CONFERENCE NOTES:
Elon Off To 3-0 Start: Elon is off to a 3-0 start in league play, its best start since joining the Southern Conference. It also ties the program’s best conference start since moving to Division I. The Phoenix have won four straight, with three of the wins coming on the road. The three road victories are the most for Elon since the 2002-03 campaign. Dating back to last year, Elon has won four straight regular season conference games and five of its last six.
Winters Nears 1,600; Nesbitt Passes 1,400: Davidson’s Brendan Winters enters Tuesday’s game with The Citadel needing one point to become only the sixth player in Wildcat history to score 1,600 points in a career. On Monday, Georgia Southern’s Elton Nesbitt surpassed the 1,400 point plateau for his career, becoming only the eighth Eagle to do so. In addition, Wofford’s Howard Wilkerson enters Saturday’s game with GSU needing three points to reach 1,000 for his career.
SoCon Television Schedule: The SoCon’s eight-game television package on FSN South continues Saturday with College of Charleston hosting The Citadel at 2 p.m. The next scheduled game on FSN South is Saturday, January 21 as Davidson hosts Georgia Southern.
SoCon and Win Streaks: Davidson enters Tuesday’s game having won 26 regular season conference games in a row, the longest such streak in the nation. The Wildcats have also won 15 games in a row at Belk Arena (tied for eighth) and that number increases to 18 when you look at just league games. Georgia Southern has won seven overall games, ranking them ninth in Division I, while its 17-game win streak at Hanner Fieldhouse is presently sixth.
Coaching Milestones: Georgia Southern head coach Jeff Price won his 249th game as a coach Monday against College of Charleston. His next victory will be his 250th. Davidson head coach Bob McKillop is four conference wins shy of becoming the first SoCon coach to win 150 league games.
Three Teams Have Two in Top 10: UNC Greensboro, Davidson and Furman each have two players ranked in the top 10 in scoring. UNCG’s Ricky Hickman (18.8) and Kyle Hines (17.1) are second and fifth in the conference; Davidson’s Ian Johnson (16.8) and Brendan Winters (16.5) are sixth and seventh; and Furman’s Robby Bostain (13.8) and Eric Webb (13.7) are ninth and tenth.
Home Teams and League Games: The home team has won nine of the first 14 league games. In fact, the home team has won six of the last nine conference games.
SoCon and the RPI: According to the latest RPI Report, the Southern Conference has the 12th best non-conference RPI. Davidson continues to lead the league with an RPI of 48, while Georgia Southern is also ranked in the top 150 (141).
SoCon Names New Commissioner: The Southern Conference on January 2 named John Iamarino as the league’s eighth commissioner. Iamarino is currently the commissioner of the Northeast Conference and will officially start on January 30.
Top Scorers Return in 2005-06: Eleven of the top-20 scorers from a year ago are back for the upcoming season, including five of the top 10. Georgia Southern’s Elton Nesbitt is the league’s leading returning scorer at 20.2 ppg. Nesbitt, who was second in the conference in scoring in 2004-05, is followed by Davidson’s Brendan Winters (third at 16.7 ppg in 2004-05), Western Carolina’s David Berghoefer (sixth at 14.6) and UNC Greensboro teammates Ricky Hickman (seventh at 14.5) and Kyle Hines (ninth at 13.6).
Two SoCon Teams Among Bracket Buster Pool: College of Charleston and UNC Greensboro are the two Southern Conference representatives for the fourth edition of ESPN’s Bracket Buster Saturday series. This year’s pool has been increased to 100 teams, up from 64 a year ago. The Cougars will participate in the event for the third straight year and will be one of the home teams, while the Spartans will be on the road for the event and are partaking in it for the first time. Last year, CofC defeated Virginia Commonwealth 85-75 in one of the pool games.
SoCon Tournament Returns to Charleston: After a one year hiatus where the conference tournament was being held in Chattanooga, TN in 2005, the SoCon Tournament returns to the North Charleston Coliseum for the fourth time in five seasons ? and for each of the next two years. The start of the championship is being moved back a day to Thursday-Sunday, March 2-5 to accommodate a Sunday afternoon finals broadcast on ESPN2. The 2006 edition of the conference championship will be the SoCon’s 86th tournament, the longest Division I men’s basketball championship.
