CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Basketball finishes a two-game road swing when the Cougars travel to Chattanooga on Saturday. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+. Fans can also listen live on the Charleston Sports Radio Network (94.7 FM & 910 AM).

 
STORYLINES

• Charleston Basketball heads to Chattanooga seeking its first true road win of the season. CofC is 32-23 on the road since 2016-17. 
• The Cougars are set to take on a familiar foe in Chattanooga, an old Southern Conference rival. The two squads have faced off 31 times in their program histories, including 29 times in CofC's Division I era.
• CofC is 19-12 overall against the Mocs with seven of those victories coming in Chattanooga. 
• The two programs haven't played against one another since Feb. 9, 2013, when the Cougars won on the road,71-68. 
• CofC is 6-1 in its last seven meetings with Chattanooga and have lost just twice in the series since 2007. 
• Despite a tough road loss at Oklahoma State on Monday, the College of Charleston is still leading the nation in possessions per game with 85.8 per contests. Charleston also leads the nation in KenPom's adjusted tempo metric.
• The Cougars still top the CAA in scoring (84.0 PPG). 
• CofC also leads the CAA in rebounding with 46.2 RPG after outpacing Oklahoma State, 39-36 on the glass. The Cougars have outrebounded four of their first five opponents, going 3-1 in those games. The next-closest team in the CAA on the boards is averaging 39.0 per game (UNCW).
• Senior John Meeks led CofC with a season-high 22 points at Oklahoma State, the most any individual has scored against the Cowboys this season. Meeks has scored in double figures in 10 of his last 11 games, with his squads going 8-2 in those 10 outings. 
• Freshman Reyne Smith, back-to-back CAA Rookie of the Week winner through two weeks, hit four triples en route to 15 points at Oklahoma State. He's hit 15 threes on the season, the most by any CAA freshman, averaging 3.0 triples per game. Smith is CofC's second-leading scorer with 12.2 PPG through five contests, reaching double figures four times. 
• Head coach Pat Kelsey ushered in a new era in style with the three-straight season-opening wins. Over his last 35 games, he is 30-5 as head coach. Kelsey, the 25th all-time head coach to lead CofC, sits just 11 victories shy of 200 in his career. 

PAIR OF GRAD TRANSFERS MAKING BIG IMPACT

• Senior John  Meeks picked up right where he left off a season ago (25 PPG), leading the Cougars with 17.7 PPG at the Rising Coaches Classic on 46.3 percent shooting overall and 43.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Meeks scored 19 vs. SC State, 16 vs. Lipscomb and 18 vs. Loyola. Against Loyola, he added a career-high six assists and eight rebounds. He's the sixth Cougar since 2010 to tally at least 18, 8 and 6 in the same game  - joining Grant Riller, Jarrell Brantley, Andrew Lawrence, Canyon Barry and Joe Chealey. 
• Over his career, Meeks has now racked up 33 double-digit scoring games while grabbing at least seven boards on 17 occasions.  Dating back to 2019-20, Meeks' teams are 11-2 when he scores in double figures. 
• Meeks ripped off a season-high 22 points at Oklahoma State, the most by any individual against the Cowboys this season. He's scored 22+ six times in his last 10 games. His team-high 16.4 PPG ranks fifth in the CAA. 
• In addition to Meeks, Kelsey brought in Dimitrius Underwood (two-time All-American) comes to Charleston via Div. III Texas-Dallas Underwood is a do-it-all combo guard who averaged 19.3 points and 8.5 boards a season ago. He's started 85 career games and scored in double figures 80 times. Underwood is leading CofC in rebounding (6.6), offensive boards (12 total) and assists (3.6) while chipping in 8.2 PPG and normally guarding an opponent's lead guard. When the Cougars need to slow things down or stop the bleeding, Underwood's name is called. 
• Underwood was named to the Rising Coaches All-Tournament Team after packing the box score throughout the 3-game event. He followed it up with eight points, five rebounds, four assists and a season-high three steals in yet another all-around outing vs. No. 18 UNC.
• At Oklahoma State, Underwood finished with six points, four boards, two assists and a season-best five steals  - the most by any Cougar in a game this season. He's just the fourth Cougar since 2017 to nab five steals in a single game.

 
UP NEXT

• Charleston returns home for its first of two meetings with Tulane in a 7-day span. The Cougars and Green Wave face off Tuesday, Nov. 30 at TD Arena. 
• Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.