COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (22-6, 13-3 CAA) vs. ELON (14-14, 6-9 CAA)
Game #29
February 22, 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)
Series History: CofC Leads 18-7
Last Meeting: Elon def. CofC, 63-58, on Jan. 13, 2018 in Elon, N.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
Fourth Year at CofC: 73-54
Fourth Year Overall: 73-54
Elon: Matt Matheny
Ninth Year at Elon: 140-143
Ninth Year Overall: 140-143
 
TELEVISION (None)
 
RADIO (College of Charleston Radio Network)
Play-By-Play: Everett German
Color Analyst: Danny Johnson
 
GAME PREVIEW
Riding a league-best 10-game winning streak, the College of Charleston men's basketball team (22-6, 13-3 CAA) hosts Elon (14-14, 6-9 CAA) with high stakes on the line in its regular-season home finale scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. (ET) at TD Arena. The Cougars' current win streak is tied for the seventh-longest in the program's NCAA Division I history next to a 10-game win streak during the 2002-03 season. It is also tied with Rider for the third-longest in the nation behind an 11-game win streak held by Michigan State and Grambling State. CofC is coming off another 2-0 week in Colonial Athletic Association play with road wins at James Madison (81-78) on Feb. 15 and UNCW (88-74) on Feb. 17, which kept the Cougars out in front of the league race with a one-game lead over second-place Northeastern (19-9, 14-4 CAA). Nearly 40 days have passed since the Phoenix won the last meeting between both schools, which was CofC's last loss before its current stretch. Sophomore guard Grant Riller, who is averaging 17.6 points and a team-best 1.2 steals per game, is the reigning CAA Player of the Week for the second week in a row. He has recorded two 30-point and two 20-point outings in the Cougars' last five contests including 32 and the game-winning three-pointer at JMU.
 
LONGEST WIN STREAK IN COFC HISTORY (NCAA Division I Era)
1. 25 games in 1998-99
2. 23 games in 1996-97
3. 20 games in 1995-96
4T. 16 games in 1994-95
4T. 16 games in 1993-94
6. 11 games in 1991-92
7T. 10 games in 2002-03
7T. 10 games in 2017-18
 
CURRENT NCAA DIVISION I LONGEST WIN STREAK
1T. Michigan State – 11
1T. Grambling State – 11
3T. College of Charleston – 10
3T. Rider – 10
5T. Gonzaga – 9
5T. Middle Tennessee – 9
5T. Murray State – 9
5T. Weber State – 9
 
A LOOK AT ELON
Elon is looking to snap a three-game losing skid and will be at the tail end of a three-game road stretch after losses at UNCW (63-87) on Feb. 15 and Delaware (57-72) on Feb. 17. The Phoenix have been without the services of redshirt senior guard Brian Dawkins (12.0 ppg and 5.6 rpg), who has missed the team's last three games in conference play due to injury. Junior forward Tyler Seibring is one of only two players on Elon's roster who has started and played in all 38 games of the season. He is averaging a team-best 15.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
 
CAA SCENARIOS
A Charleston win against Elon and a Northeastern win versus Towson on Thursday night, would give the Cougars at least a share of their first-ever CAA regular-season title with Northeastern. A CofC win and a Northeastern loss would give the Cougars the title outright. Either way, one win this week would still secure the Cougars the No. 1 tournament seed (CofC holds the tiebreaker with its regular-season series sweep of NU) at the upcoming CAA Men's Basketball Championship on March 3-6 at the North Charleston Coliseum and the league's automatic NIT berth. Both teams will play on the road to end the regular season – CofC at William & Mary and Northeastern at Elon on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. (ET) and 7 p.m. (ET) respectively. The Cougars last won a regular-season title as members of the Southern Conference in 2011 under former head coach Bobby Cremins.
 
SENIOR SALUTE
The 2018 Senior Class will be honored prior to tipoff versus Elon at approximately 6:45 p.m. at TD Arena. The Cougars will honor seven seniors including point guard Joe Chealey (Orlando, Fla.), guard Cameron Johnson (Athens, Ga.), forward Evan Bailey (Canton, Ohio), big man Nick Harris (Dacula, Ga.), walk-on guard John Eck (Hilton Head Island, S.C.), manager Max Clevens (Melbourne, Fla.) and manager Seth Lovette (Goose Creek, S.C.). Chealey, who ranks fifth all-time in career scoring with 1,709 career points to date, and Johnson, who ranks 35th all-time with 1,078 career points to date, both serve as co-team captains of this year's squad.
 
COUGARS ON THE AIRWAVES
Fans can listen to all CofC men's basketball games throughout the 2017-18 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 TD Arena alongside color analyst Danny Johnson on the College of Charleston Radio Network.
 
PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS
#13 Joe Chealey, G, 6-4, 190, Sr. (17.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.6 apg, 35.7 min)
#1 Grant Riller, G, 6-3, 195, So. (17.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.0 apg, 32.8 min)
#12 Cameron Johnson, G, 6-4, 200, Sr. (8.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, 32.9 min)
#5 Jarrell Brantley, F, 6-7, 250, Jr. (17.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.6 apg, 31.0 min)
#23 Nick Harris, F, 6-10, 260, Jr. (6.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 0.4 apg, 26.4 min)
 
