CAA Play Begins For Cougars With Two-Game Road Swing Starting at Drexel

Saturday, December 28

Philadelphia, Pa.

2:00 PM

College of Charleston

Drexel

CAA Play Begins For Cougars With Two-Game Road Swing Starting at Drexel

12/27/2019 6:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Drexel Game Notes

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (6-6, 0-0 CAA) vs. DREXEL (7-6, 0-0 CAA)
Game #13
December 28, 2019 • 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Daskalakis Athletic Center (2,509)
at Philadelphia, Pa.

Television: FloSports and NBC Sports Philadelphia+
Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM | 94.7 FM)
Series History: CofC Leads 11-6
Last Meeting: CofC def. Drexel, 73-61, in CAA Quarterfinals on March 10, 2019 in North Charleston, S.C.
Internet: Live Statistics at www.DrexelStats.com
Live On-Demand Video: FloSports Subscription at http://bit.ly/2JP6sGV
Twitter: @CofCBasketball

THE COACHES
College of Charleston: Earl Grant
Sixth Year at CofC: 107-71
Sixth Year Overall: 107-71
Drexel: Zach Spiker
Fourth Year at Drexel: 41-71
11th Year Overall: 143-180

TELEVISION (FloSports and NBC Sports Philadelphia+)
Play-By-Play: Rob Brooks
Color Analyst: Mike Tuberosa

RADIO (College of Charleston Radio Network)
Play-By-Play: Everett German

GAME PREVIEW
The College of Charleston men's basketball team (6-6) will play its first two Colonial Athletic Association games on the road starting off with its league opener at Drexel (7-6) on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 2 p.m. (ET) in Philadelphia, Pa. The Cougars are coming off a 73-61 victory over South Carolina State before the winter break on Dec. 21 at TD Arena. Picked to finish second in the preseason CAA Coaches Poll with 18 first-place votes, Charleston's quest to finish at the top of the league begins this weekend. After being battle tested in the non-conference, the Cougars are ready for the start of their "second" season. Last year, CofC finished third overall in the league standings with a 12-6 mark and reached the semifinals of the CAA Tournament. Preseason CAA Player of the Year Grant Riller is currently on a 40-game double-digit scoring streak recording a team-high 18 points with four assists in the SC State win. The Cougars will close out their road trip at Delaware, ranked No. 17 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, on Dec. 30 in Newark, Del.

A QUICK LOOK AT DREXEL
Drexel will play its first three conference games at home and is currently on a two-game win streak with non-conference victories versus Quinnipiac (72-63) on Dec. 20 and Norfolk State (53-49) on Dec. 21 capturing the Boardwalk Battle in Atlantic City, N.J. Sophomore guard Camryn Wynter, a preseason All-CAA Second Team honoree and last year's CAA Rookie of the Year, was named tournament MVP. Also known for their defense, the Dragons lead the league and rank No. 27 nationally in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (27.8%).

COFC ALL-TIME IN CAA OPENERS
College of Charleston is 5-1 all-time in CAA openers and will commence conference play on the road for the fourth time since its first season as a member institution in 2013-14. Last season, the Cougars opened league play successfully at UNCW (W, 73-66) on Dec. 29, 2018 in Wilmington, N.C. In previous years, CofC opened at Elon (W, 66-54) in 2016-17 and at James Madison (W, 65-62) in 2015-16.

COUGARS ON THE AIRWAVES
Fans can listen to all CofC men's basketball games throughout the 2019-20 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 the Daskalakis Athletic Center on the College of Charleston Radio Network.

PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS
#10 Zep Jasper, G, 6-1, 175, So. (6.8 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 1.2 apg, 28.1 min)
#1 Grant Riller, G, 6-3, 190, Sr. (21.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.8 apg, 32.3 min)
#2 Brevin Galloway, G, 6-2, 215, Jr. (10.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.3 apg, 27.8 min)
#24 Jaylen McManus, F, 6-7, 230, Sr. (9.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.4 apg, 26.6 min)
#20 Sam Miller, F, 6-9, 240, Sr. (6.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.2 apg, 23.0 min)

