GAME FACTS – After splitting a pair of road games last weekend, the Emory men's basketball team continues University Athletic Association play when it plays host to Carnegie Mellon on Friday (Jan. 24) and Case Western Reserve on Sunday. Friday's encounter with the Tartans of CMU is scheduled for an 8:00 pm tip while Sunday's match-up vs. CWRU begins at noon.
Video and Live Stats will be available for both games with the links as follows:
Carnegie Mellon
Live Stats - https://www.emoryathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2019-20/boxscores/20200124_icd9.xml
Video - https://www.emoryathletics.com/sports/mbkb/live
Case Western Reserve
Live Stats - https://www.emoryathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2019-20/boxscores/20200126_et0r.xml
Video - https://www.emoryathletics.com/sports/mbkb/live
THE COACHES – Jason Zimmerman (Davidson, 1994) is in his 13th year of patrolling the Emory sideline. Named head coach in April of 2007, Zimmerman came to Emory after serving as an assistant coach at the University of Evansville (2003-04 through 2006-07). Prior to his stint with the Aces, Zimmerman was an assistant at Davidson College for seven years (1996-97 through 2002-03).
During his tenure with the Eagles, he ranks as the program's winningest coach, compiling a
school and career record of 226-105. In games played at the Woodruff PE Center, Zimmerman posts a 130-30 ledger and claims a 96-75 mark in road/neutral settings.
He has guided Emory to 10 straight winning seasons and seven consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), tying the longest streak in the history of the University Athletic Association.
After going 17-33 his first two years at Emory, Zimmerman has amassed a won-lost slate of 209-72 (.745) since the 2009-10 season. He posts an 18-6 won-lost effort against Carnegie Mellon and is 19-5 vs. Case Western Reserve.
Tony Wingen (Springfield, '82) is in his 30th season as head coach of the Carnegie Mellon program and heads into the weekend with a school record of 331-409. In 32 campaigns as a head coach Wingen has compiled a career mark of 352-437.
Now in his fourth year calling the shots at Case Western is Todd McGuinness (Bethany, 02). McGuinness brings a school ledger of 37-52 into a Friday encounter at Rochester and an 11-year career record of 151-124. Prior to his current post, he served as the head coach at Hartwick College for seven seasons (2009-10 through 2015-16).
2019-20 RECORDS – Emory, ranked No. 8 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, posts an overall record of 12-2, 2-1 in the UAA. The Eagles split road games last weekend, defeating NYU, 83-69, before coming up short at Brandeis on Sunday by a 75-73 margin, with the Judges snapping a 73-73 after hitting the deciding bucket with eight tenths of a second left on the clock.
Juniors Romin Williams (20.5 pgg) and Matt Schner (18.0 ppg) were the Eagles' leading scorers over the two contests. Williams, who dialed up a game-high 25 points in the victory over NYU, ended the weekend shooting 45.5 percent (15-of-33) from the field, while Schner, who tied for team honors with 19 points vs. Bradneis, was successful on 56 percent (14-of-25) from the floor including 50 percent (5-of-10) from beyond the arc.
Emory is 6-1 on its home floor this season, 6-1 in away/neutral contests.
Carnegie Mellon claims an overall record of 8-6, 1-2 in the conference. The Tartans split a pair of home dates this past weekend, upending Chicago, 71-62, before coming out on the short end of an 80-72 outcome to No. 13 Washington University. CMU is 1-4 in road games, 7-2 on its home court.
Case Western aims to snap a two-game skid as it preps for the Friday encounter against Rochester. The Spartans fell, 88-66, to Washington University last Friday and closed out the weekend with a 78-65 setback against Chicago. CWRU has won six of eight home contests and stands 2-4 on the road.
SERIES RECORDS – In a series that begin in November of 1987, Emory checks in with an all-time record of 41-22 against Carnegie Mellon. The Eagles have emerged victorious in the last 11 meetings including last year's 116-100 (in Atlanta) and 89-74 (in Pittsburgh) outcomes. Emory has won the last five and 26 of the 31 games played at the Woodruff PE Center.
Emory holds a 34-20 edge in the series with Case Western that saw the first game played in January of 1987. The Eagles have held the upper hand in the last six and in 17 of the last 18 meetings against the Spartans. During the 2018-19 campaign, Emory recorded 91-74 (in Atlanta) and 83-71 victories.
EMORY UAA LEADER IN SCORING AVERAGE – The Eagles are averaging 88.1 points per outing in overall contests, good for the No. 1 spot among UAA schools and 17th in D-III. Emory has tossed in 81.7 points over their seven home dates and 94.4 in seven away/neutral affairs.
