COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (15-9, 9-3 CAA) vs. ELON (8-17, 4-8 CAA)
Game #25
February 8, 2020 • 4:00 p.m. (ET)
TD Arena/John Kresse Court (5,100)
at Charleston, S.C.
 
Television: FloSports
Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM | 94.7 FM)
Series History: CofC Leads 22-7
Last Meeting: CofC def. Elon, 73-65, on Jan. 9, 2020 in Elon, N.C.
Internet: Live Statistics at www.CofCStats.com
Live On-Demand Video: FloSports Subscription at http://bit.ly/2JP6sGV
Tickets: www.CofCSports.com/tickets
Twitter: @CofCBasketball
 
THE COACHES
College of Charleston: Earl Grant
Sixth Year at CofC: 116-74
Sixth Year Overall: 116-74
Elon: Mike Schrage
First Year at Elon: 8-17
First Year Overall: 8-17
 
TELEVISION AND RADIO (FloSports and College of Charleston Radio Network)
Play-By-Play: Everett German
Color Analyst: Danny Johnson
 
GAME PROMOTIONS
Join us for the College of Charleston 250th Anniversary Celebration Game and CofC Basketball Alumni Weekend at TD Arena. As part of The College's 250th Anniversary, the institution's pep band, Chucktown Sound, will debut a new fight song titled "Cougars Fight On!" and perform it as part of the pre-game show prior to tip-off against Elon. Tickets are still available for purchase by calling (843) 953-COFC or online at: www.CofCSports.com/tickets
 
GAME PREVIEW
Riding a three-game win streak and sole-possession of the top spot in the Colonial Athletic Association race, the College of Charleston men's basketball team (15-9, 9-3 CAA) looks to keep things rolling as Elon (8-17, 4-8 CAA) comes to town for a Saturday, Feb. 8 rematch between the two former Southern Conference rivals at TD Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. (ET). The Cougars currently rank second in the league in scoring defense holding opponents to 67.2 points per game including a 68-50 (+12) double-digit victory over William & Mary on Feb. 6. It was the lowest-scoring output for the Tribe in conference play this season. The Phoenix are on a win streak of their own having won back-to-back contests versus Northeastern (77-68) and UNCW (62-56). Junior guard Brevin Galloway led Charleston the statement win over W&M pouring in a career-high 23 points to give the Cougars a half-game lead over second-place Hofstra (17-7, 8-3 CAA), who had a one-game bye this week. Both of those teams will meet next week in a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network on Feb. 13 – making their two weekend games versus Elon and Northeastern important leading up to that matchup. Aside from their throwback attire for the game, the Cougars will also honor the past as more than 30+ alumni of the storied program will converge on the Lowcountry for CofC Basketball Alumni Weekend at TD Arena.
 
THE PHOENIX IN SIGHT
The Phoenix are one of the top 3-point shooting ballclubs in the league with a 35.5 percent accuracy from beyond the arc this season. They also are tops in the CAA in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.07) under first-year head coach Mike Schrage, who previously served as an assistant coach at Ohio State, Butler and Stanford. Elon is coming off a big win last week over reigning conference tournament champion Northeastern (74-69) behind a career-high, 24-point performance from freshman guard Hunter McIntosh on Feb. 1.
 
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 TD Arena along with color analyst Danny Johnson on the College of Charleston Radio Network.
 
PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS
#10 Zep Jasper, G, 6-1, 175, So. (7.7 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.7 apg, 29.5 min)
#1 Grant Riller, G, 6-3, 190, Sr. (21.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.1 apg, 33.1 min)
#2 Brevin Galloway, G, 6-2, 215, Jr. (11.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 30.4 min)
#24 Jaylen McManus, F, 6-7, 230, Sr. (8.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.5 apg, 27.0 min)
#20 Sam Miller, F, 6-9, 240, Sr. (8.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.0 apg, 23.5 min)
 
PROJECTED ELON STARTERS
#0 Hunter McIntosh, G, 6-3, 180, Fr. (10.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.8 apg, 30.7 min)
#4 Marcus Sheffield, G, 6-5, 180, Gr.-Sr. (17.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 32.5 min)
#10 Kris Wooten, G, 6-3, 190, So. (5.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.2 apg, 20.4 min)
#25 Hunter Woods, F, 6-6, 193, Fr. (10.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, 27.8 min)
#33 Simon Wright, F, 6-7, 215, Jr. (6.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.5 apg, 24.2 min)
 
SERIES NOTABLES
College of Charleston leads 22-7 in the all-time series with Elon including a 72-65 victory in both teams' last meeting on Jan. 9 at the Schar Center. Last year, the Cougars swept the regular-season series. They have won 14 of the last 17 meetings in the series extending back to the Southern Conference rivalry years with the Phoenix. Charleston joined the CAA in July of 2013 and Elon in July of 2014.
 