PROJECTED DREXEL STARTERS
#11 Camren Wynter, G, 6-2, 175, So. (12.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 5.8 apg, 34.8 min)
#5 Zach Walton, G, 6-6, 205, Sr. (13.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.2 apg, 27.2 min)
#4 Sam Green, F, 6-6, 230, Sr. (6.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.7 apg, 15.1 min)
#21 Mate Okros, F, 6-6, 193, Fr. (6.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.0 apg, 24.3 min)
#51 James Butler, F, 6-8, 242, Jr. (12.4 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 33.5 min)

SERIES NOTES
College of Charleston leads 11-6 in the all-time series with Drexel. The Cougars have won four of the last five contests in the series. Last year, both teams split the regular-season series winning on each other's home court. Each of those games were decided by two points or less including another wild finish in an 86-84 victory for the Cougars over the Dragons at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Feb. 9 in Philadelphia. Charleston is 2-4 lifetime when playing at the DAC.

LAST 10 GAMES IN THE SERIES
W, 73-61 (+12) on March 10, 2019 in North Charleston, S.C.^
W, 86-84 (+2) on Feb. 9, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pa.
L, 78-79 (-1) on Jan. 10, 2019 at Charleston, S.C.
W, 66-59 (+7) on March 4, 2018 at North Charleston, S.C.^
W, 89-67 (+22) on Feb. 10, 2018 at Charleston, S.C.
L, 82-87 OT (-5) on Jan. 5, 2018 at Philadelphia, Pa.
W, 80-67 (+13) on Feb. 25, 2017 at Charleston, S.C.
W, 90-76 (+14) on Jan. 28, 2017 at Philadelphia, Pa.
W, 60-38 (+22) on Feb. 6, 2016 at Charleston, S.C.
L, 54-61 (-7) on Jan. 9, 2016 at Philadelphia, Pa.
^ CAA Tournament

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE RECAP
College of Charleston 73, South Carolina State 61
• For the second time this season, College of Charleston went with the starting five of Zep Jasper, Grant Riller, Brevin Galloway, Jaylen McManus and Sam Miller (1-1).
• With the win, College of Charleston has now won eight-straight meetings in the all-time series with South Carolina State.
• Grant Riller extended his double-digit scoring streak to 40-consecutive games with a team-high 18 points against South Carolina State. He also led the team with four assists.
• Jaylen McManus has now scored in double figures twice in the last four games including 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field versus South Carolina State.
• CofC also made a season-high five blocked shots in the South Carolina game behind a career-high tying two stops from Osinachi Smart.
• The Cougars dished out a season-high tying 14 assists against the Bulldogs which tied 14 at UCF on Nov. 23.

COUGAR SOUND BITES
"It was nice to get away for a few days and come back with new energy to go into conference play. It's hard to gauge (our confidence level), because of our schedule. If we had scheduled a little lighter, maybe we would be 8-4. Right now, I like where we are. It is what it is and we are ready to get back to work." – CofC Head Coach Earl Grant on the non-conference preparing the team for CAA competition

"The conference is a guards league and there are a couple of really good big guys in our league. Both Sam (Miller) and Osi (Smart) are so different in what they do. Having those two, they complement each other. Sam being able to make threes and pass the ball the way he does. Osi being able to rebound and protect the rim. It's a good compliment to have in this league. I wouldn't trade the package deal for two other bigs. I like those guys, especially the two together in the CAA. They bring a lot to the table and they will help us find a way to be successful." – Grant on his big men improving over the last three games going into conference play

"Brevin (Galloway) has done a good job of showing up each night, so you know what you will get from Brevin and Grant (Riller). It's more of a third scorer. For this team, I don't think it will be a definitive third scorer. It will be a floating third scorer. We have a lot of different guys who can do it – Zep (Jasper), Sam (Miller) and Jaylen McManus. I think our bench also needs to provide a bucket of scoring for us." – Grant on the team's consistency in the scoring column

"It's very important to get a mental break as much as a physical break. It was short, but it makes a big difference." – Senior Forward Sam Miller on having the winter break to take a couple of days off from basketball to recharge, before the start of conference play

"It was all a learning experience to get us ready for CAA play. The record is one thing, but, we know what actually went on in those games. We knew that we were competitive with those really tough opponents. We knew we could hang with them and could have won a lot of those games. If we would've stuck with our game plan a little longer, the games would have gone a lot differently. We will continue to get better and better as we continue to get more experience (throughout this next part of the season)." – Miller on the non-conference preparing the Cougars for the CAA