TEAM NOTES:
APPALACHIAN STATE (6-9, 1-2 SoCon): With 282 assists in his career, D.J. Thompson is three assists shy of moving into the top ten in ASU history...Thompson is also 18 assists away from becoming only the seventh Mountaineer to dish out 300 in a career...ASU picked up its first league win of the season Monday with a 68-53 win over Western Carolina...Thompson led the ASU attack with 18 points and five assists, while Jeremy Clayton added 14 points and a team-best 12 rebounds...The ASU defense held the Catamounts to under 30 percent shooting from the floor, including 20 percent from 3-point range...Appalachian State hosts Montreat on Saturday, a day that will also celebrate the football team’s I-AA national championship.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (8-6, 1-2 SoCon): Dontaye Draper needs three points for 750 in his career...Draper has either led or tied for the team lead in scoring in four of the past five games...Drew Hall, who has six double figure scoring game in his two seasons at CofC, has scored at least 10 points in three of his last five games...The Cougars play host to rival The Citadel Saturday in a game that will be televised by Fox Sports Net South...CofC swept the season-series with the Bulldogs last year...Charleston won 80-48 at Kresse Arena (Feb. 26th) and 66-63 at The Citadel on Feb. 10th...CofC has won all six matchups with the Bulldogs under coach Tom Herrion...CofC won its 950th game all-time in its 66-53 victory over Furman on Saturday (950-781)...The Cougars, in their eighth season as a member of the Southern Conference, are 93-35 against league competition...After its game with The Citadel, CofC hosts Davidson next Tuesday (Jan. 17).
CHATTANOOGA (9-8, 1-2 SoCon): After winning four non-conference contests in a row, Chattanooga has lost two of its first three conference games...The Mocs dropped their league opener to Furman then knocked off UNC Greensboro at home for their seventh straight win in McKenzie Arena...Casey Long poured in a career-best 24 points in the win over UNCG...UTC had its home streak snapped Monday at the hands of Elon, 92-74...The Mocs placed five players in double figures, including four starters, and were led by Charles Anderson’s 15 points...Chattanooga travels to Western Carolina and Appalachian State on Saturday and Monday, respectively, and play four of its next five league games on the road...The team’s next home game is Jan. 21 against Austin Peay.
THE CITADEL (6-8, 0-2 SoCon): The Citadel returns to action on Tuesday at Davidson, looking to snap a five-game losing streak...The Bulldogs dropped a pair of games last week, a non-conference tilt to Penn, and a league game against Georgia Southern...Dante Terry scored a game-high 16 points in the loss to the Eagles, while Demetrius Nelson had his fourth double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds...Nelson’s four double-doubles are tied for second in the league...Terry also pulled down a career-high seven boards versus GSU and enters the week needing four 3-pointers to move up to seventh in school history...Kevin Hammack is the SoCon’s active leader in assists (358) and steals (166) and is 53 points shy of 900 for his career...The Citadel face rival College of Charleston on Saturday in its only regular season appearance on FSN South.
DAVIDSON (8-5, 2-0 SoCon): Davidson enters Tuesday’s game with The Citadel on a 26-game regular season conference win streak, the longest in the nation...The Wildcats have also won 15 in a row at Belk Arena and 18 straight league wins in a row at home...Kenny Grant drained a career-high four three-pointers ? all in the first half ? in the 80-62 win over Wofford; his previous best was two ... Sophomore Boris Meno has either led or tied for the team lead in rebounds in each of the past six games, averaging 9.8 per contest ... Senior Ian Johnson, who leads the team at 16.8 points per game, has scored just 10 points over the past two games on 4-of-15 from the floor ... Senior Matt McKillop has a 6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio thus far (30 assists, five turnovers) ... Davidson is 13th in the nation in scoring at 82.4 points per game ... Winters is seventh nationally, but just second in the league, at with a free throw percentage of 92.9 ... Grant, meanwhile, ranks 25th nationally in assists at 5.69 per game ... The loss to North Carolina last week marked Davidson’s first losing streak in just over one year ... Davidson was also beaten on the boards by the Tar Heels, 54-31, the biggest rebound deficit for the Wildcats in 13 years (59-35 vs. Charlotte on Jan. 3, 1993)...Davidson is at Furman Saturday in a game that will be televised on CSS.
