CHARLESTON – After two tough losses on the road against Alabama A&M and Lindenwood, the Charleston Southern men's basketball program returns to their home gym for two of their next three games.

A brief preview of all three opponents can be found below:

Game #6

Opponent: vs IU Indy

Date: November 18th

Time: 7:00 PM

TV: ESPN+

• Coming into their match-up with the Buccaneers on Tuesday, IU Indy is coming off of their first D1 victory of the year at Eastern Michigan (90-83).

• In their second game of the season they lost to the Northeast Conference favorite, Long Island by only four points on November 6th (94-90).

• The Jaguars were voted to finish 10th of 11 teams this season in the Horizon League.

• After 8-straight regular season titles at West Liberty (Division II), now-IU Indy Head Coach Ben Howlett joined the Jaguar program in the May of 2025. Last season at West Liberty, Coach Howlett's squad averaged over 100 points per contest (100.2).

• Four players from West Liberty followed their coach to IU Indy and two of those players are now regarded as two of the top-three Jaguars on this season's roster - Kyler D'Augustino and Finley Woodward.

• D'Augustino ranks second of the Jaguar-squad in scoring (13.4 points per game) along with 4 assists and 3.8 rebounds.

• Woodward, a 6'7" senior from England, is an all-around influence on the stat sheet, averaging 10 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per night.

• IU Indy's leading scorer, Matt Compass did not start the first three games of the season, but after displaying his undeniable offensive ability–especially at Butler when he scored 25 points (Nov. 8).

• Tuesday will also serve as the first all-time meeting between Charleston Southern and IU Indy on the basketball court.

• This is not the first time an IU Indy team has competed in the Buc Dome this season. The Jaguar-volleyball program participated in the 2025 Buc Dome Invitational this past August.

"(IU Indy) is very interesting, they're very odd. It's a very odd style of play to go against. They obviously have a very distinct system on the defensive end… credit to the =m that they've found something that works for them and they stick to it regardless of the losses or the wins… (Coach Howlett) is a good coach and they have a good program over there." said Nimley.

Game #7

Opponent: at East Carolina

Date: November 21st

Time: 7:00 PM

TV: ESPN+

• Winning two of their first three contests of the year, ECU won both games by a combined four points.

• ECU was picked 10th in the American Athletic Conference out of 13 schools, and are coached by Head Coach Mike Schwartz who is entering his fourth season in Greenville.

• The Pirates return star-guard, Jordan Riley this season as the 6'5", 210-pound senior guard was named to the Preseason American Athletic Conference's First-Team. Last season, Riley averaged 14.5 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals per night.

• Riley, averaging 20.0 points per game so far this year, is joined by 6'10" big man Giovanni Emejuru in the 20-point per contest column. Emejuru averages a double-double so far this season with 20.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a night.

• CSU is 1-7 all-time against East Carolina, but the two programs haven't played one another since 1983.

• Of all the opponents on the 2025-2026 CSU hoops schedule, East Carolina is the only opposing institution with a similar pirate/buccaneer-themed mascot.

When asked about the physicality required to compete with a team like ECU, Coach Nimley said, "In early watches, they're extremely physical… They play a 6'10" at the four. They play a 6'10" at the five… We have to be effective at what we do. We play fast. We shoot a lot of threes. We have a lot of ball movement and off-ball movement."

Game #8

Opponent: vs Piedmont College

Date: November 25th

Time: 7:30 PM

TV: ESPN+

• The Lions are coached by JC Cavin, who is familiar with the Piedmont program, but was not on their sideline last season. Cavin was an assistant with the Lions from 2020-24 before joining the University of North Georgia (DII) last season. After one year in Dahlonega, Cavin returned to Piedmont for the head coaching title.

• Piedmont and Charleston Southern have already played the same opponent once this season, Toccoa Falls College. Both Piedmont and the Bucs had similar luck with TFC as Piedmont defeated the Screaming Eagles (77-68) just five days after CSU did the same.

• As a team, the Lions average an impressive 43.5 boards per game, 0.9 higher than the Bucs season average.

• The guard-duo of Fisher Darden and Dylan Patrick lead the Lions on the offensive end – combining for 31.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 10.0 assists per contest.

• CSU is 2-1 all-time against Piedmont with the one loss occurring back in 1969. The two programs have not collided since the 1992-93 season.

When asked what he hopes his squad has figured out by the end of the Piedmont College match-up, Coach Nimley said, "After the week we just had in Alabama and now moving into the slate of games we have this week, I'm really trying to get my guys to understand how hard it is to win Division 1 games… We talked today about the difference of us winning games because we're supposed to and us winning games because we deserve to… If we execute to the degree that we walk out of these gyms deserving to win, I feel we'll be fairly successful."

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