PROJECTED ELON STARTERS
#3 Seth Fuller, G, 5-11, 180, RS-Fr. (2.6 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.8 apg, 9.5 min)
#13 Dainan Swoope, G, 6-0, 185, Jr. (13.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.8 apg, 33.5 min)
#4 Collin Luther, F, 6-6, 220, Sr. (0.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.5 apg, 5.4 min)
#33 Simon Wright, F, 6-7, 215, Fr. (1.5 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.6 apg, 8.8 min)
#41 Tyler Seibring, F, 6-9, 225, Jr. (15.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.2 apg, 34.1 min)
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
CofC is one of only 10 remaining NCAA Division I schools to remain unbeaten at home this season along with Texas Tech (16-0), Rhode Island (14-0), Wagner (14-0), South Dakota State (14-0), Stephen F. Austin (14-0), Houston (13-0), Louisiana (13-0), North Carolina A&T (12-0) and Montana (11-0). A win on Thursday night would give the Cougars only their sixth all-time undefeated season at home in program history and first since going a perfect 13-0 at John Kresse Arena during the 2000-01 season. It would also mark the first undefeated season at home at TD Arena (formerly Carolina First Arena), which opened in 2008.
 
UNDEFEATED HOME SEASONS IN COFC HISTORY
1. 16-0 in 1996-97 at John Kresse Arena
2. 14-0 in 1998-99 at John Kresse Arena
3. 13-0 in 2000-01 at John Kresse Arena
4. 13-0 in 1993-94 at the Johnson Center
5. 9-0 in 1971-72
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
College of Charleston leads 18-7 in the all-time series with Elon. The Phoenix ended a three-game losing streak in the series in both teams' last meeting (63-58) on Jan. 13, 2018 at Alumni Gym in Elon, N.C. However, the Cougars still hold an edge having won 10 of the last 13 meetings extending back to the Southern Conference rivalry years for both schools. CofC joined the CAA in July of 2013 and Elon in July of 2014.
 
LAST 10 GAMES IN THE SERIES
L, 58-63 at Elon, N.C. on 1/13/18 (-5)
W, 71-58 at Charleston, S.C. on 2/4/17 (+13)
W, 66-54 at Elon, N.C. on 12/31/16 (+12)
W, 66-62 at Elon, N.C. on 2/13/16 (+4)
L, 64-65 at Charleston, S.C. on 1/16/16 (-1)
W, 77-63 at Charleston, S.C. on 2/18/15 (+14)
W, 66-50 at Elon, N.C. on 1/14/15 (+16)
W, 68-60 at Asheville, N.C.^ on 3/11/13 (+8)
W, 56-54 at Elon, N.C. on 12/1/12 (+2)
L, 98-99 (2OT) at Elon, N.C. on 2/2/12 (-1)
 
UNCW RECAP
College of Charleston 88, UNCW 74
• For the 16-straight game in league play, the College of Charleston used the starting lineup of Joe Chealey, Grant Riller, Cameron Johnson, Jarrell Brantley and Nick Harris.
• With the win, College of Charleston tied the all-time series with UNCW with 13 victories each. The Cougars swept the regular-season series with the Seahawks for the first time since joining the CAA in July of 2013.
• Grant Riller extended his double-digit scoring streak to six-straight games with a team-high 28 points in 38 minutes of action at UNCW. He has now scored 20-or-more points in four of the last five games for the Cougars. Riller has now tabulated 935 career points to date.
• Jarrell Brantley registered 23 points on a career-best tying 4-for-4 shooting performance at UNCW. It marked his 15th 20-point game of his career and eighth of the season. He also added a team-high seven rebounds, three assists and one steal in just 27 minutes of play versus the Seahawks. Brantley has now recorded 1,179 career points to date.
• Joe Chealey turned in 15 points and three assists at UNCW. He has now recorded his third 100+ assist season (102) and has tabulated 1,709 career points to date.
• Nick Harris made five rebounds and one blocked shot at UNCW. He became only the seventh all-time CofC player to record 500 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in a career. Harris currently ranks seventh all-time in career blocks (100) in the program's NCAA Division I era.
• CofC shot a season-best 68.0 percent from the field (34-of-50) versus the Seahawks including 70.8 percent in the second half (17-of-24).
• The Cougar defense held UNCW to the second-lowest opponent accuracy from beyond the arc this season (18.2%).
• College of Charleston has now scored 80+ points in its last five-straight games. The Cougars' 88 points at UNCW marked its fourth-highest output of the season behind Delaware (93), North Greenville (92) and Drexel (89).
 
COUGAR SOUND BITES
"We've made a lot of progress over the last 45 days, but we still have a lot to do to continue to get better. There are things we can improve on – defensive rebounding, taking care of the ball and making good decisions. We talk about breaking the season down into three seasons – the non-conference, the 18-game conference race and the conference tournament. We have two games left in our second season and we need to finish. We need to run across the (finish) line and see if we can put our best foot forward in this last week in conference play." – CofC Head Coach Earl Grant on the final two-game stretch of the regular season
 
"We didn't play well at Elon. Obviously, we want to do a better job than what we did the last time we saw them. We had a chance to win it, had two-or-three good shots, but we played poor. That was 40 days ago and I think we've made progress since then. We are a different team now. We just have to trust our game plan that it will put us in a situation to have some success on Thursday night." – Coach Grant on the team's last meeting with Elon
 
"Four years feels like four minutes. It goes by so fast. Now, I'm the old guy in the locker room. It's a treat though. You go through the process, you see yourself grow and you see the young guys come up. I just hope I left my mark on the program. Hopefully, we have a lot more games left, but time is sure ticking. We have to protect our house (on Thursday). We lost to Elon at their place earlier this year. They are a good team. But, I feel like we've found our stride and we are ready for the do-over." – Senior Guard Cameron Johnson on Senior Night and the rematch with Elon