| Game 20: Charleston Southern (10-9, 4-3 Big South) at Gardner-Webb (7-11, 3-3 Big South) |
Charleston Southern hits the road once again Saturday looking for a three-game win streak against Big South schools that call the Tar Heel state home thanks to a 2-0 trip to Campbell and High Point highlighted by a 77-62 win on ESPNU.
The Buccaneers are one of just two teams outside of North Carolina to start their Big South slate 2-0 on the road against teams from the state. Winthrop began 2-0 with wins at Campbell and High Point as well with a date at Gardner-Webb set for Feb. 13, but won't travel to UNC Asheville this year.
Paul Porter Arena has presented a challenge to play in for most Big South schools since the Runnin' Bulldogs joined the Big South Conference with a 114-50 (.695) record at home during that time, including a 13-0 season last year during their Big South Championship. However, this season the Runnin' Bulldogs sit 1-2 at home during conference play with back-to-back losses to Presbyterian and Radford who sit among the top-3 in the league.
CSU and Gardner-Webb split the season series last year with both home teams walking away on top. CSU held the Runnin' Bulldogs to just .328 from the floor in a 74-60 win before Gardner-Webb held on for a 77-74 win outlasting a Buccaneer second half comeback.
All 5 of CSU's wins in the series have come by at least 11 points with the largest margin at 15 in an 83-68 win during the 2017-18 season.
Scouting Runnin' Bulldogs
- After a tough nonconference slate, Gardner-Webb has started league play at 3-3 with a tough triple-OT loss at Winthrop to go along with wins over Campbell, USC Upstate and High Point.
- Four Runnin' Bulldogs average double figures paced by last season's Big South Freshman of the Year Jose Perez, who sits 8th in the league at 14.7 points per contest.
- Perez is joined in double figures by Eric Jamison Jr. (14.1 ppg), Nate Johnson (12.0 ppg) and Jaheam Cornwall (11.7 ppg) who all sit among the Big South's top-25 in scoring.
- Gardner-Webb holds the league's No. 3 defense and sit at No. 2 in opponent FG% and block the third-most shots (4.05) per contest.
- Saturday marks the fifth home contest over the first eight Big South games for Gardner-Webb with Monday's home game against Hampton being delayed at halftime.
A Win on Saturday Would…
- Give CSU a 3-0 record in the state of North Carolina during Big South play
- Be the first win at Paul Porter Arena since the 2014-15 season.
- Become the sixth win over Gardner-Webb
- Bring CSU to .500 on the road in 2019-20 and 3-1 in league games away from home
- Be the third-straight win on the road
Last Time Out
- Two key treys from Duncan LeXander and free throws down the stretch pushed Charleston Southern men's basketball to their third-straight Big South win Thursday night taking down Presbyterian 74-66 inside Buccaneer Field House.
- Charleston Southern opened the second half with a 12-2 run to break what was a 33-all tie at the break for a 45-35 lead before holding a margin as high as 12 in the closing 20 minutes. Presbyterian would fight back into the contest with their own run but a LeXander trey with 6:27 to play would give CSU a 60-59 lead, one they would hold to the final whistle.
- LeXander would add another corner three just moments later for a 63-59 lead before finishing the night with 12 points. He was joined in double figures by Phlandrous Fleming Jr., who scored a game-high 25 and Ty Jones added 12 himself.
- Fleming now has 20-plus points in eight of his last nine games and sits third in the Big South Conference at 22.5 points a contest in league play.
- The win was the fifth-straight in the all-time series for CSU who has dominated the Blue Hose on their home floor taking 10 of the 13 matchups in Charleston.
Series History
- Gardner-Webb has controlled the series history taking 13 of the 15 matchups inside Paul Porter Arena and 19 of the 26 head-to-head battles.
- The Runnin' Bulldogs also own the longest streak in the series taking five-straight between 2014-15 and 2016-17.
- All five Buccaneer wins have come in the Buc Dome including a 74-60 contest that CSU controlled all 40 minutes holding Gardner-Webb to just .328 from the floor.
Last Time Versus Gardner-Webb
- Gardner-Webb held off a surging Charleston Southern offense in the second half as the visiting Buccaneers were unable to complete the comeback on Wednesday night in Paul Porter Arena, 77-74.
- Christian Keeling (11-13, 5-6) had an opportunity with 3.3 seconds remaining as the junior guard pulled up for a deep three-pointer, but his effort hit off the side of the rim and the Bucs were unable to get another shot off in the scramble.
- Keeling (20) led the Bucs with his 10th 20-point game of the season as the Augusta, Ga. native hit 6-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the three-point line. Travis McConico (14), Ty Jones (11), and Phlandrous Fleming (11) also scored double-digits for the Bucs in the loss.
- Gardner-Webb (16-10, 6-5) built a 47-33 halftime lead on the back of a strong first half performance from David Efianayi. The senior guard led all scorers with 19 of his game-high 33 points coming in the first 20 minutes. Jose Perez (12), Eric Jamison 911), and Nate Johnson (10) also reached double-digits for GWU.
- Wednesday's loss split the season series between the Buccaneers and the Runnin' Bulldogs.
