CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina University men's basketball team will wrap up its regular-season home schedule this week, as the Chanticleers will host South Alabama, Thursday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. ET, and Troy, Saturday, Feb. 19, at 4 p.m. ET. Saturday's game will be the second game of a scheduled doubleheader with the women's team who will host UTA at 1 p.m. ET prior to the men's game.
 
CCU enters the week coming off a split with Georgia State and Georgia Southern, losing 61-50 to the Panthers and defeating Georgia Southern 79-58, which pushed the Chants' record to 13-10 overall and 5-7 in conference action. South Alabama is 17-8 overall and 7-5 in league play, while the Trojans enter the weekend with a 17-8 overall record and at 8-4 in conference play.
 
ABOUT COASTAL
 
While the Chanticleers enter the weekend eighth in the Sun Belt, they are not out of reaching one of the top four spots in the regular-season conference race. South Alabama enters the game fourth in the conference but is only two games ahead of the Chanticleers with four games remaining. Troy enters the weekend third in the conference standings, but is only three games ahead of the Chants as CCU has a chance to climb up the standings before this weekend is over.
 
Transfer Vince Cole continues to be the Chants' most consistent scorer heading into this week's action. He has hit in double digits 15 consecutive games and for 20 or more points in seven of those contests. He is coming off a 20-point game against Georgia State and a tremendous career-high 28-point performance in a win over Georgia Southern. Cole is averaging almost 19 points per game over the last 15 games and is shooting 48.5 percent from the field, 49.1 percent on his three-point attempts, and 80 percent at the free throw line. He is now the Chants' leading scorer and is sixth in the conference averaging 15.7 points per game. His three-point percentage leads the Sun Belt and is 19th nationally.
 
Sophomore Essam Mostafa has had special defenses thrown his way every game this season and has struggled the past two games while facing double and triple-teams once he gets the ball in the post. He has still managed 11 double-doubles on the season and is one of the top scorers in the conference at 14.0 points per game and in rebounding with an average 9.6 per outing.
 
After a few sub-par performances, Rudi Williams has popped back into form over the past eight games scoring in double digits in seven of those contests. He averaged 13.0 points per game in CCU's two games last week and dished out 10 assists with five steals. He continues to shoot over 51 percent from the field and is shooting a solid 44.1 percent on his three-point attempts.
 
Ebrima Dibba continues to climb up the CCU career-assist ladder. The junior has moved into sixth all-time with 431 assists and is only 13 assists away from moving into the top-five all-time. With 20 more assists, he will move into the fourth all-time spot. His 132 assists this season lead the conference as does his 5.9 assists per game average. He is 15th nationally in assists per game.
 
The Chants' coaching staff is glad to get super-senior Garrick Green back on the floor and he wasted no time in making his presence felt in scoring 10 points with five rebounds in the game against Georgia Southern. In his first two games back last week, after missing the previous eight, he shot 50 percent from the field and hit 50 percent of his three-point attempts to go along with nine rebounds.
 
ABOUT SOUTH ALABAMA
 
South Alabama and CCU have met 14 times with the Chanticleers holding an 8-6 lead in the series. However, USA has won the last two games, one by five points and the other by four.
 
The Jags have been near the top of the Sun Belt all season and are entering the contest coming off consecutive home blowout wins over Little Rock (77-46) and Arkansas State (70-51).
 
This game pits the top-two scoring teams in the conference with CCU's 73.5 points per game leading the Sun Belt and USA just behind in second averaging 73.4 points per game.
 
Three transfers lead the Jags' scoring efforts led by Texas A&M transfer Jay Jay Chandler's 16.5 points per game average. LSU transfer Charles Manning is next at 16.3 points per game, while Auburn transfer Javon Franklin is averaging 11.4 points per game.
 
Manning not only scores, but he runs the offense and has a team-high 88 assists and Franklin's 7.3 rebounds is a team-best.
 
Defensively, the Jags have forced 392 turnovers to lead the conference. They have 180 steals and lead the Sun Belt by a large margin in blocked shots with 126. Second-place Georgia State only has 89.
 
ABOUT TROY
 
The Trojans have been a pleasant surprise for head coach Scott Cross this season as they enter the weekend 12-4 over their last 16 games and have won seven of their last 10 games. Troy is one of the few conference teams to not only have a winning record at home (9-2) but also a winning record on the road (7-5) as well.
 
CCU holds an 8-5 lead in the series, but the Trojans handed the Chants a 69-59 loss back in January. The Trojans only average 70.7 points per game but have a solid balanced offensive attack led by Efe Odigie's 11.6 points per game. He is the only Trojan averaging in double digits, but that doesn't seem to matter as Troy's 17 overall wins are tied with South Alabama and Texas State for the most wins in the conference.
 
Troy does have five other players averaging seven points or more and Zay Williams is the team's leader on the boards averaging 7.0 rebounds per game.
 
The Trojan defense has forced 390 turnovers, which is the second-most in the Sun Belt, only behind USA. Troy is also second in the conference with 213 steals and has blocked 59 shots.
 
Both games can be heard on WRNN 99.5 Hot Talk and watched live on ESPN+. Links for both along with live stats can be found at www.GoCCUSports.com.
 
For complete coverage of CCU men's basketball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMBB (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUSports.com.