Men's Basketball Travels to Auburn Friday
12/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina men's basketball returns to action Friday evening at Auburn. The Cliff Ellis-led Chanticleers and Bruce Peal-led Tigers are slated for an 8:06 p.m. (CT) tipoff. The game can be viewed throughout the Southeast on Fox Sports South (HTC channel 48).
Game Information
Date / Time: Fri., Dec. 5, 2014 / 8:06 p.m. CT
Site: Auburn, Ala. / Auburn Arena (9,121)
Broadcast: Fox Sports South (HTC channel 48)
Talent: Tom Werme (play-by-play), Daymeon Fishback (color analyst)
Audio Broadcast: Chanticleer Sports Network
Radio: WSEA Sports Radio 100.3 "The Team"
Online Audio Link: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/coastal/
Talent: Aaron Marks (play-by-play)
Live Stats:
Twitter Updates: @GoCCUSports
Coastal Carolina Game Notes
Coastal Carolina vs. Auburn
• The Chanticleers are 0-1 all-time against the Auburn Tigers.
• The teams met on Dec. 17, 1995, in Auburn with the Tigers winning 82-66.
• Current Chanticleer head coach Cliff Ellis was in his second as Auburn's head coach at the time.
Last Time Out
• Coastal Carolina defeated in-state foe South Carolina State 66-52 on Tuesday evening.
• Coastal tallied 42 total rebounds for a plus-13 advantage on the boards and connected on nine 3-pointers.
• Coastal's dominate performance on the glass was directed by Badou Diagne's 11-rebound effort, while Josh Cameron led the way in threes with four. Diagne also scored 14 points, marking his second double-double of the season. Cameron matched Diagne's scoring output with 14 of his own on 5-of-9 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from deep.
Up Next
• Coastal Carolina returns to the friendly confines of The HTC Center as hosts to Warren Wilson on Thurs., Dec. 11. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
Coach Ellis vs. Auburn
• Head coach Cliff Ellis is 2-0 all-time against Auburn. He led South Alabama to a 95-73 victory during the 1983 Colonial Classic in Mobile, Ala. Ellis' second win against Auburn came by way of a 84-72 decision on March 18, 1993 as the head coach of Clemson.
Coastal Carolina vs. the SEC
• Coastal Carolina is 3-12 all-time against current members of the Southeastern Conference.
• Coastal picked up its first win over an SEC member on Dec. 11, 1993, defeating South Carolina 88-74 in Columbia.
• Coastal's next victory against the SEC came on Dec. 13, 2010 at LSU with a 78-69 overtime decision. The Chants defeated the Tigers again the following year in Conway by a 71-63 score.
• The Chanticleers have lost their last two contests against SEC foes, falling at Ole Miss by a 72-90 score in 2012 and again to the Rebels at home last season (70-72). [Coastal travels to Ole Miss to complete the three-game series on Thurs., Dec. 18.]
Ellis' Return to Auburn
• Friday's contest marks head coach Cliff Ellis' first return to Auburn since departing the university following the 2004 season. Ellis led the Auburn from 1994-2004, guiding the Tigers to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 1999. Ellis was also named the 1999 AP National Coach of the Year. In all, Ellis complied 177-128 overall record, won the 1999 SEC regular season title and took the Tigers to three NCAA Tournaments (1999, 2000, 2003).
We've Been Down This Road Before
• Friday will not be coach Ellis' first time leading Coastal against one of his former programs. Ellis has led the Chanticleers against Clemson, which he coached from 1984-94, three times.
• Coastal and Clemson first met with Ellis on the sideline on Nov. 22, 2011, in the Tigers' Littlejohn Coliseum. Coastal would win the game 60-59 on a Chris Gradnigo tip-in as time expired.
• The Chants then hosted Clemson on Dec. 19, 2012 and handily defeated the Tigers 69-46 in front of a capacity crowd at The HTC Center.
• Clemson took the final game of the three-game series with a 69-40 home win last season.
Setting Up For Success
• Coastal Carolina has set itself up for success with strong defense in the first half for much of the season. Through seven games, only UCLA and Chattanooga have scored more that 30 points in the first half. UCLA held a slim 32-28 lead at the break, while Chattanooga trailed the Chants 40-35 at the half. The Chants are 5-1 this season when holding a lead at the half.
The Scoring Streak Comes To An End
• Warren Gillis put together one of the more impressive scoring streaks in recent Chanticleer basketball memory. He ended last season scoring in double-figures in 21 straight games and scored 10-plus in CCU's first six games this season to total a double-digit scoring streak to 27 straight games.
• Gillis failed to reach double-figures on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014, against SC State as he finished with eight on a 3-of-10 shooting night.
• Coincidentally, the previous time Gillis failed to reach double-digits in the points column was Dec. 30, 2013, against SC State as he closed that contest with nine points.
Scoring Points And Playing Strong Defense
• Through seven games this season the Chanticleers are averaging 71.7 points and allowing just 54.6 points per game for a +17.1 scoring margin. CCU's 71.7 points per game ranks third in the Big South, while the 54.6 points against and 17.1 point scoring margin are both tops among conference schools.
• Offensively the Chanticleers rank second in the Big South with a .440 field goal percentage and third with a .347 3-point field goal percentage. Individually, Josh Cameron (14.6 ppg), Warren Gillis (12.0 ppg) and Shivaughn Wiggins (10.4 ppg) rank in the top 30 of the league's individual scoring list.
• Defensively, Coastal also ranks atop the league in field goal percentage defense (.352), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.269) and defensive rebounds (30.3 per game).
