ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s basketball team closes out its final road swing of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 18, against the Drexel Dragons at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. The game will tip off at 2 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 1:30 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY
• Saturday marks the eighth all-time meeting between Elon and Drexel, and third time the foes have faced off inside
Alumni Gym. Elon defeated the Dragons earlier this season. The Phoenix has won three of the last four matchups.
• Last season, Elon swept the regular season series winning 83-78 in Alumni Gym on Jan. 2, 2015 and earning the 81-76
victory at Drexel on Feb. 18, 2015. However, the Dragons got the better of the Phoenix in the CAA Championship First
Round with a 57-56 victory on March 4, 2015 at Royal Farms arena.
• The first-ever meeting between Elon and Drexel took place on Nov. 18, 2013 in Piscataway N.J. as part of the NIT
Season Tip-off. The Dragons won 71-64 as the eighth seed in the preseason tournament.
ELON TIP INS
• Five different Elon players have scored 20 or more in a game this season. Tyler Seibring scored 22 against Towson, his fifth 20+ point game of the season.
• The Phoenix has stepped up defensively during conference play, leading the league in field goal percentage defense (41.9%) in CAA games. Elon has held nine of its last 10 opponents to under 45% shooting from the floor.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• Elon won three straight conference games at home by 10+ points from Jan. 7-19, the first time the Phoenix has done so in the program’s Division I era (since 1999-00).
GETTING DEFENSIVE
• Elon leads the league in field goal percentage defense (41.9%) during CAA games. Elon has held nine of its last 10 opponents to under 45% shooting from the floor.
• Elon is averaging 28.4 defensive rebounds per game, which ranks 16th 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 (32.4%), just behind College of Charleston (30.1%).
FREE THROW SUCCESS
• In conference games only, Elon is first in the league shooting 75.6% from the line through 15 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 283 career assists. Eddy is seven 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.
353 AND COUNTING
• The Elon program has made at least one three-point field goal in 353 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.
UP NEXT
Elon returns to Alumni Gym on Thursday, Feb. 23 to host Northeastern at 7 p.m.