11/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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COASTAL CAROLINA UNIVERSITY MEN'S BASKETBALL
CHANTICLEERS vs. MUSKETEERS
Xavier's Cintas Center (10,250) ~ Cincinnati, Ohio
Saturday, November 11, 2006 ~ 7 p.m.
www.GoCCUSports.com
LET'S GET IT STARTED: Tonight opens the 2006-07 campaign for the Coastal Carolina men's basketball squad, as it travels to Cincinnati, Ohio to take on Xavier. The game is being televised live on Fox Sports Net Ohio.
CCU IN SEASON OPENERS: This is the seventh consecutive year that Coastal has opened the regular season on the road, having won two of those contests. Overall in their history, the Chanticleers are 19-13 in season openers and 11-10 since turning Division I. In road games to start the season, CCU is just 5-9 overall. This is CCU's earliest start to a season since joining NCAA Division I basketball in 1985-86.
THE COACHES: Coastal Carolina Head Coach Buzz Peterson (North Carolina, '86) is in his second season at the helm of the Chanticleers and holds a 186-119 overall coaching record in 10 seasons. Last season, CCU posted a 20-10 mark, including going 12-4 in Big South Conference play.
Sean Miller (Pittsburgh, ’92) is in his third season at Xavier with a 38-23 record at XU and as a head coach overall. Last season, Xavier was 21-11 overall and 8-8 in the Atlantic 10, winning the league's tournament title and the berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Musketeers return four starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's squad.
SERIES HISTORY: This is the third meeting all-time between Coastal and Xavier, with the Musketeers having won both previous meetings. The last meeting was on Nov. 17, 2001, also the season opener for both squads, and Xavier won at the Cintas Center, 72-41. (Last meeting box score is available on page 7.)
PETERSON AGAINST THE MUSKETEERS: This will be the second time that CCU head coach Buzz Peterson has faced Xavier as a head coach. While at Tennessee, Peterson's team dropped a tough 71-69 game to the visiting Musketeers, Dec. 11, 2004.
THE FIRST YEAR WAS A GOOD START: For head coach Buzz Peterson, he accomplished much in Coastal annals. Among first year CCU coaches, he led last year's team to more victories (20) and Big South wins (12) than any previous first-year Coastal coach. He also engineered a 10-win turnaround from last season's 10-19 mark, the third-best in school history and seventh best in Division I basketball last season.
SOME BIG ACCOMPLISHMENTS LAST YEAR: The Chanticleers had some significant accomplishments in the 2005-06 season. Coastal posted its first winning season, both overall and in the Big South, since 1993-94 when CCU was 15-11 and 10-8 in the league. Coastal's 20 wins were the most since the 1992-93 team that went 22-10 and the 12 league victories were the most since that same team was 12-4. Additionally, the Chants' 14 home victories last year were the most since the program went Division I during the 1985-86 season.
THEY SAY TALKING ABOUT STREAKS ISN'T GOOD: But for the Chanticleers, the streak late last season was a great one. CCU put together a 12-game winning streak that carried the Chants all the way to the Big South Championship game, surpassing the previous record of 11 games, set during the 1992-93 season. It was also the fourth-longest win streak in the NCAA Division I when it ended in the title game with a 51-50 loss at Winthrop.
COASTAL MAKING A MARK NATIONALLY IN THE RANKINGS: Coastal finished the 2005-06 campaign ranked in the top 60 in the nation in four categories as a team. CCU's best ranking is in free-throw percentage, as the Chanticleers were 32nd at 74.4 percent from the stripe. Coastal was 33rd in three-pointers per game at 8.0, as well as 56th in won-loss percentage (66.7 percent) and 56th in field goal percentage (46.1 percent).
MORE HISTORY ACHIEVED: Digging into the historical archives of Coastal basketball, last year's team made its mark on the record books.
Among the team records, Coastal's 20 wins tied for the seventh-most in school history, while the Chanticleers hit 241 three-pointers, setting a new single-season school record. Coastal's free-throw percentage of 74.4 percent (381-for-512) is now the top single-season mark in school annals, while this year's team ranks 10th in assists (451) and eighth in blocked shots (63).
RETURNING POINTS/REBOUNDS PERCENTAGE: There is no doubt that Coastal lost two solid contributors from last year's team in guards Pele Paelay and Colin Stevens. However, among the three starters and eight returning letterwinners, the Chanticleers return 70.5 percent of scoring and 81.9 percent of their rebounding to the 2006-07 squad.
BLENDING THE NEWCOMERS IN TO THE MIX: Coastal will work to add depth with five newcomers to the squad this year. Redshirt freshman Logan Johnson looks to get into the action after sitting out last year with a foot injury. He was Coastal's second-leading scorer on the Costa Rica Tour last fall before suffering the season-ending injury.
