Elon MBB Returns to Alumni Gym to Host Northeastern

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s basketball team returns to Alumni Gym to begin its final homestand of the season on Thursday night, Feb. 23, against Northeastern in Colonial Athletic Association action at 7 p.m.

GATE NOTES

COVERAGE
You can also watch online on Phoenix All-Access at elonphoenix.com and on Facebook Live on the Elon Men’s Basketball Facebook page.

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 Alumni Gym and the pregame show begins at 6:30 p.m.

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY’S COLLEGES AGAINST CANCER
The American Cancer Society’s Colleges Against Cancer is sponsoring Thursday’s game. Colleges Against Cancer is a nationwide collaboration of college students, faculty, and staff dedicated to saving lives from cancer by initiating and supporting programs of the American Cancer Society in college communities.

NEW BAG POLICY AT ALUMNI GYM
Elon University has implemented a new policy for bags entering Alumni Gym. All bags entering the arena will be checked before fans reach the ticket booths at the facility. Multiple lines will be available and there will be specific lines for fans entering with no bags.

The following items will be prohibited from Alumni Gym:
• Weapons
• Explosives
* Alcoholic beverages
• Outside food and beverages
• Smoking and tobacco products
• E-cigarettes
• Containers or coolers
• Flags on poles
• Hoverboards
• Pets (except service animals)

BASKETBALL GAME DAY
For more information on ticketing, parking and directions to Alumni Gym, please visit the Basketball Game Day web page.

SERIES HISTORY
• Thursday will be the sixth all-time meeting between Elon and Northeastern and the third time the sides have met in Alumni Gym. The Phoenix defeated the Huskies 51-49 earlier this season on Jan. 26 at Matthews Arena.
• 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.
• In 2015-16, Elon and Northeastern split the season series with the road team winning each contest.
• The last time both teams played each other in Matthews Arena, the Phoenix came back from a 15-point deficit to defeat
the Huskies 71-67 on Jan. 30, 2016.
• Northeastern defeated Elon inside Alumni Gym last season on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2015, with an 86-79 victory.
• Only once in the series has a winning team won by double-digits. That was in the first matchup on Jan . 31, 2015.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
• Elon leads the league in field goal percentage defense (41.5%) during CAA games. Elon has held 10 of its last 11 opponents to under 45% shooting from the floor.
• Elon is averaging 28.9 defensive rebounds per game, which ranks 14th 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 (32.6%), just behind College of Charleston (31.9%).

OTHER NOTES
• Elon has clinched a bye to the quarterfinals of the 2017 CAA Championship. The Phoenix can finish as high at the No. 3 seed or a low as the No. 6 seed.
• 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.
• Elon is 12-4 this season when leading at halftime and 9-1 when holding teams to under 40% from the field.
• 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.

SENIOR CLASS
• Elon’s senior class of Luke Eddy, Christian Hairston, Ryder Bowline and Patrick Ryan currently have 67 wins since their first year with the program in 2013-14.
• They need three 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 67-60 thus far in four seasons.

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 284 career assists. Eddy is six assists away from moving past Steven Harvin ’05 into sole possession of 10th all-time.

354 AND COUNTING
• The Elon program has made at least one three-point field goal in 354 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.

ACADEMIC HONORS
• Sophomores Tyler Seibring and Steven Santa Ana earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors this week.
• 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.

HEAD COACH MATT MATHNEY
• Head coach Matt Matheny won his 124th game at Elon on Saturday, Feb. 11, against UNCW. He won his 125th game at Drexel on Feb. 18, and is ranked third all-time for coaching victories in program history. Matheny needs 37 wins to surpass Graham L. “Doc” Mathis (1949-59) to move into second all-time.

GOING BACK-TO-BACK
• Tyler Seibring repeated as CAA Co-Player of the Week on Jan. 30, after averaging 19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists during Elon’s 2-0 week, Jan. 26-28. The sophomore also shot 53.6% from the floor.
• The Normal, Ill. native scored a team-high 15 points and added eight rebounds as the Phoenix handed Northeastern its first home loss of the season, 51-49, on Jan. 26. He followed with a team-best 23 points and six boards in an 84-70 triumph at Hofstra on Jan. 28.
• The sophomore also earned CAA Co-Player of the Week honors on Jan. 23 after averaging a team-high 22.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 blocks in victories over Drexel (1/19) and William & Mary (1/21).

FREE THROW SUCCESS
• In conference games only, Elon is second in the league shooting 73.3% from the line through 16 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.

NORTHEASTERN STORYLINES
• Following his 18-point performance against Charleston, T.J. Williams has now notched at least 20 points in 16 of 28 games this season and is averaging a CAA leading 21.4 ppg (14th nationally) to go along with 5.1 assists per game, 3rd in the CAA and 50th nationally
• The Huskies have recorded a double-double seven times this season, with Anthony Green notching the most recent one, his first career double-double
• Green is the fifth different Husky to tally a double-double on the year, the first time five different Huskies have notched a double- double in the same season since the 2002-03 season
• Devon Begley has been stingy this season making 48 steals on the season, the most in the CAA and 47th most nationally
• The Huskies started the week off with a Thursday night meeting against first place UNCW at Matthews Arena
• The Huskies could not get their offense going in the first half and saw themselves down by 20 at halftime, 39-19 to the Seahawks
• However, Northeastern was undeterred and instead went on a 16-1 run after the half to make it a six-point game thanks to a slam by Anthony Green that jump-started the streak
• During the stretch, Green, T.J. Williams and Alex Murphy accounted for all 16 of Northeastern’s points
• Later in the second half, Williams and Green cut the Seahawks lead to just one with 52.6 seconds left, but UNCW came away with a steal and sealed the win with four free throws down the stretch
• Williams finished with a career-high 33 points on the night, tallying 27 of those in the second half matching UNCW’s entire second half output
• On Saturday afternoon, five different Huskies registered a double-digit scoring effort, the fourth time this season they have done so, but Northeastern fell 85-71 to Charleston.

UP NEXT
Elon closes out the regular season on Saturday night, Feb. 25, hosting Delaware on Senior Night. The game will tip off at 7 p.m.