GAME FACTS - The Emory men's basketball team concludes the 2009-10 regular season on Saturday (Feb. 27) when it plays at the University of Rochester.   The Louis Alexander Palestra on the Rochester campus will serve as the site of the 46^th meeting between the Eagles and Yellowjackets and tip is slated for noon.

THE COACHES - Leading the Emory program is third-year Head Coach Jason Zimmerman (Davidson, '94)  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).

Mike Neer (Washington & Lee, 1970) is in his 33^rd year as the head coach at Rochester and enters Saturday's contest with a school and career won-lost ledger of 546-317.  He has guided the program to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances.

2009-10 RECORDS - Emory opens its final weekend of regular-season action with an overall record of 15-9 including a 7-6 slate in the UAA, good for a third-place tie with New York University and Chicago. Last weekend, the Eagles split a pair of home games, coming out on the short end of a 75-73 verdict to NYU before registering a 64-63 Senior Day triumph against Brandeis on Sunday.

Rochester hosts Emory with 14-10 overall mark, 5-8 in league action following a split of home games last weekend.  The Yellowjackets lost to Brandeis, 87-70, on Friday before notching an 81-68 win over NYU on Sunday.  Rochester has compiled a 10-3 record in home games this year. 

 

Emory's Top Offensive Scoring Efforts Under Zimmerman    

SERIES RECORDS -  Rochester holds a 29-16 advantage in the series with Emory.  Earlier this season (Dec. 5), UR recorded an 83-62 win at Emory.  In games played on their home floor, the Yellowjackets have captured 18 of 22 meetings against Emory.  

CLAUNCH SETS SCHOOL SEASON RECORD FOR ASSISTS - Sophomore Austin Claunch doled out 13 assists over the weekend and in the process established a school record in that category.  Claunch now has 147 assists this year, bettering the previous mark of 136 held by Paul Damm which he set during the 1989-90 campaign.  Heading into Saturday's game against Rochester, Claunch has 12 performances of seven or more assists this season.

EMORY SENIORS RANK ON SCHOOL'S CAREER CHARTS - Heading into the final weekend of regular-season play, the senior trio of Anthony Fernandez, Daniel Curtin and Chad Hixon are ranked in various categories on the school's all-time lists.

Fernandez, who has played in a total of 82 games, has scored 886 points, the 15^th -highest mark in school annals, while his 368 rebounds is 16^th.  A double-figure scorer on 42 occasions, his career 10.8 points per-game scoring average ranks 18th.  Other career categories in which he figures prominently include field goals (11^th, 345), free throw percentage (13^th, .770) and free throws (19^th, 161).  He has scored 20 or more points 12 times and has recorded a total of seven double-doubles.

Curtin has appeared in 74 games and heads into the weekend in 8^th place on the school's all-time ladder with 121 three-point field goals.  He has converted 37.0 percent of his opportunities from beyond the arc and holds down the No. 8 position on the school's all-time annals in that department.  He has produced 30 double-figure scoring performances including six of 20 or more points.  Finally, he is 12^th in career free throw shooting at 77.8 percent (91-of-117).

Hixon, a two-year player with the program, following his transfer from Oxford at Emory, has played in 48 contests and is tied for the 21^st spot on Eagles' all-time ladder with 303 rebounds.  During his stint with the Eagles, he has ranked as the squad's top board man in 25 contests.

EMORY OFFENSE PUTTING UP NUMBERS - The Eagles have scored 85 or more points on eight occasions compared to a total of five times for the entire 2008-09 campaign. 

Through games played Feb. 21, Emory holds down the No. 1 spot among University Athletic Association teams with a 76.5 points per game average in overall play.  The Eagles have posted 90 or more points on five occasions and also top the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.394) while ranking fourth in field goal percentage (.456).

GULOTTA DIALS IN FROM LONG DISTANCE - Sophomore Alex Gulotta finished with a total of three three-point field goals last weekend and will begin the Rochester game with treys to his credit in his last 11 contests. Gulotta is shooting a conference-best 50.7 percent (35-of-69) from beyond the arc and holds down the No. 2 position in league affairs at 50.0 percent (24-of-48).

Gulotta owns 11 games of two or more treys this season and has produced five double-digit scoring performances.

HIXON SCORES & BOARDS - Chad Hixon has given the Eagles a steady performance at both ends of the floor this year with 10 double-figure scoring games while either leading or tying for team honors in rebounding on 13 occasions.  His 6.4 per-game average on the glass in overall play is good for the seventh place among UAA players and his 6.1 per-game effort league games ties for the seventh position.  He has grabbed seven or more caroms on nine occasions this season.