Two junior college transfers join the Chanticleers this year, as guard Everage Richardson and forward Phil Wallace bring solid collegiate experience to this year's team. Coastal also has two true freshman trying to crack the lineup in guard Joshua Mack and forward Randon Cavette.
INDIVIDUALS IN THE COASTAL RECORD BOOKS: Several Coastal players added their name to the school's records list, both for a single season and for their career, during the 2005-06 season.
Guard Jack Leasure broke the school and league's three-pointers made record with 125. His 535 points last year ranked eighth in Coastal history and the most ever by a sophomore. On the career chart, Leasure ranks third in three-pointers with 210.
Junior forward Moses Sonko finished sixth in free-throw percentage (84.2 percent), seventh in field goal percentage (55.6 percent) and tied for 10th with 68 offensive rebounds.
SOME KEY ITEMS FOR COASTAL’S VICTORIES LAST YEAR: Several trends developed in regards to Coastal winning in the 2005-06 season. Coastal was 17-4 when leading at the break, 18-1 when ahead with five minutes to play and 16-2 when scoring at least 70 points. Defense is always a key, as Coastal was 15-2 when holding opponents to less than 70 points, as well as 11-3 when forcing at least 15 turnovers. The Chants were also 18-3 when giving up less than 15 turnovers and 14-2 when shooting at least 45 percent from the floor. Another interesting note is that when guard Jack Leasure leads Coastal in scoring, the Chants are 13-2. Actually in all but one of CCU's 20 victories, either Leasure or graduated guard Pele Paelay has at least shared team-high scoring honors. That one game was the win over Charleston Southern in the Big South Tournament Semifinals, Mar. 2.
PETERSON EARNS RECOGNITION: CCU head coach Buzz Peterson earned regional and national recognition for the job he has done with the Chanticleers in the 2005-06 season. After finishing as the runner-up for Big South Coach of the Year, Peterson was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year by CollegeInsider.com, as well as the publication's Big South Coach of the Year. The group also named guard Jack Leasure as its Big South Player of the Year.
COASTAL PICKED AS BIG SOUTH RUNNER-UP FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR: Coastal Carolina's men's basketball squad was picked to finish second in the Big South Conference at the league's annual Media Day in Charlotte, N.C., October 11. This marks the second straight year that the Chanticleers have been picked second by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and selected media members. Additionally, junior Jack Leasure was named to the league's Preseason All-Big South team.
Under second year head coach Buzz Peterson, the Chanticleers, last year's regular-season and tournament runner-up, finished second in the voting with 187 points. Winthrop, the two-time defending champion, was the unanimous pick to win the title, while High Point was picked third with 182 points. The remaining picks, in order, were Charleston Southern (121), Liberty (117), UNC Asheville (100), Radford (87) and VMI (46).
The Big South Conference Player of the Year for the 2005-06 season and Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American in 2005-06, Leasure led the Chanticleers and ranked fifth in the league in scoring at 17.8 points per game. He finished second the nation in three-pointers per game at 4.17 and ranks in the top 30 nationally in three-point field goal percentage, hitting 41.9 percent (125-for-298) from beyond the arc. He set a new league record for single-season three pointers with 125, surpassing Radford's Doug Day with 117, accomplished during the 1991-92 season. Leasure also ranked among the top 10 in the league in assists (2nd, 4.07 apg), steals (6th, 1.63 spg), three-point field goal percentage (5th, .419) and assist-to-turnover ratio (6th, 1.47). This was the third time in the last four years that a Coastal player has won the Player of the Year award, as Paelay was the 2005 recipient, while Torrey Butler captured the honors in 2003.
Leasure was also named the Big South's Men's Basketball's Scholar-Athlete of the Year and to the All-Academic squad by the league's SIDs. This marked the first time in league history that both the Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards were earned by the same player. A history major with a 3.71 grade-point average, the then-sophomore was also named to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team as presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
STEPPING UP THE DEFENSE: In their 20 victories last year, the Chanticleers made the difference on the defensive end of the floor. In the 20 wins, Coastal gave up just 62.5 points per game and just 41.9 percent (431-for-1028) shooting from the floor. Additionally, the Chants forced 3.7 more turnovers a game in the wins, including 8.6 steals per game. Coastal has outrebounded its opponents by 3.9 caroms a game in the 20 victories.
This doesn't mean Coastal hasn't been solid offensively as well in the wins. The Chants averaged 76.9 points in the wins. They also hit on 48.9 percent (545-for-1114) of their shots from the floor, including 39.3 percent (168-for-428) from the three-point arc.