In breaking down scoring by halves, Emory is putting up 42.6 points during the opening 20 minutes of play and 45.5 in the second half. The Eagles have totaled 50 or more points in seven halves of action.
GET A REBOUND – Emory has won all 10 games this season when finishing with an edge in the rebounding category. NYU's 43-29 advantage in that department in last Friday's game represented just the third time all season an opponent grabbed more boards.
The Eagles, who have outboarded five foes by 10 or more caroms, find themselves second among UAA squads and 28th nationally (through Jan. 20) in rebound margin (7.8).
The Eagles are pulling down an average of 13.3 rebounds on the offensive end of the floor, good for the No. 1 spot on the conference chart, which has aided them in registering 207 second-chance points (14.8 scppg). Through games played Jan. 20, a check at the UAA stats show that Lawrence Rowley sits No. 3 on the UAA ladder in rebound average (8.6 rpg) while Matthew Schner holds down the No. 11 slot (6.4 rpg).
THREE BALL A KEY WEAPON FOR EMORY – Despite sinking a season-low tying three treys in the Brandeis game, Emory still ranks first in the UAA with an average of 9.9 three-pointers per game, good for the No. 49 position in the D-III ranks (through Jan. 20). The Eagles will head into the Carnegie Mellon game with 10 or more treys to their credit in a total of nine games this season. Back on Dec. 7 Emory drained a season-best 15 three-pointers against Piedmont, tying the program's eighth-highest game total.
On the year, the Eagles are shooting 38.4 percent (139-of-362), placing them second in the UAA and 41st in D-III. Emory has shot 40 percent or better from beyond the arc on six occasions this year, most recently a 44.4 percent (12-of-27) performance vs. NYU last Friday.
Romin Williams is No. 3 on the league leader board with an average of 2.9 treys per contest. Williams has multiple treys in 10 games and his five makes from distance vs. NYU represented his ninth game this year with three or more. Matt Davet is fifth among UAA players in three-point makes at 2.42 per game while Matt Schner is seventh (2.35 tpg). Schner ranks as Emory's leader in three-point percentage (50.8%, 33-of-65), good for second place in the UAA.
EMORY AND THE STRIPE – While Emory ranks first in the UAA and 41st in D-III with a 75.5 percent mark from the foul line, it has not yet duplicated that effort through three league games, hitting on 68.9 percent of its opportunities.
The Eagles turned in back-to-back efforts of 63.6 percent in this past weekend's encounters at NYU (7-of-11) and Brandeis (14-of-22).
Emory has been been successful on 70 percent from the stripe in nine contests. In its seven home games, Emory has converted 71.5 (103-of-144) of its foul shots while draining 78.7 percent (137-of-174) in the seven away/neutral contests.
The Eagles claim three of the conference's top eight and four of the top 12 free throw shooters – Matt Davet's effort of 85.1 percent (40-of-47) is fifth on the conference chart while Romin Williams is one spot behind at 83.3 percent (65-of-78). Matt Schner holds down the No. 8 position at 79.6 percent (39-of-49) with Lawrence Rowley ranking 12th at 71.7 percent (38-of-53).
MOVING UP THE LADDER – Lawrence Rowley currently ranks as the program's career leader in field goal shooting at 57.0 percent (236-of-414) … Romin Williams has 40 three-point field goals through 14 contests, upping his career total to 181 which is good for fourth place on the school's all-time ladder, just one shy of tying Jeff Hall (2002-06) for the No. 3 position … Williams has cracked the school's all-time Top-20 in scoring with his 1,135 points placing him 12th on that list … Matt Davet has totaled 124 career three-point field goals and is 15th on the Eagles' all-time ladder … In addition, Davet has logged a total of 866 points during his Emory tenure … Matt Schner has connected on 53.6 percent (82-of-153) of his field goal attempts, second on the squad and 11th among league cagers … Schner ranks as the program's No. 2 career leader in field goal shooting at 56.7 percent (221-of-390) … Junior Nick Stuck stands 9th all-time at Emory with 227 assists.
ROWLEY SCORING AND BOARDING – Lawrence Rowley has been a consistent performer for the Eagles, scoring in double figures on 11 occasions while snatching 10 or more rebounds in five outings. Heading into the weekend, Rowley ranks 10th among UAA players and fourth on the team's score sheet with an average of 14.2 points per contest. His 8.6 per-game effort in rebounding is third in the conference, and he has finished as the Eagles' top performer on the glass in eight games this year. He has four double-doubles to his credit this season (nine in career), most recently an 11-point, career-high 16-rebound performance in the 87-80 win over UW-Oshkosh (Dec. 29).