CLAUNCH FIGURES PROMINENTLY IN UAA RANKINGS - Austin Claunch has proved to be one of the UAA's most versatile performers and ranks as the conference's No. 1 performer in two categories and while ranking among the top 10 in three others. 

Through games played Feb. 21, Claunch has drained a conference-leading 90.1 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe (73-of-81), with that mark currently third on the school's seasonal list.  The Cypress, Tex., native continues to log the most playing time at 35.8 minutes per contest.  Other categories where he ranks among the top 10 in the league include assists (2^nd, 6.1 apg), assist/turnover ratio (2^nd, 2.5) and steals (3^rd, 1.3 spg).  Finally, he is just shy of ranking in the top 10 in a pair of categories, holding down the 11^th slots in both scoring (12.1 ppg) and three-point field goal percentage (.390)   

EMORY SPREADS SCORING AROUND - Emory has had five or more players score 10 or more points in seven contests, a dramatic jump from last year's total of one time.  The Eagles have had six double-figure scorers in two games this year (Nov. 29, vs. LaGrange & Dec. 7 vs. Oglethorpe), the first time since the 2003-04 season that they had a pair of games with six players finishing with 10 or more points.


EMORY MAKES THE MOST OF CHARITY STRIPE ATTEMPTS --  The Eagles hold down the No. 2 spot in the UAA in free throw percentage in both overall (.738) and conference (.741) action with the overall mark currently the third-best performance in school history, behind the 2003-04 (74.6 percent) and 2002-03 (74.2 percent)  teams.

Emory has shot 70 percent or better from the charity stripe on 16 occasions this year.  The Eagles have converted 74.1 percent of its foul shots in road/neutral games and 73.8 percent in their 11 home games.

THREE-POINTERS GOOD TO EMORY - The Eagles pace the UAA in both three-point field goals (198) and three-point percentage (.394).  The team's 198 treys is the second-highest seasonal mark and two shy of tying the record of 200 established by the 2004-05 squad.

Through games played Feb. 21, Emory has the top two and three of the top five three-point shooters in the UAA.  As mentioned earlier, Gulotta is first while senior Daniel Curtin ranks second at 44.2 percent (38-of-86).  Freshman Alex Greven stands fifth in that department at 40.2 percent (35-of-87).  Austin Claunch is just outside the top 10 in the category with his 38.0 percent effort ranking him 11^th.   

The Eagles have seven or more treys in 17 contests and have six outings of 10 or more including 15 from beyond the arc, the second-highest game total in school history, against Oglethorpe on Dec. 7. 

Emory established a first in the history of the program when it totaled 10 or more treys in three consecutive games (vs. Chicago, Jan. 29; vs. Wash U., Jan. 31 & vs. Chicago, Feb. 5).

JANUARY A GOOD MONTH FOR EMORY - January proved to be a productive month for the Eagles with their 7-2 record representing just the fifth time that the program had reached seven or more victories in a month and the first since 1993.  The most successful January in school history took place in 1990 when Emory posted a perfect 9-0 mark. 

CLAUNCH SETS SCHOOL MARK FOR CONSECUTIVE FREE THROWS - Austin Claunch set  school record when he made 38 consecutive free throws starting in the second half of the Hanover game (Dec. 19) and ending in the game at Chicago (Feb. 5).  Claunch surpassed the previous standard of 35 held by Kevin Felner which he set during the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons.  He ended the month of January going a perfect 35-for-35.

NOTES - Freshman Michael Friedberg led the team in rebounding for the second time this year when he tied his season high with seven boards in the NYU game ... Junior Julien Williams snagged a team-best seven rebounds against Brandeis, the fifth time in '09-10 that he paced the club in that department ... Emory reserves outscored the Brandeis subs by a 24-19 margin and held a 23-16 edge over the NYU bench ... The Eagles have finished with 10 or fewer turnovers in four of its last five games ... In the last five games, Emory is averaging 7.2 turnovers while the opposition is averaging 12.2 miscues ... As a team, the Eagles are No. 2 in the UAA in turnover margin in overall (+3.08) play and No. 1 in conference tilts (+4.31) play ...Emory has outshot 12 opponents from the floor this year and stands 11-1 in those affairs ... Alex Greven totaled 12 points on the strength of four three-point field goals in the NYU games, his 11^th double-figure scoring performance of the year ...  Greven has two or more treys to his credit in nine games ... Emory is 11-2 when leading at halftime, 3-7 when facing a deficit at the break and 1-0 when tied ... The Eagles are 10-1 this year when attempting more free throws than their opponents, 5-7 when shooting fewer charity tosses and 0-1 when attempting the same number ... The Eagles post an 8-1 won-lost slate under Zimmerman when sinking 25 or more free throws ... Claunch has 18 double-figure scoring games to his credit this year ...