Individually, guard Jack Leasure was the leader for the Chants in the 20 wins, averaging 20.3 points per game in the victories. Additionally, Leasure hit 48.9 percent (135-for-276) of his shots from the floor, including 96 three pointers and 45.3 percent (96-for-212) shooting from beyond the arc. He also had 2.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game in the 20 victories.
FROM DOWNTOWN...BANG!: Junior Jack Leasure continues to believe -- and prove -- that outside the three-point arc is his domain. In 30 games last season, the guard hit 125 three-pointers, an average of 4.2 per game. He surpassed the former league record of 117, set by Doug Day of Radford in 1991-92. Only one player in the nation had more three-pointers than Leasure last year -- J.J. Redick of Duke with 139 in 36 games (3.9 per contest).
The success from the arc shows in the NCAA Division I national rankings. For the year, he finished second in the nation in three pointers per game and 25th in three-point field goal percentage at 41.9 percent.
As a team, Coastal was also among the nation's leaders in triples. The Chanticleers are averaging 8.0 threes per game, which ranked them 33rd in Division I.
AT YOUR LEASURE: Junior Jack Leasure was impressive on the offensive end of the floor his first two years at Coastal. Last season, Leasure led the Chants in scoring, averaging a team-high 17.8 points a game (fifth in the Big South) and adding 3.1 rebounds. He hit a league-record 125 three-pointers (4.2 per game), including a career-best nine in a win over Chowan, Dec. 19. He ranks third on CCU's all-time three-pointers chart with 210 in just 59 games (3.56 3p/g). His nine three pointers tied for the second-best performance in school history, while his seven three-pointers against Coker, Nov. 30, and St. Andrews, Jan. 3, tied for the fifth-best single games in Coastal history. He ranked second in the Big South with 4.07 assists per game and added 49 steals (sixth in the Big South) in 2005-06. For his play, Leasure was named the Big South Conference Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as well as Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American.
In his freshman season, he averaged 14.5 points (seventh in the Big South) and hit 42.5 percent (85-of-200) from the three-point arc, second best in the Big South Conference. He also led the league and ranked 29th nationally in three-pointers per game with 2.93. Leasure improved his averages to 15.8 points (third in the Big South) and 2.8 rebounds per game in league play.
SONKO CONTINUING THE SOLID PLAY: Junior forward Moses Sonko has made strides from his sophomore year and was solid as a junior for Coastal in 2005-06. As a sophomore in 2004-05, Sonko averaged 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 19.9 minutes per game, starting in 13 of the 27 games he played in. Last season, his numbers went up significantly, as he started all 30 contests and is averaging 11.7 points (17th in the Big South), 5.5 rebounds (15th in the league) and 26.3 minutes per game. He scored in double figures in 19 games, including his first career double-double in the win at Winthrop, Jan. 24, with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, and second double-double against Liberty, Jan. 28, with 16 points and 11 boards. He earned his first career Big South Player of the Week award, Jan. 30, after posting those back-to-back double-doubles. In Big South Semifinals, he set a season best and tied a career high with 21 points in the win over Charleston Southern, Mar. 2, and was eventually named to the Big South's All-Tournament Team.
DOUBLING THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR SONKO: Junior forward Moses Sonko saw double in back-to-back games for the Chanticleers in 2005-06. Sonko recorded his first career double-double, Jan. 24 at Winthrop, posting 10 points and a career-best 11 rebounds in the road win over the defending Big South champions. He then followed it up with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Chanticleers to a home win over Liberty, Jan. 28.
HARRIS MADE A DIFFERENCE: Sophomore forward Joseph Harris grew in the game throughout his freshman season and it showed in the late games. In the win over High Point, Feb. 6, 2006. Harris posted career-highs of 14 points and 16 rebounds for his first career double-double in leading the Chanticleers to the victory. The 16 rebounds tied the 10th-best single-game performance in school history and amazingly, of those 16 rebounds, 12 of them came in the first half. He then followed it up with his second consecutive double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Charleston Southern, Feb. 9. In the Big South Semifinal versus Charleston Southern, Mar. 2, Harris grabbed a career-best tying 16 rebounds, just two off the tournament record. He ranked ninth in the league in rebounding at 5.8 per contest, including 2.27 offensive boards per game (tied for sixth in the league with teammate Moses Sonko). In conference action only, he ranked fourth at 7.3 rebounds per contest. For his play last season, he was named to 2005-06 Big South All-Freshman Team.
INJURY REPORT FOR TONIGHT: The Chanticleers will have all 15 players available for tonight's season opener at Xavier.
