| Game 29: Charleston Southern (13-15, 7-9 Big South) vs. Gardner-Webb (13-15, 9-7 Big South) |
Thursday night is Senior Night for the Charleston Southern men's basketball team as senior guard
Nate Louis – who sits 6th in three-point field goal percentage in program history – will play his final contest in the Buc Dome as the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs come to town.
Charleston Southern looks for another season sweep as they welcome red-hot Gardner-Webb, who has played their way back into the top-half of the Big South standings after a handful of close losses in the early stages of the conference slate.
Entering the final weekend of the Big South regular season the Buccaneers can claim up to eight different seeds for the upcoming Championships beginning next Tuesday and are still able to grab the No. 3 seed and bye into the Quarterfinals round. A win Thursday would go a long ways towards securing a bye and top-5 seed into next Thursday's Quarterfinals at the site of the No. 1 seed - the first time CSU would be a top-5 seed since the tournament format switched two seasons ago.
In their last matchup,
Phlandrous Fleming Jr. had one of the best performances across Division I men's basketball with a near triple-double finishing with 31 points, 11 assists, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks and 4 steals while playing 49 of the 50 minutes in double overtime. His chase down block with just over 1 minutes to play in the first overtime kept the Bucs and Runnin' Bulldogs tied at 72-all before CSU went on to win 92-83 in double OT.
Even though Gardner-Webb has come out on top more times than the Bucs, most of the contests have been played within a possession or two including 10 of the last 13 being decided by single digits. CSU's win back on Jan. 25 was the first time the Bucs won by a single-digit margin in series history after a string of victories by double figures.
Scouting the Runnin' Bulldogs
- Gardner-Webb enters Thursday as the second-hottest team in the Big South winning four of their last five contests dating back to a win at USC Upstate on Feb. 8.
- Eric Jamison Jr. paces three Runnin' Bulldogs in double figures at 14.3 points a night while Nate Johnson adds 13.1 and Jaheam Cornwall scores 12.6 a night.
- Jamison Jr. also leads Gardner-Webb on the glass grabbing 5.9 rebounds playing just under 35 minutes. In the last matchup, Cornwall scored 16, Jamison added 14 and Johnson scored 11 in a 92-83 Buccaneer 2OT win.
- Gardner-Webb has used their No. 4 defense to climb their way back to a current No. 3 slot in the Big South standings. They also boast the No. 2 FG% defense while leading the Big South in 3PT FG% at .357.
Series History
- Charleston Southern grabbed their first win at Paul Porter Arena last time out and can claim their first season sweep of the Runnin' Bulldogs.
- CSU has also won back-to-back home games against Gardner-Webb, both coming by double digit margins.
- Since the 2014-15 season, seven of the nine contests have been decided by single digits including the 92-83 2OT decision back in January.
Last Time Versus Campbell
- It took 50 minutes, but Charleston Southern men's basketball has a four-game win streak.
- Led by 31 points and a near triple-double from Phlandrous Fleming Jr., Charleston Southern overcame a halftime deficit and two game-tying shots from Gardner-Webb for a 92-83 double overtime road win, moving to 3-1 in league play away from home.
- Fleming led all scorers tying his career-high 31 points and set a new career-high with six blocks, none bigger than the chase down on Jose Perez in the first overtime to keep it tied. He led five Buccaneers in double figures (Duncan LeXander – 15, Deontaye Buskey – 14, Travis Anderson – 13 and Ty Jones – 10) with 24 coming in the second half and two overtime periods.
- Perez led the four Runnin' Bulldogs in double figures with 21 points with 15 coming in the second half.
- Saturday's win was the fourth in-a-row for CSU who moves to 3-1 on the road in Big South play.
A Win on Thursday Would…
- Give the Bucs a sweep of Gardner-Webb
- Be the fourth win over a Big South school from North Carolina
- Be the 8th home win of the season
- Extend CSU's win streak on Senior Day to four-straight
Fleming Chasing History
- Junior All-Big South guard Phlandorus Fleming Jr. is on pace to join elite company at Charleston Southern entering the weekend already among the top-25 scorers in school history.
- Fleming Jr. has a chance to become just the second player to don a Buccaneer uniform during the Division-I era with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, 100 steals and 50 blocks in a career joining Nick Mitchell, who did so between the 1997-98 and 2000-01 seasons.
- Over the course of the program's 54-year history, 23 players have scored 1,000 points, 18 have collected 500 rebounds, 22 have dished out 200 assists, 23 have over 100 steals and 17 have 50-plus blocks. Fleming can become just the second since assists, blocks and steals were recorded to achieve this feat.
- Charleston Southern's all-time leading scorer Ben Hinson also sits among the 1000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals company making Mitchell and Fleming Jr. just the second and third all-time in that elite group. Hinson finished his career with 2, 295 points, 688 rebounds, 303 assists and 143 steals.
Players with Career 1,000 Pts, 500 Rbds, 200 Ast, 100 Stl, 50 Blk
Nick Mitchell – 1195 Pts, 567 Rbds, 200 Ast, 150 Stl, 96 Blk
Phlandrous Fleming Jr. – 1077 Pts, 485 Rbds, 205 Ast, 96 Stl, 62 Blk