ELON (6-9, 3-0 SoCon): Elon won its fourth straight game on Monday, knocking off Chattanooga, 92-74...The Phoenix moved to 3-0 in conference play for the first time since joining the SoCon and equals the team’s best start in conference action...Two of the three wins last week for Elon came on the road, giving the team three road victories for the first time since the 2002-03 season...Chris Chalko and Montell Watson each hit a career-high six 3-pointers versus UTC, with the Phoenix finishing the game with 16 3-pointers...Watson led the way with 25 points while Chalko added 19...The 92 points scored by Elon are the most points scored in a regulation game since a 97-81 win over Bluefield Dec. 6, 2001...Scottie Rice posted a season-high eight assists against Appalachian State last Saturday...Rice is fourth on Elon’s career list with 306 assists while his 185 steals ranks second...The Phoenix host UNC Greensboro on Saturday then step out of conference play for the final time this season Jan. 18 against Montreat.
FURMAN (8-6, 2-1 SoCon): Furman won for the fourth time in its last five games Monday with an 83-52 win at Wofford...The Paladins shot 58 percent from the floor, the team’s best shooting game since hitting 62 percent of their shots Nov. 26 against Johns Hopkins...Four starters reached double digits in scoring, led by Stanley Jones’ 19 points...Moussa Diagne and Robby Bostain each chipped in 12...Diagne heads into Saturday’s game with Davidson three points shy of 700 for his career...Jones has led Furman in scoring in each of the past two games, marking only the third time this season that a Paladin has led the team in scoring in back-to-back games...Eric Webb leads the SoCon in free throw percentage, connecting on 94 percent of his attempts (45-of-48)...Following its game with Davidson on Saturday, the Paladins head to Georgia Southern on Jan. 17.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN (11-4, 2-0 SoCon): Georgia Southern enters Saturday’s home game with Wofford on a seven-game win streak...The Eagles tied a school record with their 17th straight win at home Monday in a 71-68 come-from-behind win over College of Charleston...Head coach Jeff Price’s next victory will be the 250th of his career...Louis Graham tied his career high with 22 points versus CofC and set a career best with five blocks in the Eagles’ conference-opening win over The Citadel last Saturday...Elton Nesbitt dropped in 18 points against the Cougars, moving him past the 1,400 point mark for his career...Nesbitt is only the eighth Eagle to score more than 1,400 in a career...Monday’s 71 points scored marked only the second time during the team’s seven-game win streak that the Eagles failed to score at least 80 points...GSU hosts Furman next Tuesday (Jan. 17) to wrap up the Eagles’ three-game homestand.
UNC GREENSBORO (7-8, 1-1 SoCon): Ricky Hickman moved past the 800-point mark for his career following his 20-point outing against Chattanooga last Saturday and enters Wednesday’s game with 816 points...Beginning with Wednesday’s game with Montreat, UNCG will play four of its next five at home...Hickman has reached double digits in all 12 games he has played in this season, including five 20-point games...Hickman has 150 career steals and is one of only three Spartans to have 150 or more in their career (since 1986-87)...Kyle Hines led the team with 23 points versus UTC and has scored 20-plus points in two of his last three games...Hines also needs five blocks for 150 for his career and 20 boards for 400...UNCG is at Elon on Saturday and has dropped three of its last five meetings to the Phoenix.
WESTERN CAROLINA (7-10, 1-1 SoCon): Head coach Larry Hunter coached in his 750th game on Monday, a 68-53 loss at Appalachian State...David Berghoefer had his first double-double of the season Monday vs. ASU with 11 points and 14 rebounds...Negus McKenna came off the bench to score 10 points against the Mountaineers, which equaled a season high...The Catamounts host Chattanooga on Saturday, their first home game since Dec. 22, looking to end a four-game losing streak...The team’s last win came Dec. 18, an 83-57 win over The Citadel.
WOFFORD (5-9, 0-3 SoCon): Wofford has lost its last three games -- all conference contests -- and head to Georgia Southern on Saturday where it has not won since Jan. 2, 2001...Howard Wilkerson needs three points to reach 1,000 for his career...Wilkerson is second among active players in the league with 600 rebounds...Tyler Berg is 50 points shy of 900 for his career and 21 boards from 500...Berg pulled down a team-high eight rebounds against Furman, the first player other than Wilkerson to pace the team in rebounds in six games...Matt O’Connor came off the bench to tie Shane Nichols for team-high honors on Monday with 10 points...The Terriers are at The Citadel on Monday, then host three straight conference games at home.