Cougars Host Huskies In CAA Game of the Week On Saturday

Saturday, February 16

TD Arena

4:00 PM

College of Charleston

Northeastern

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Photo by: AlSamuels.com

Cougars Host Huskies In CAA Game of the Week On Saturday

2/15/2019 7:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Northeastern Game Notes

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (20-7, 9-5 CAA) vs. NORTHEASTERN (16-9, 10-3 CAA)
Game #28
February 16, 2019 • 4:00 p.m. (ET)
TD Arena/John Kresse Court (5,100)
at Charleston, S.C.

Television: College SportsLive
Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM | 94.7 FM)
Series History: Series Tied 6-6
Last Meeting: Northeastern def. CofC, 69-60, on Jan. 17, 2019 in Boston, Mass.
Internet: Free Live Statistics at www.CofCStats.com
Live Video: Live Video at http://www.collegesportslive.com/?media=e9c1d4bb-0404-4b8a-997b-60a25febe2eb
Tickets: www.CofCSports.com/tickets
Twitter: @CofCBasketball

THE COACHES
College of Charleston: Earl Grant
Fifth Year at CofC: 97-63
Fifth Year Overall: 97-63
Northeastern: Bill Coen
13th Year at NU: 217-195
13th Year Overall: 217-195

TELEVISION (College SportsLive)
Play-By-Play: Jeff McCarragher
Color Analyst: Mack McCarthy

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

GAME PREVIEW
The College of Charleston men's basketball team (20-7, 9-5 CAA) will host preseason Colonial Athletic Association favorite Northeastern (16-9, 10-3 CAA) for the CAA Game of the Week set for Saturday, Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. (ET) at TD Arena. The game will be broadcast on College SportsLive via the CBSSports.com digital platform. Nearly a year ago, both teams battled it out at the North Charleston Coliseum for the chance to dance. The Huskies are back on Lowcountry soil and still remember last year's overtime championship game which they avenged in both teams' first meeting (W, 69-60) this season up in Boston. The Cougars, who currently rank No. 35 nationally in field-goal percentage (47.8%), have improved much since then having won six of their last seven games. With a short one-day turnaround between games, they are looking to quickly shake off a 99-95 setback to first-place Hofstra on Feb. 14. Northeastern, currently in second place in the latest CAA standings, holds an edge as the only league team to have beaten the Pride this year. The Huskies have strung five wins in a row together including an 81-77 road victory at UNCW. Meanwhile, CofC is in third place and looking to split the regular-season series this weekend with NU with four more games remaining in the league race. Senior forward Jarrell Brantley and junior guard Grant Riller combined for 68 of the team's season-high 95 points versus Hofstra. Riller set the school's NCAA Division I era single-game scoring record with a career-high 43 points, while Brantley had a near double-double performance with 25 points and game-high nine rebounds. All four of Charleston's last four games have been decided in single digits. Expect another close battle on Saturday from both squads reminiscent of the title game last year.

SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN
The Huskies went 2-0 last week at home with wins over William & Mary (72-60) on Feb. 7 and Elon (72-60 OT) on Feb. 9. They will play four of their last six CAA games on the road including this week's stretch at UNCW and Charleston. Northeastern is one of the league's top shooting ballclubs and currently ranks third in field-goal percentage (47.5%) and second in 3-point field goal accuracy (38.1%). Preseason All-CAA First Team selection Vasa Pusica is the Huskies' top scorer (17.0 ppg) and playmaker (4.2 apg). Since the last time NU played the Cougars, they have been without the services of junior guard Shawn Occeus, who scored 12 points in both teams' last meeting in January.

GAME PROMOTIONS
It's Youth Sports Day sponsored by Chick-fil-A at TD Arena. There will be Chick-fil-A contests and giveaways throughout the game. One lucky fan will win free Chick-fil-A for a year. Discounted tickets are available for youth teams (advance purchase required). Tickets are available for purchase by calling (843) 953-COFC or online at: www.CofCSports.com/tickets

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
#21 Marquise Pointer, G, 6-0, 210, Sr. (4.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.0 apg, 22.0 min)
#1 Grant Riller, G, 6-3, 190, Jr. (22.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.1 apg, 35.6 min)
#2 Brevin Galloway, G, 6-2, 215, So. (8.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.0 apg, 25.2 min)
#5 Jarrell Brantley, F, 6-7, 255, Sr. (18.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.1 apg, 33.5 min)
#23 Nick Harris, F, 6-10, 270, Sr. (3.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.3 apg, 19.6 min)

PROJECTED NORTHEASTERN STARTERS
#4 Vasa Pusica, G, 6-5, 210, RS-Sr. (17.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.2 apg, 34.7 min)
#22 Donnell Gresham, G, 6-1, 203, RS-Jr. (10.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.3 apg, 33.5 min)
#12 Jordan Roland, G, 6-1, 171, RS-Jr. (15.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 29.9 min)
#20 Bolden Brace, G/F, 6-6, 225, Jr. (10.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.6 apg, 30.4 min)
#30 Anthony Green, F, 6-10, 252, Sr. (8.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 0.3 apg, 22.8 min)

INSIDE THE SERIES
The all-time series between the College of Charleston and Northeastern is tied up at 6-6. All but one of the 12 meetings between the two schools have been contested in regular-season conference play. The Huskies snapped CofC's four-game win streak in the series with a 69-60 victory over the visiting Cougars on Jan. 17, 2019 at historic Matthews Arena in Boston. Charleston is 2-3 lifetime when playing the Huskies at home at TD Arena.

