ELON, N.C. – Two of the hottest teams in the Colonial Athletic Association clash on Thursday, Feb. 16, as the Elon University men’s basketball team squares off against the Towson Tigers at SECU Arena. The game at Towson will tip off at 7 p.m.
COVERAGE
Watch the action online at CAA.TV. You can also listen to the action on the Elon IMG Sports Network on 104.5 FM, 1200 AM or on the TuneIn app. Taylor Durham and Ryan Meizinger will have the call from SECU Arena and the pregame show begins at 6:30 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY
• Thursday marks the 7th all-time meeting between Elon and Towson. Prior to Jan. 7, four of the previous five meetings had been decided by five points or less. Elon has never defeated the Tigers at Towson and is 0-2 all-time at SECU Arena.
• The Phoenix defeated the Tigers 72-61 earlier this season on Jan. 7. Towson swept the season series in 2015-16, defeating the Phoenix 67-56 on Feb. 20, 2016 in Maryland and earning a narrow 81-77 victory on Feb. 6, 2016 inside Alumni Gym.
• Elon’s first win against the Tigers was during the maroon and gold’s inaugural season and first appearance in the CAA
Tournament. The Phoenix defeated Towson 74-69 in the first round of the 2015 tournament in Baltimore.
ELON TIP INS
• The Phoenix has stepped up defensively during conference play, leading the league in field goal percentage defense (41.4%) in CAA games. Elon has held its last nine opponents to under 45% shooting from the floor.
• Since Jan. 7, both Elon and Towson have been on a hot streak. Elon has won 8 of its last 11 and Towson has won 9 of its last 10.
• The Phoenix has now won 15 or more games in five consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1987-88 season.
• The maroon and gold has won six straight in Alumni Gym since falling to College of Charleston on Dec. 31.
• Five different Elon players have scored 20 or more in a game this season. Brian Dawkins scored 24 against UNCW, his third 20+ point game of the season.
• Elon is 11-4 this season when leading at halftime, 11-5 when winning the rebound battle and 8-1 when holding teams to under 40% from the field.
• The Phoenix has achieved its best CAA win total since joining the league in 2014-15, surpassing its seven CAA victories last season.
• The matchup at Northeastern on Jan. 26 was the first time Elon has held an opponent to 50 points or less since holding Furman to 49 points on Feb. 24, 2014.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
• Elon leads the league in field goal percentage defense (41.4%) during CAA games. Elon has held its last nine opponents to under 45% shooting from the floor.
• Elon is averaging 28.4 defensive rebounds per game, which ranks 15th in NCAA Division I and first in the CAA.
• The maroon and gold ranks second in the league in 3-point field goal percentage defense (32%), just behind College of Charleston (29.5%).
FREE THROW SUCCESS
• In conference games only, Elon is first in the league shooting 77.3% from the line through 14 games. Elon has made 80% of above from the line in six of those contests.
• The Phoenix had its best shooting performance from the line on Thursday, Feb. 2, against James Madison, finishing 22-of-23 (95.7%) from the stripe.
LUKE EDDY MILESTONE
• Senior point guard Luke Eddy reached 200 assists in his career with three against South Florida on Nov. 17. He currently 11th in program history at 279 career assists. Eddy is 11 assists away from moving past Steven Harvin ’05 into sole possession of 10th all-time.
HEAD COACH MATT MATHENY
• Head coach Matt Matheny won his 124th game at Elon on Saturday, Feb. 11, against UNCW. With the win, he is now ranked third all-time in program history. Matheny needs 38 wins to surpass Graham L. “Doc” Mathis (1949-59) to move into second all-time.
352 AND COUNTING
• The Elon program has made at least one three-point field goal in 352 consecutive games (not including exhibition games). The matchup on Feb. 4 at College of Charleston marked the 350th consective game.
• The last time Elon did not make a three in a game was Jan. 30, 2006, at Georgia Southern when the team went 0-of-14 from deep.
• Elon is currently averaging 9.5 triples per game, which is second in the CAA and tied for 24th in the NCAA. The Phoenix averaged 9.5 made three pointers a game last season.
SENIOR CLASS
• Elon’s senior class of Luke Eddy, Christian Hairston, Ryder Bowline and Patrick Ryan currently have 65 wins since their first year with the program in 2013-14.
• They need five more wins to match the 2016 senior class (Tanner Samson, Sam Hershberger, Tony Sabato and Wes Brewer) mark of 70 victories, the most wins by a senior class in Elon’s Division I era.
• This year’s class has a combined mark of 65-59 thus far in four seasons.
ACADEMIC HONORS
• Sophomores Tyler Seibring and Steven Santa Ana earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.
• Elon was the only Division I program to place two on the All-District teams this year. A total of 42 student-athletes were selected.
• It’s just the second time in program history the program has had multiple players honored in the same season. Last time Elon had multiple selections was in 1988 when Brian Branson, Tony Chavis and Steve Page earned Academic All-District and All-America honors.
TOWSON STORYLINES
• Towson has won nine of its last 10 games with its only loss coming on Jan. 28 at Northeastern.
• The Tigers lost leading rebounder John Davis to a season-ending injury this past weekend.
• Towson is currently on a four-game winning streak, which was extended on Saturday, Feb. 11 with a win against Drexel.
• Overall, 10 of the 11 players who saw action for Towson marked up the scoring column.
• The Tigers have rallied from five double-digit deficits to win games this season. Three of those games (FDU, UMBC, William & Mary), the Tigers trailed by double digits at intermission. Towson has erased double-digit deficits to win in its last two games against William & Mary and Hofstra.
• This season defensively, Towson ranks first in the league in field goal percentage defense (41.5%), third in scoring defense (69.1 ppg), and second in steals (6.9 spg).
UP NEXT
Elon makes its final road trip of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 18 at Drexel. The game tips off at 2 p.m. on CAA.TV.