COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (21-7, 10-5 CAA) vs. WILLIAM & MARY (10-16, 6-8 CAA)
Game #29
February 21, 2019 • 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Kaplan Arena (8,600)
at Williamsburg, Va.
 
Television: College SportsLive
Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM | 94.7 FM)
Series History: William & Mary Leads 7-6
Last Meeting: CofC def. William & Mary, 74-59, on Jan. 26, 2019 at Charleston, S.C.
Internet: Live Statistics at www.TribeAthletics.com
Live Video: Live Video at http://www.collegesportslive.com/?media=07556d2e-b56a-4557-a258-bf4d76144a57
Twitter: @CofCBasketball
 
THE COACHES
College of Charleston: Earl Grant
Fifth Year at CofC: 98-63
Fifth Year Overall: 98-63
William & Mary: Tony Shaver
16th Year at W&M: 222-267
33rd Year Overall: 580-388
 
TELEVISION (College SportsLive)
Play-By-Play: Scott Klatzkin
Color Analyst: Mack McCarthy
 
RADIO (College of Charleston Radio Network)
Play-By-Play: Everett German
 
GAME PREVIEW
It's a back-to-back Colonial Athletic Association Game of the Week appearances for the defending champion College of Charleston men's basketball team (21-7, 10-5 CAA) as it travels to William & Mary (10-16, 6-8 CAA) on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. (ET) in Williamsburg, Va. The game will be broadcast on College SportsLive via the CBSSports.com digital platform. The Cougars topped preseason favorite Northeastern in last week's featured conference game in an 88-79 overtime thriller on Feb. 16 at TD Arena. This week's CAA Co-Men's Basketball Player of the Week selections – Grant Riller for CofC and Nathan Knight of W&M – will be on hand in Thursday's rematch. Riller is currently on a 23-game double-digit scoring streak, while Knight is on a 19-game streak. Both rank No. 2 (22.4 ppg) and No. 3 (20.5 ppg) in scoring in the league behind Justin Wright-Foreman of Hofstra. With three games remaining in the conference race, Charleston is currently in third, a half game back of second-place NU and two and a half games back of first-place Hofstra. Riller is one of the most efficient guards in the country shooting 54.2 percent from the field, 33.9 percent from long range and 81.9 percent from the free throw line in 28 games played this season. As a team, the Cougars rank No. 11 in the nation in free-throw percentage (76.9) making 35 of their last 38 attempts over the last two games versus the Pride and Huskies. They have also scored 83-or-more points in each of their last four contests. William & Mary is coming off an 84-74 road win at Elon and are an undefeated 5-0 lifetime against CofC at Kaplan Arena.
 
A LOOK AT WILLIAM & MARY
Nathan Knight has recorded 11 double-double performances this season which ranks third most in the CAA. In the team's last outing, the junior combo forward/center posted 35 points and 13 rebounds at Elon. Junior teammate Justin Pierce also added 18 points and 12 rebounds versus the Phoenix. The Tribe have won three of their last five contests since a 74-59 road loss at Charleston on Jan. 26. They currently rank No. 13 nationally in assists per game (17.0 apg) and No. 33 blocked shots per game (4.7 bpg).
 
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 Kaplan Arena on the College of Charleston Radio Network.
 
PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS
#21 Marquise Pointer, G, 6-0, 210, Sr. (4.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.0 apg, 22.6 min)
#1 Grant Riller, G, 6-3, 190, Jr. (22.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.0 apg, 35.5 min)
#2 Brevin Galloway, G, 6-2, 215, So. (8.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.0 apg, 25.4 min)
#5 Jarrell Brantley, F, 6-7, 255, Sr. (19.0 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 2.1 apg, 33.8 min)
#23 Nick Harris, F, 6-10, 270, Sr. (3.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.3 apg, 19.4 min)
 
PROJECTED WILLIAM & MARY STARTERS
#15 Chase Audige, G, 6-4, 193, Fr. (10.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.4 apg, 29.9 min)
#2 Matt Milon, G, 6-5, 209, RS-Jr. (12.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.2 apg, 28.9 min)
#12 Luke Loewe, G, 6-4, 190, So. (3.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.9 apg, 23.2 min)
#23 Justin Pierce, G/F, 6-7, 202, Jr. (14.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 3.7 apg, 33.6 min)
#13 Nathan Knight, F/C, 6-10, 245, Jr. (20.5 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 3.6 apg, 30.3 min)
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
William & Mary leads 7-6 in the all-time series with College of Charleston and is 5-0 at Kaplan Arena since the Cougars joined the Colonial in 2013. Last season, CofC came close to picking up its first road win at W&M after Grant Riller hit a last-second, half-court shot to send the game into overtime (L, 104-114). It was the highest-combined scoring game in the venue's history. Charleston has won three of the last four meetings between the two schools including an 83-73 victory in the semifinals of last year's CAA Tournament at the North Charleston Coliseum.
 
