED SOUTH CAROLINA STATE STARTERS
#3 Rayshawn Neal, G, 5-10, 205, So. (6.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, 23.6 min)
#11 Janai Raynor-Powell, G, 5-10, 175, Sr. (11.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.0 apg, 31.4 min)
#24 Ian Kinard, F, 6-8, 215, Jr. (4.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.3 apg, 18.4 min)
#35 Damani Applewhite, F, 6-8, 200, Jr. (19.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 0.3 apg, 32.7 min)
#5 Ozante Fields, F, 6-7, 225, Jr. (6.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 0.6 apg, 15.9 min)

SERIES HISTORY
College of Charleston leads 13-8 in the all-time series with South Carolina State. The Cougars are 9-1 all-time when playing the Bulldogs at home since both teams began the series dating back to the 1973-74 season. Since becoming a NCAA Division I member school in 1991-92, CofC is 6-1 all-time versus SC State and has won the last six-straight meetings between the two Palmetto State schools.

LAST SEVEN GAMES IN THE SERIES
W, 80-64 on Dec. 19, 2017 (+16) in Charleston, S.C.
W, 74-54 on Nov. 13, 2015 (+20) in Charleston, S.C.
W, 88-73 on Jan. 2, 2010 (+15) in Charleston, S.C.
W, 94-72 on Nov. 24, 2008 (+22) in Orangeburg, S.C.
W, 70-57 on Nov. 29, 1993 (+13) in Charleston, S.C.
W, 73-48 on Feb. 11, 1992 (+25) in Charleston, S.C.
L, 52-60 (OT) on Jan. 22, 1992 (-8) in Orangeburg, S.C.

RILLER CAA CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior guard Grant Riller led the Cougars to a 2-1 week at the AdvoCare Invitational in his hometown of Orlando, Fla. He averaged a team-leading 23.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game against No. 19 LSU, UAB and Memphis. Riller also shot 54.2 percent from the field and made a career-high nine assists in the team's 78-75 win over Memphis on Nov. 25. He recorded the second-most points in a single game (33) in tournament history versus UAB on Nov. 23 and earned a spot on the all-tournament team. For the fifth time of his career, Riller was named CAA Men's Basketball Co-Player of the Week along with Justin Wright-Foreman of Hofstra.

HOME SWEET HOME
CofC is currently tied with Houston with the second-longest active home winning streak (18 wins) in the country after going an undefeated 14-0 at TD Arena in 2017-18. Only South Dakota State (23) has a longer home-court winning streak in NCAA Division I. Others included on that elite list: Montana (17), Utah Valley (16), Nebraska (15) and Buffalo (15).

MEMPHIS RECAP
College of Charleston 78, Memphis 75
• College of Charleston used the starting lineup of Zep Jasper, Grant Riller, Brevin Galloway, Jarrell Brantley and Nick Harris (5-2).
• With the win, CofC takes a 1-0 lead in the all-time series with Memphis. It was a first-time meeting between the two schools.
• Grant Riller recorded his seventh career 30-point game with a game-high 32 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field and 4-for-7 from long range against Memphis. It marked the first time of his career to turn in back-to-back 30-point performances with a game-high 33 points versus UAB on Nov. 23. He also made five rebounds, career-high nine assists and two steals versus the Tigers.
• Jarrell Brantley extended his double-digit scoring streak to seven-straight games with 19 points and eight rebounds against Memphis.
• Brevin Galloway turned in his fourth career game in double figures with 15 points versus Memphis on a career-best 5-of-9 shooting night from long range.
• Nick Harris made a career-high tying two steals, one blocked shot and four rebounds against the Tigers.
• Jaylen Richard came off the bench and registered a season-and career-high tying seven points against Memphis.
• The Cougars converted a season-best 40.7 percent of their shots from beyond the arc and knocked down a season-high 11 three-pointers versus the Tigers.
• CofC shot a season-high 81.0 percent from the free throw line (17-of-21) behind Brantley (6-of-7), Riller (6-of-8) and Richard (5-of-6).

COUGAR SOUND BITES
"Obviously, there's no place like home. It's nice to have your home-court crowd of fans and students behind you. They provide great energy for us. I thought we did a good job on the road. We had a tough road stretch, but it feels really good to be back home." – CofC Head Coach Earl Grant on returning home after a tough four-game stretch on the road

"We played a lot of good, high-level teams. We had some challenges and opportunities. We conquered some of them. We won some games against good opponents. Now, we understand having played that type of competition that you have to be sharp, you have to execute better, you have to cut harder and your timing has to be good. Also, the physicality of it – rebounding and the speed of the game – you have to be sharp mentally and physically." – Coach Grant on his takeaways from the tournament games in Orlando

"They (South Carolina State) have some athletic and big guys. They have good guards and guys who can make shots. It's very important for us to be mentally locked in and understand it's going to be a challenge. It's another NCAA Division I program and the next team on our schedule. We have to execute our game plan, but really, it's more about us than the opponent. There are things we can do better and we learned that in our games last week." – Coach Grant on getting the team ready for South Carolina State

"It feels good to be back home and to be able to play in front of our own fans. We played hard and we stuck to our game plan in Orlando. A couple of shots started to fall for us, especially in the Memphis game. We are a lot more battle tested at this point of the season. We've fought a couple of harder teams. We've been in close games and big-time situations. Those experiences will help us out a lot moving forward." – Junior Guard Grant Riller on what the team did well and learned while being away from home the last four games

"They've learned a lot. We've forced them to grow up a little bit faster than probably what they expected. Playing in those games in Orlando and going to Oklahoma State helped our growth as a team." – Riller on the development of the freshmen over the last seven games