CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina University men's basketball team will hit the road for the final conference road trip of the season when they travel to Arkansas to face Arkansas State and Little Rock.
Due to the upcoming 2022 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championship Tournament, this week's final regular-season conference games will come on Wednesday and Friday. The Wednesday game at Arkansas State is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, while Friday's game at Little Rock will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET.
ABOUT COASTAL
The Chanticleers enter the road trip coming off a 73-63 win over Troy in the final home game of the season. However, CCU enters the week just 2-4 over the previous six contests.
Even with Saturday's win, the Chants dropped to ninth in the conference standings with a 6-8 Sun Belt Conference record and stands at 14-12 overall.
In the previous games this season against Arkansas State and Little Rock, the Red Wolves outscored CCU 13-2 over the final two minutes of the game to turn a 64-60 deficit into a 73-66 victory. The Chanticleers easily handled Little Rock, winning 65-49 at home.
Vince Cole continues to be CCU's most consistent scorer over the second part of the season. The senior is coming off a team and game-leading 16 points in Saturday's win over the Trojans with 11 of his points coming in the second half.
He has now reached double-digits in 17 consecutive outings, and in 22 of CCU's 26 games. He is averaging 15.5 points per game which leads CCU and is seventh in the conference. He leads the Sun Belt and is 20th nationally in three-point percentage knocking down 42.1 percent of his attempts.
Essam Mostafa has seen his scoring average dip to a season-low 13.6 points per game, yet he continues to be a force on the boards averaging 9.6 per game, which is second in the Sun Belt. Nationally, he is 11th in offensive rebounds per game, 20th in rebounds per game, and 21st in total rebounds. He has also recorded 11 double-doubles this season, good enough for second in the Sun Belt and 18th nationally.
Rudi Williams is coming off an outstanding week which saw him average 18.5 points per game in outings against South Alabama and Troy. He is now averaging 13.5 points per game and has also chipped in with 88 assists and 33 steals. His two blocked shots in the final minute of Saturday's win over Troy helped the Chants hold on to their slim lead with the clock winding down.
The Chanticleers have another conference and national leader in
Ebrima Dibba. The junior continues to lead the Sun Belt in assists with 143 and assists per game with 5.7. His numbers have him ranked 16th in total assists and 17th in assists per game. He now has 438 career assists and is only seven away from moving into the top-five of all-time assists leaders at CCU.
COASTAL vs. ARKANSAS STATE HISTORY
Thursday's game with Arkansas State will be the 10th game in the series with the Chants holding a slim 5-4 edge over A-State.
The series began in 1987 with the Red Wolves picking up a 65-52 win on a neutral court, as the game was played in Little Rock at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Tournament. The two teams did not face each other again until CCU joined the Sun Belt Conference for the 2016-17 season. Since then, the Chants have won five of the eight meetings with CCU winning three-of-four played in Jonesboro on A-State's home court.
The Red Wolves enter the final week of the season in sixth place in the Sun Belt Conference with a 7-6 conference record but are only two games out of second place. They are 16-9 overall but enter the game losers of five of their last eight games.
A-State boasts one of the top players in the conference in Norchad Omier. The sophomore is third in the conference in scoring, averaging 17.2 points per game. He is the only player averaging a double-double on the season as his 12.0 rebounds per game are leading the conference.
Desi Sills averages 12.9 points per game and Marquis Eaton is averaging 11.8 points per game.
COASTAL vs. LITTLE ROCK HISTORY
This will be the final regular-season meeting between the Trojans and Chanticleers as members of the Sun Belt Conference. Little Rock will be leaving the conference following the completion of the athletic season and will become a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.
Little Rock has dropped nine of its' previous 11 games and enters the final week of the regular season 8-16 overall and is in 12th place in the Sun Belt with a 3-9 conference record.
Nikola Maric leads the Trojans' offense averaging 14.6 points per game, while his 6.4 rebounds per game is also a team-best. Isaiah Polermo is averaging 11.7 points per game and has a team-high 29 steals, while Marko Lukic is averaging 11.4 points per game and is the team's top free throw shooter connecting on 78.2 percent of his charity tosses.
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.