LAST 10 GAMES IN THE SERIES
L, 60-69 (-9) on Jan. 17, 2019 in Boston, Mass.
W, 83-76 (+7) on March 6, 2018 in North Charleston, S.C.^
W, 69-64 (+5) on Feb. 1, 2018 in Boston, Mass.
W, 82-66 (+16) on Jan. 11, 2018 in Charleston, S.C.
W, 85-71 (+14) on Feb. 18, 2017 in Boston, Mass.
L, 72-73 (-1) on Feb. 9, 2017 in Charleston, S.C.
L, 57-58 (-1) on Feb. 25, 2016 in Boston, Mass.
W, 68-61 (+7) on Jan. 28, 2016 in Charleston, S.C.
L, 56-65 (-9) on Feb. 28, 2015 in Charleston, S.C.
L, 67-69 (-2) on Jan. 17, 2015 in Boston, Mass.
^ CAA Tournament

WHAT 2 WATCH 4
Jarrell Brantley is 12 rebounds shy of moving into the Top 5 all-time in career rebounding at the College of Charleston with 905 career boards to date. He is also three steals and nine blocks away from entering the Top 10 in those respective career categories in the school record book. One of the most versatile players in program history, Brantley would become the first Cougar ever to rank in the Top 10 in career scoring, career rebounding, career steals and career blocks. Meanwhile, senior big man Nick Harris is four rebounds shy of moving into the Top 15 all-time in the career rebounding column with 647 and eight swats away from entering the Top 5 all-time in career blocks.

HOFSTRA RECAP
Hofstra 99, College of Charleston 95
• College of Charleston started Marquise Pointer, Grant Riller, Brevin Galloway, Jarrell Brantley and Nick Harris for the 13th time this season (8-5).
• In the loss, Hofstra evened the all-time series to 6-6 with College of Charleston. The Pride swept the regular-season series between the two schools for the first time in the last three years.
• Grant Riller registered a career-and game-high 43 points versus Hofstra. He also set career highs in field goals made (17) and field-goals attempted (25). Riller now ranks second all-time in the CofC record books in single-game scoring behind Sam Meade, who scored 45 points versus Clinch Valley during the program's NAIA days on Jan. 15, 1971. He is only the third player in school history to reach the 40+ plateau next to Meade and Donnelly McCants, who scored 40 points versus UNC Asheville on Jan. 8, 1990. In the program's NCAA Division I history, he surpassed all-time leading scorer Andrew Goudelock's previous single-game record of 39 points versus Dayton in the NIT First Round in 2011. Riller has tabulated 1,667 career points to date and is only the second player this season in the CAA to score 40-or-more points in a game next to Justin Wright-Foreman (48 points).
• Jarrell Brantley had a near double-double performance with 25 points and nine rebounds against Hofstra. It marked the 28th career 20-point game. He has now tallied 1,780 career points and 905 career rebounds to date.
• Brevin Galloway turned in his 12th double-figure scoring game of the season with 11 points versus Hofstra. He is currently on a career-best three-game double-digit scoring streak.
• The Cougars recorded a season-high 95 points against Hofstra. It was the team's first 90+ point game of the season and first since scoring 104 points in an overtime loss at William & Mary on Feb. 24, 2018.
• CofC went 15-of-16 from the free throw line versus the Pride, which was its second-best free throw percentage (93.8%) of the season behind 94.1 percent (16-of-17) at Towson on Jan. 3.

COUGAR SOUND BITES
"We may have lost the game, but we actually got better. We shot almost 60 percent from the field in the second half. We did some good things. Certainly, we have to guard better without fouling. They shot 30 (free throw attempts) and we shot 16. There was a big gap in free-throw shooting. The most important thing for us is to keep getting better. We lost, but we have gotten better in the last three weeks even with that loss. We are not worrying so much about the tournament right now. The tournament is going to come. But, when it comes, we have to be at the best of our ability, so we can go compete the way we need to compete. We have to figure out how to improve with a short turnaround with another game on Saturday." – CofC Head Coach Earl Grant on getting his team ready for the next challenge and moving past the Hofstra loss

"We felt like we could score and we did. We scored a lot of points. 99 (points) is too much for us to win. We knew that going in. Some of the reasons why they scored 99 is because they had players who made us pay for our mistakes and made a lot of shots. We have to be better to win a game like that and we have to guard them better." – Coach Grant on the team's defense against Hofstra

"This team has a lot of fight in it. It's good to know that and good to see it. They showed that against Hofstra, but they have been showing it all year. They did a lot of good things in that game. We came up short, because the other team played tremendous in terms of how many shots they made and what they did offensively. Give them credit." – Coach Grant on the team's fight to come back from 24 points down versus Hofstra in the second half

"We are a good team. Everybody in our conference and outside of our conference knows it. It's just a matter of us staying consistent on a night-in and night-out basis. We will get back to what we do. We have another tough team in Northeastern, who is in second (place), coming in here on Saturday. Right now, we have to keep pushing and stay locked in." – Senior Forward Jarrell Brantley on the team staying positive despite the setback to Hofstra

"Like every game for us, it will come down to defense. They are two completely different guards as far as style of play. Pusica is more of a passer first than a scorer first. They play different styles, but we will still have to guard and get after him on Saturday." – Senior Guard Marquise Pointer on facing Northeastern for the second time and the difference between Justin Wright-Foreman of Hofstra and Vasa Pusica of Northeastern