COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (23-6, 14-3 CAA) vs. WILLIAM & MARY (17-11, 10-7 CAA)
Game #30
February 24, 2018 • 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Kaplan Arena (8,600)
at Williamsburg, Va.
 
Television: None
Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM)
Series History: William & Mary Leads 6-4
Last Meeting: CofC def. William & Mary on 82-77 on Feb. 8, 2018 in Charleston, S.C.
Internet: Free Live Statistics at www.TribeAthletics.com
Live Video: Free Live Video at www.CAA.tv
Tickets: www.TribeAthletics.com
Twitter: @CofCBasketball
 
THE COACHES
College of Charleston: Earl Grant
Fourth Year at CofC: 74-54
Fourth Year Overall: 74-54
William & Mary: Tony Shaver
15th Year at W&M: 210-250
32nd Year Overall: 568-371
 
TELEVISION (None)
 
RADIO (College of Charleston Radio Network)
Play-By-Play: Everett German
 
GAME PREVIEW
Having claimed at least a share of the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title and No. 1 tournament seed at the upcoming CAA Championship, the College of Charleston men's basketball team (23-6, 14-3 CAA) carries its 11-game win streak into its regular-season finale at William & Mary (17-11, 10-7 CAA) on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. (ET) in Williamsburg, Va. It marked the program's first conference regular-season championship since 2011 as former members of the Southern Conference. Kaplan Arena is the only conference venue that has denied the Cougars a road win since joining the Colonial in July of 2013. Head Coach Earl Grant and his veteran squad know it will be a challenge, especially on Senior Day for the Tribe. In both teams' last outing, sophomore guard Grant Riller (30) and senior guard Joe Chealey (22) combined for 52 of CofC's 79 points versus Elon on Feb. 22, while Justin Pierce (22), Connor Burchfield (20) and Nathan Knight (18) combined for 60 of William & Mary's 96 points against UNCW. It will be a matchup between the league's top scoring defense in first-place CofC (67.1 ppg) and top scoring offense in fourth-place W&M (84.6 ppg). The Cougars are currently on their longest win streak in program history since 1999 and could claim the conference regular-season title outright with a road win to end the season. They are tied with Michigan State and Grambling State with the nation's longest active win streak.
 
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
6T. 11 games in 2017-18
6T. 11 games in 1991-92
8. 10 games in 2002-03
 
CURRENT NCAA DIVISION I LONGEST WIN STREAK
1T. Michigan State – 11
1T. Grambling State – 11
1T. College of Charleston – 11
4T. Gonzaga – 10
4T. Murray State – 10
6T. St. Bonaventure – 9
6T. Middle Tennessee State – 9
 
SCOUTING WILLIAM & MARY
William & Mary ranks No. 1 in the nation and in the CAA in free-throw percentage (80.5%) and three-point field-goal percentage (43.3%). The Tribe is also the sixth-best team in the country when it comes to shooting  accuracy from the field (50.9%) behind sophomore forward Nathan Knight, who is 33rd nationally at 57.5%. They snapped a two-game losing skid on the road to Hofstra (84-90) and Northeastern (67-69) with the victory over UNCW. W&M boasts a 10-3 record at home this season and has won all four prior meetings with CofC at Kaplan Arena.
 
CAA SCENARIOS
College of Charleston clinched the No. 1 seed with Thursday night's win over Elon. Should the Cougars finish tied for first place with Northeastern with 14-4 records in league play, CofC still earns the No. 1 seed based on its sweep of the Huskies in head-to-head competition. NU has clinched the No. 2 seed. Hofstra will be the No. 3 seed with a win or a William & Mary loss on Saturday. If Hofstra and William & Mary finish tied for third at 11-7, the Tribe would be the No. 3 seed and Hofstra the No. 4 seed. The teams split their head-to-head matchups, but W&M would receive the higher seed based on their presumed win over No. 1 Charleston. William & Mary is the No. 3 seed with a win and a Hofstra loss. Otherwise, the Tribe would be the No. 4 seed. CofC plays on the road at William & Mary, while Northeastern travels to Elon with a 7 p.m. tip in Elon, N.C.
 
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 Kaplan Arena on the College of Charleston Radio Network.
 
PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS
#13 Joe Chealey, G, 6-4, 190, Sr. (17.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.7 apg, 35.6 min)
#1 Grant Riller, G, 6-3, 195, So. (18.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.1 apg, 32.9 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. (17.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.6 apg, 31.0 min)
#23 Nick Harris, F, 6-10, 260, Jr. (6.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 0.4 apg, 25.8 min)
 
PROJECTED WILLIAM & MARY STARTERS
#34 David Cohn, G, 6-2, 168, Sr. (13.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 6.6 apg, 35.4 min)
#2 Matt Milon, G, 6-5, 195, RS-So. (13.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.2 apg, 30.1 min)
#10 Connor Burchfield, G, 6-4, 180, Sr. (12.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.9 apg, 29.6 min)
#23 Justin Pierce, G/F, 6-7, 215, So. (15.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 2.5 apg, 31.1 min)
#13 Nathan Knight, F, 6-10, 235, So. (18.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.2 apg, 28.7 min)
 
SERIES HISTORY
William & Mary leads 6-4 in the all-time series with College of Charleston. The Cougars have won two of the last three meetings between the two schools. Both teams split the regular-season series a year ago with each claiming a 10-point victory on their respective home courts – CofC, 77-67, on Jan. 14, 2017 at TD Arena and the Tribe, 89-79, at Kaplan Arena on Feb. 11, 2017. The closest the Cougars have come to claiming a road win at Kaplan Arena was in 2016 (Lost 70-78). The last six-straight contests in the series have been decided by 10 points or less.
 
LAST EIGHT GAMES IN SERIES
W, 82-77 (+5) on Feb. 8, 2018 in Charleston, S.C.
L, 79-89 (-10) on Feb. 11, 2017 in Williamsburg, Va.
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.
 
ELON RECAP
College of Charleston 79, Elon 58
• For the first time this season, the College of Charleston started Joe Chealey, Grant Riller, Cameron Johnson, Evan Bailey and Nick Harris on Senior Night. It marked the seventh career start for Bailey.
• With the win, College of Charleston split the regular-season series with Elon. The Cougars lead 19-7 in the all-time series with their former Southern Conference foes. They have now won four of the last five meetings between the two schools and avenged a 63-58 loss to the Phoenix on the road on Jan. 13 – the team's last loss prior to their current 11-game win streak.
• The Cougars claimed at least a share of their first conference regular-season championship title since 2011. It marked the first CAA regular-season title for CofC since joining the Colonial in July of 2013. They earned the No. 1 tournament seed in the 2018 CAA Men's Basketball Championship and league's automatic NIT berth.
• CofC recorded its first undefeated season at home (14-0) since 2001 - the sixth all-time undefeated season at home in program history. The Cougars have now won 16-straight games at TD Arena since last season. It was the first unbeaten season at home in TD Arena history which opened in 2008.
• The Cougars extend their win streak to 11-straight games which is tied as the sixth-longest in the program's NCAA Division I Era (1991-92 to Present) and tied for the longest currently in NCAA Division I with Michigan State and Grambling State.
• Grant Riller registered a game-high 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field including a career-high six three-pointers versus Elon. He also tied career highs in rebounds (6), offensive rebounds (2) and assists (4). It marked his fifth career 30-point game and fourth of the season.
• The Cougars knocked down a season-high 17 three-pointers versus Elon. It marked the most three-pointers made in a single game in the Earl Grant Era and was two shy of the school record set at Western Carolina (19) on Jan. 25, 2010.
• Joe Chealey turned in his ninth 20-point game of the season with 22 points including four three-pointers against Elon. He has now tabulated 1,731 career points to date which ranks fifth all-time in the school record books.
 
COUGAR SOUND BITES
"We still have a lot of work to do. Winning a regular-season championship was one of our goals, but, we have more goals. We just checked the first one off. At the end of the day, we wanted to win a championship. We still have the (CAA) tournament coming up and a big game at William & Mary on Saturday. We have to continue to work hard and put ourselves in the best position to find some success." – CofC Head Coach Earl Grant on not losing sight that there's still one game left in the regular season despite claiming a share of the CAA regular-season title
 
"We will enjoy the win tonight, but have a really quick turnaround. We have to prep for William & Mary. They always have a really good team and we haven't won at William & Mary since I've been here. We will try to go and get that one and also try to win it (CAA regular-season championship) outright." – Senior Guard Joe Chealey on not letting the emotion of winning a share of the CAA title get in the way of the task on hand Saturday
 
"It's cool to enjoy it now, but at the end of the day, we have to get right back to work. We have an important game on Saturday. We can't just go to William & Mary and lay down, because we are excited about this win (and regular-season championship). We just have to stay focused and keep our heads straight." – Sophomore Guard Grant Riller on the importance of finishing the season strong
 
"It's been amazing, especially since I first got on campus. Joe Chealey is the big reason why I came to CofC. We are both from the same town (Orlando). Just having those guys mentor me all those years, it's helped my game a lot." – Riller on the leadership of the Senior Class on his improvement and development as a player