LAST 10 GAMES IN SERIES
W, 74-59 (+15) on Jan. 26, 2019 at Charleston, S.C.
W, 83-73 (+10) on March 5, 2018 at North Charleston, S.C.^
L, 104-114 OT (-10) on Feb. 24, 2018 at Williamsburg, Va.
W, 82-77 (+5) on Feb. 8, 2018 at Charleston, S.C.
L, 79-89 (-10) on Feb. 11, 2017 at Williamsburg, Va.
W, 77-67 (+10) on Jan. 14, 2017 at Charleston, S.C.
L, 61-63 (-2) on Jan. 14, 2016 at Charleston, S.C.
L, 70-78 (-8) on Jan. 2, 2016 at Williamsburg, Va.
W, 80-72 (+8) on Feb. 5, 2015 at Charleston, S.C.
L, 45-75 (-30) on Jan. 3, 2015 at Williamsburg, Va.
^ CAA Tournament
 
WHAT 2 WATCH 4
Jarrell Brantley is just six points shy of moving into the Top 5 all-time in career scoring and can even surpass former teammate Joe Chealey (1,827) for fourth on the list with 21-or-more points this week. He has tallied 1,807 career points to date. Brantley is also nine blocks away from entering the Top 10 in career blocked shots in the school record books. 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. Brantley and Harris, both seniors, are also tied for fifth all-time in career starts (115).
 
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON ALL-TIME CAREER STARTS
1. Antwaine Wiggins (2007-12) – 133
2. Adjehi Baru (2011-15) – 125
3. Andrew Goudelock (2007-11) – 124
4. Jermaine Johnson (2005-09) – 122
5T. Jarrell Brantley (2015-Present) – 115
5T. Nick Harris (2015-Present) – 115
 
NORTHEASTERN RECAP
College of Charleston 88, Northeastern 79
• College of Charleston went with the starting five of Marquise Pointer, Grant Riller, Brevin Galloway, Jarrell Brantley and Nick Harris for the 14th time this season (9-5).
• With the win, College of Charleston reclaims a one-point edge in the all-time series with Northeastern, 7-6. The Cougars are now 3-3 lifetime against the Huskies when playing at TD Arena. They have also won five of the last six games in the series.
• It was the first overtime game of the season for College of Charleston and the fourth for Northeastern.
• The Cougars have now scored 83-or-more points in each of their last four CAA games.
• Grant Riller recorded his fifth 30-point game of the season with a game-high 33 points against Northeastern. He also went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Riller has now tabulated 1,700 career points to date and tallied 76 points over the last two games versus Hofstra and NU.
• Jarrell Brantley registered his ninth double-double performance of the season with a season-high tying 27 points and game-high tying 11 rebounds against Northeastern. It marked the 32nd double-double of his career. He has now tabulated 1,807 career points to date and tied former big man Adjehi Baru (2011-15) for fifth all-time in career rebounding with 916 boards. He also made three steals in the ballgame to surpass former great Troy Wheless (1999-03) for 10th all-time in career steals with 143 to date.
• The CofC defense Northeastern to commit 14 turnovers in the game which the Cougars converted into 20 of their 88 points on the night.
• For the second-straight contest, the Cougars shot 90 percent or better from the free throw line – 90.9% (20-of-22) against Northeastern.
 
COUGAR SOUND BITES
"It's good to play well this time of the year. We are still trying to find a way to improve. I thought that was a big step in the right direction winning that (Northeastern overtime) game. It's a hard place to play. They (William & Mary) are always 10 points better at home. With three games left, this being the first of the two road games, it will be a challenge. We will try to come up with a good plan this week that will give us an opportunity to find some success." – CofC Head Coach Earl Grant on beating Northeastern in overtime on Saturday and turning around to play at William & Mary on Thursday
 
"It was our first overtime game this year. Anytime you can play a game in overtime and win that adds a little something to your team in terms of endurance and toughness. It's an experience that you can draw off of. We talked about this season and all the different things we have experienced, even when we lost a couple of games back-to-back. It strengthened us. Winning a game in overtime strengthens you and you need all the strength you can have in March. Obviously, as we continue to play in this conference race with three games left, we want to play well. I think some of these challenges have strengthened us, and hopefully, we can reach our potential in the next two weeks." – Coach Grant on the Cougars' success in OT versus Northeastern and splitting games last week against the Top 2 teams in the league
 
"You want to finish as high as you can finish. The most important thing right now is for us to try to improve and find a way to finish as strong as we can in these last three games of the regular season." – Coach Grant on looking at the latest CAA standings
 
"It speaks a lot about their (William & Mary) team and the atmosphere. It's hard to go in there and win. But, we have a solid game plan. We are building off the last time we played them. I think we will be ready to try to break that streak." – Junior Guard Grant Riller on how difficult it has been to play at William & Mary over the years
 
"I think there was a point last year where I was playing really well. I feel good right now. My body feels good. My shot feels good. I'm ready to go out there on Thursday and keep building on it." – Riller on his current scoring streak with back-to-back 30+ point games