COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (11-6, 5-0 CAA) vs. WILLIAM & MARY (12-5, 4-0 CAA)
Game #18
January 11, 2020 • 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Kaplan Arena (8,600)
at Williamsburg, Va.
 
Television: FloSports
Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM | 94.7 FM)
Series History: William & Mary Leads 8-6
Last Meeting: William & Mary def. CofC, 86-84 (OT), on Feb. 21, 2019 in Williamsburg, Va.
Internet: Live Statistics at www.TribeAthletics.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: 112-71
Sixth Year Overall: 112-71
William & Mary: Dane Fischer
First Year at W&M: 12-5
First Year Overall: 12-5
 
TELEVISION (FloSports)
Play-By-Play: Jay Colley
Color Analyst: Charlie Woollum
 
RADIO (College of Charleston Radio Network)
Play-By-Play: Everett German
 
GAME PREVIEW
The stage is set for an early-season Colonial Athletic Association battle of unbeatens as the College of Charleston men's basketball team (11-6, 5-0 CAA) carries a six-game win streak into a Saturday, Jan. 11 showdown with William & Mary (12-5, 4-0 CAA) at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va. Both schools have been known for epic, down-to-the-wire games with each other, especially on the Tribe's home court. In the program's seventh year as members of the Colonial, Kaplan Arena still continues to be a place denying the Cougars of an elusive road W. If the championship game were to be played tomorrow, you'd want Grant Riller or Nathan Knight on your side. Fortunately for Charleston and W&M, both do. Riller and Knight, who shared this week's CAA Player of the Week nod, are off to amazing years and on numerous watch lists for postseason national awards. Riller poured in a game-high 30 points in the team's 73-65 road win at Elon, while Knight recorded 17 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Tribe to a 79-63 victory over UNCW to improve to 5-0 at home this season. William & Mary is currently ranked No. 25 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, while CofC is receiving votes after starting the year being the only CAA school listed in the preseason poll.
 
A LOOK AT WILLIAM & MARY
Head Coach Dane Fischer, a former assistant coach at George Mason, has the Tribe rolling in his first year at the helm of the program. During the off-season, the team lost a couple of graduate transfers, but gained three more including senior 7-foot forward Andy Van Vliet – a transfer from Wisconsin averaging 15.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game to add a dual threat inside with Knight. W&M also played a tough non-conference schedule with losses to Oklahoma, Stanford, Buffalo and Saint Joseph's, prior to CAA play. They are currently riding a three-game win streak after the winter break.
 
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 Kaplan Arena on the College of Charleston Radio Network.
 
PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS
#10 Zep Jasper, G, 6-1, 175, So. (7.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.7 apg, 29.3 min)
#1 Grant Riller, G, 6-3, 190, Sr. (22.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.8 apg, 32.2 min)
#2 Brevin Galloway, G, 6-2, 215, Jr. (11.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.7 apg, 29.5 min)
#24 Jaylen McManus, F, 6-7, 230, Sr. (9.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.5 apg, 27.5 min)
#20 Sam Miller, F, 6-9, 240, Sr. (7.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.0 apg, 22.4 min)
 
PROJECTED WILLIAM & MARY STARTERS
#2 Tyler Hamilton, G, 6-4, 210, Gr.-Sr. (3.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.6 apg, 23.7 min)
#5 Bryce Barnes, G, 5-11, 189, Gr.-Sr. (8.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 4.1 apg, 27.3 min)
#11 Andy Van Vliet, F, 7-0, 231, Sr. (15.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1.1 apg, 30.1 min)
#12 Luke Loewe, G, 6-4, 188, Jr. (11.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.9 apg, 29.5 min)
#13 Nathan Knight, F/C, 6-10, 253, Sr. (19.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.6 apg, 29.3 min)
 
SERIES HISTORY
William & Mary leads 8-6 in the all-time series with College of Charleston and is 6-0 at Kaplan Arena since the Cougars joined the Colonial in 2013. The last two seasons, CofC has come close to picking up its first road win at W&M after an 86-84 overtime thriller to which former Cougar great Jarrell Brantley turned in a 26-point and 12-rebound double-double in 2019 and Grant Riller hitting a last-second, half-court shot to send the game into overtime (L, 104-114) in 2018. Charleston has won two of the last three meetings between the two schools including an 83-73 victory in the semifinals of the 2018 CAA Tournament at the North Charleston Coliseum.
 
LAST 10 GAMES IN SERIES
L, 84-86 OT (-2), on Feb. 21, 2019 in Williamsburg, Va.
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.
^ CAA Tournament
 
ROAD WARRIORS
The Cougars are 4-2 on the road this season including 3-0 in league play. They are one of four CAA schools, who have managed to steal all of their road wins next to William & Mary (3-0), Hofstra (3-0) and Northeastern (2-0). CofC's two losses of the season were by single digits at UCF (-1) and Richmond (-7) in the non-conference, while beating Marshall on the road (+10) back in November.
 
ELON RECAP
College of Charleston 73, Elon 65
• For the seventh-straight game, College of Charleston started Zep Jasper, Grant Riller, Brevin Galloway, Jaylen McManus and Sam Miller (6-1).
• With the win, College of Charleston improved to 22-7 in the all-time series with Elon. The Cougars have now won four-straight in the series after sweeping the Phoenix last year in regular-season play.
• Grant Riller turned in back-to-back 30-point games with a game-high 30 points including a perfect 11-for-11 from the throw line at Elon. Riller ranks second all-time in career scoring at The College and has now tallied 2,181 career points to date. It marked his 13th career 30-point game.
• Brevin Galloway extended his career-best double-digit scoring streak to four-consecutive games with 12 points at Elon. He has now scored in double figures in seven of the team's last eight contests.
• The Cougars went to the free throw line a season-high 33 times making 27 of those attempts.
• Three CofC Basketball Alumni were in attendance at the Elon game – Troy Wheless ('03), Anthony Thomas ('14) and Joe Chealey ('18). Wheless will be inducted into the CofC Athletics Hall of Fame on Jan. 25.
 
COUGAR SOUND BITES
"They (William & Mary) are off to a great start. They have a couple of really good big guys including Nathan Knight. They have a couple of graduate transfer guards. They are a good team and playing good basketball right now. It's always a challenge when we play them, especially on the road. It will be a tremendous challenge and we have to compete at a very high level on Saturday." – CofC Head Coach Earl Grant on William & Mary
 
"We are a developing team and we are playing some younger guys. I didn't want to play anyone over 30 minutes and I tried to use the bench. The game got tight and I couldn't continue to sub. I am happy we were able to find a way to win on the road. We have been in games like this before and they can go different ways. I really have to give our guys credit for digging it out and getting stops to win the game." – Coach Grant on using different rotations throughout the Elon game
 
"Our guys did a really good job on the boards. Our bench gave us a lift. They had good minutes. A lot of it was defensive rebounding and energy plays. It's a total team effort. Five games into the conference, we are making some progress. But, we always have to be ready, because we have another challenge coming up soon." – Grant on the team effort on the boards against Elon
 
"I kinda just was letting it come to me as the game started to wind down. Coach (Grant) trusts me enough to put the ball in my hands and I trust my ability, so I made shots and we got a W." – Senior Guard Grant Riller on his hot shooting in the second half of play to lead the Cougars to the road win at Elon
 
"We knew if we stayed the course, our time would eventually come. We had a really tough non-conference schedule. I think it prepared us well for this and I think it's now showing." – Riller on being 5-0 to start conference play and the non-conference experience paying off