The 6-foot-5 Rowley stands as the squad's most accurate shooter, converting 58.8 percent (77-of-131) from the field, good for the No. 4 spot on the UAA ladder. He saw a 12-game streak of shooting 50 percent or better from the floor snapped in the NYU game (3-of-7), but he found the mark on an even 50 percent (8-of-16) vs. Brandeis.
EMORY PICKED AS TEAM TO BEAT IN UAA – Emory was picked as the team to beat in the University Athletic Association in a preseason poll conducted by the league coaches, picking up seven of the eight first-place votes cast. Washington University nabbed the other first-place ballot and was picked for second. Brandeis and Chicago were slotted in third and fourth place, respectively.
WILIAMS TABBED AS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN -- Romin Williams was selected as a Preseason Honorable Mention All-American by D3hoops.com. Williams was the lone UAA player to be recognized by D3hoops.com. Chosen to all-region teams by both the National Association of Basketball Coaches and D3hoops.com a year ago, Williams ranked as the Eagles' top scorer on eight occasions and rang up 450 points, the fourth-highest total by an Emory sophomore.
NOTES & NUGGETS – In three UAA games, Emory has scored 55 points (18.3 ppg) off opponent turnovers while the opposition has totaled 20 points (6.7 ppg) … Emory reserves scored a season-high 29 points in the 83-69 win over NYU … Romin Williams has played in 67 games during his Emory career and has registered 58 double-figure scoring performances … Williams rang up a game-high 25 points in the win over NYU, his seventh outing this year and 23rd of his career with 20 or more points … Nick Stuck is second among UAA players and 20th (through games played Jan. 20) in D-III in assists (5.9 apg) … Stuck finished last weekend with 10 assists and just one turnover, improving his assist/turnover ratio to 2.2, good for second place in the UAA and 58th in D-III … Emory has outscored the opposition in 21 halves, been outpointed and been tied in three … Emory has attempted more free throws than the opposition in 11 games … The Eagles' 21 makes from the stripe in the NYU game represented the fourth time this season it dialed up 20 or more successful free throws … Romin Williams has recorded double-figure scoring in all 14 Emory games while Matt Schner has cracked double digits on 13 occasions … When Romin Williams notched his 1,000th career point in the LaGrange game (Dec. 4), he became the second-fastest player in school history to reach that plateau (61 games), trailing only Jake Davis who accomplished it in 60 contests … Emory finished the Brandeis game with just six turnovers, its second-best mark of the year and the fourth time it concluded a game in single digits … Emory's school-record 124 points against Pfeiffer bettered the previous mark of 116 set twice – vs. Carnegie Mellon on Jan. 20, 2019, and Trinity University (TX) on Dec. 1, 2018 … Emory's back-to-back 62-point halves vs. Pfeiffer tied the fifth-highest point totals by a Zimmerman-coached Eagle squad …
DID YOU KNOW -- Since the 2010-11 season, Emory has the No. 1 record among UAA teams in overall (194-62) play and the second-best mark in league action (93-36) .… Washington University has the conference's second-best overall ledger (185-64) and the top slate in conference play (96-33) … That Emory has at least one three-point field goal in its last 585 games -- The last time the Eagles failed to convert from beyond the arc came on Feb. 14, 1997, vs. Washington University (0-of-6) … Emory was won 57 of its last 58 games when allowing 69 or fewer points (5-0 in '19-20, 5-0 in '18-19, 11-0 in '17-18, 7-1 in '16-17, 13-0 in '15-16, 16-0 in '14-15) … Emory posts a 40-5 ledger in games since the 2016-17 season when it has converted 10 or more three-pointers in a contest (8-1 in '19-20, 11-2 in '18-19, 11-0 in 2017-18, 10-2 in '16-17 … The Eagles have won 47 of their last 49 games at the Woodruff PE Center against non-league foes … Emory is 112-14 (.889) over its last 126 home contests … The Eagles have recorded 100 or more points 55 times in program history and own a 49-6 won-lost record in those affairs … During Jason Zimmerman's tenure as head coach, Emory has 24 contests of 100 or more points and stands 22-2 in such games … Since the 2012-13 season, the Eagles are 123-8 when outshooting the opposition from the floor (8-1 in '19-20, 16-1 in 2018-19, 16-1 in '17-18, 17-1 in '16-17, 12-3 in '15-16, 18-0 in '14-15) … During Jason Zimmerman's tenure as head coach, Emory stands 186-22 when leading at halftime (10-1 in '19-20, 20-2 in 2018-19, 19-1, in '17-18, 13-0 in '16-17; 18-3 in 2015-16).