Chants to Close Out 2013 Monday Night at Home
12/29/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2013
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina men's basketball team returns home to The HTC Center Monday night to take on in-state foe South Carolina State. The Chants recently lost to the Bulldogs 83-78 in an exciting game in Orangeburg. Coastal will look to return the favor in Conway as the Chants and Bulldogs battle at 7 p.m.
Coastal Carolina (6-6) vs. South Carolina State (3-8)
Monday, Dec. 30 | 7:00 p.m. | Conway, S.C. | The HTC Center (3,212)
MEDIA
Radio: Sports Radio 100.3 "The Team"
Live Stats:
Audio Stream: Chanticleer Sports Network
Video Stream: Big South Network
Twitter Updates: @GoCCUSports, @Chants365
Coastal Carolina Versus South Carolina State
• The Chanticleers are 8-5 all-time against the Bulldogs.
• The Bulldogs have won two-in-a-row against the Chants including the most recent meeting in Orangeburg on Dec. 17, 83-78.
• CCU had not faced SC State since 2006 prior to this season's earlier meeting. The Bulldogs won the 2006 contest 81-80 in overtime, ending CCU's four-game win streak at South Carolina State.
• The Bulldogs have won three of the last five meetings but have not won in Conway since 2001.
Chanticleers Versus MEAC Opponents
• The Chanticleers are 13-10 all-time against current members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
• The Chants are 1-1 all-time against Hampton, 0-3 against North Carolina A&T, 2-0 against North Carolina Central, 2-1 Savannah State and 8-5 against South Carolina State.
• CCU's last meeting with an MEAC opponent was the 83-78 loss to SC State earlier this season.
Cameron Arrives
• Junior Josh Cameron has started the last five games, the first five starts of his career, and has not disappointed.
• Cameron is averaging a team-high 17.6 points per game over the last five outings. He is shooting 49.1 percent from the field and is 14-29 from 3-point range. He also has a team-high 19 assists over that span.
• In CCU's most recent game he hit a four-point play with 22 seconds left on the clock which turned out to be the game-winner as the Chants defeated Central Connecticut, 65-62.
Freshmen Phenoms
• This year's freshmen class throughout the NCAA was one of the most talked about groups in recent history including Andrew Wiggins, Wayne Selden and Joel Embiid of Kansas, Jabari Parker of Duke, Julius Randle, James Young and the Harrison twins of Kentucky, Aaron Gordon of Arizona, Tyler Ennis of Syracuse and Kasey Hill of Florida.
• Despite not being one of those "talked about" freshmen, Elijah Wilson currently ranks 12th in the NCAA in scoring among freshmen with his 16.0 points per game. Among the 11 freshmen listed above only Parker and Randle rank ahead of Wilson on the scoring list.
Hot Start
• Freshman Elijah Wilson has scored in double-figures in all 12 games of his career.
• He opened the season with 15 points at Akron. He then scored 16 against Guilford, 14 versus Ole Miss, a career-high 25 at Minnesota, 10 against St. Francis Brooklyn, 22 versus Louisiana, 16 at Clemson, 23 versus Western Carolina, 11 against North Carolina Wesleyan, 16 versus Reinhardt, 10 against SC State and 14 at Central Connecticut.
• He is currently on track to break the freshman scoring record at CCU by 76 points set by Jack Leasure during the 2004-05 season.
• If he continues at his current pace he will score 480 points during the regular season and with at least one postseason game he will bump that total to 496 which will break Leasure's record of 420.
It Takes a Team
• The 2013-14 edition of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers is a very balanced attack. Head coach Cliff Ellis has used all 12 available players so far this season and 10 of the 12 are averaging 9.0 minutes or more of action.
• The ability to stay on the floor has become much more competitive this season than in years past when the Chants featured game-tested veterans.
• With a roster that features just one player who has been in the CCU system for more than one season, the competition for playing time is evident every minute of practice and throughout the games.
• 12 games into the season, 10 players are averaging double-digit minutes with five averaging more than 20 per game.