LAST 10 GAMES IN THE SERIES
W, 73-65 (+8) on Jan. 9, 2020 in Elon, N.C.
W, 84-74 (+10) on Feb. 23, 2019 in Elon, N.C.
W, 72-53 (+19) on Jan. 24, 2019 at Charleston, S.C.
W, 79-58 (+21) on Feb. 22, 2018 at Charleston, S.C.
L, 58-63 (-5) on Jan. 13, 2018 at Elon, N.C.
W, 71-58 (+13) on Feb. 4, 2017 at Charleston, S.C.
W, 66-54 (+12) on Dec. 31, 2016 at Elon, N.C.
W, 66-62 (+4) on Feb. 13, 2016 at Elon, N.C.
L, 64-65 (-1) on Jan. 16, 2016 at Charleston, S.C.
W, 77-63 (+14) on Feb. 18, 2015 at Charleston, S.C.
 
NEARING ANOTHER 10-WIN CAMPAIGN
The Cougars need one more win to turn in their fourth-straight 10-win campaign in conference play under Head Coach Earl Grant. In seven seasons as members of the Colonial, they have compiled a 66-52 (.559) overall record against conference foes and a 49-17 mark (.742) over the last four years under Grant.
 
2016-17: 14-4
2017-18: 14-4
2018-19: 12-6
 
BIRTHDAYS GALORE
The College of Charleston, founded in 1770, celebrated its 250th birthday on Jan. 30, 2020. With the Cougars on the road at James Madison during that milestone date, they will don throwback uniforms and play in a #CofC250 celebration game against Elon on Saturday. Fifth-year senior guard Grant Riller will also celebrate his 23rd birthday. Two years ago on his 21st birthday, Riller, then a sophomore, poured in a then career-high 37 points – 28 in the first half – in an 82-77 win over William & Mary on Feb. 8, 2018 at TD Arena. It was the third-most points scored by a CofC Basketball player in the program's NCAA Division I Era (1992-Present).
 
WILLIAM & MARY RECAP
College of Charleston 68, William & Mary 50
• For the 14th-straight game including 12 in conference play, College of Charleston started Zep Jasper, Grant Riller, Brevin Galloway, Jaylen McManus and Sam Miller (10-4).
• With the win, College of Charleston split the regular-season series with William & Mary. However, the Tribe still owns a 9-7 in the all-time series with the Cougars. They are now 6-1 lifetime when playing W&M at TD Arena.
• Brevin Galloway registered a career-high 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field including four 3-pointers to lead Charleston to the win over the Tribe. He also added four steals, two assists and a career-best two blocked shots. It marked his fourth-straight contest in double figures and his 16th double-figure scoring game of the season.
• Sam Miller turned in back-to-back games in double figures with 13 points against William & Mary. He drained three of the team's nine 3-pointers in the game.
• Grant Riller extended his double-digit scoring streak to 52-consecutive games with 10 points, three assists and five rebounds versus the Tribe. He has now tabulated 2,318 career points to date.
• The Cougar defense held William & Mary to an opponent season-low 50 points. It was also the Tribe's lowest scoring output of the season next to 50 points at Stanford on Nov. 21.
• CofC also scored 34 of its 68 points in the paint.
 
COUGAR SOUND BITES
"It would be nice to have an unbelievable crowd on Saturday. The students, the community and all of our diehards – #CougarNation. The only thing we are guaranteed is good, competitive spirit and to try to play with heart. Hopefully, they will show up. It's a big game for us. We only have a few games left here in this building. I'm going to start getting emotional here soon, because we will have some seniors, who won't be playing here anymore, so come support these kids. Hopefully, we can make them (the crowd) proud." – CofC Head Coach Earl Grant on playing Elon in the CofC 250th Anniversary Celebration Game on Saturday
 
"You gotta give a guy like that some freedom and some rope. He is very impulsive. He hasn't seen a shot he doesn't like. Sometimes, he takes one that he doesn't need to take. He is one of those guys that Coach says, 'don't take it' and it goes in. He's our green light guy. We do a lot of shooting in the summer and we do a lot of tests. He always passes the green light test for us." – Coach Grant on Brevin Galloway's shooting and career-high 23 points in the win over William & Mary
 
"I'm shocked there are only six games left. You get in a rhythm and routine, everyday practicing. You play the games. You don't pay attention who you play next. You kind of just focus on what's in front of you. You look up and say, 'hey, in three weeks it's March.' We want to just keep getting better, so at the end, maybe we will be in position to be doing some special things. There is a lot of basketball left. We have to stay humble and keep working." – Grant on the conference season winding down and the Cougars in first place in the CAA