GAME FACTS - Off to its second best 16-game start in school history, the Emory men's basketball team returns to the Woodruff PE Center this weekend to battle a pair of University Athletic Association opponents.  On Friday (Jan. 29), the Eagles entertain the Maroons of Chicago in an 8:00 p.m. tip before tangling Washington University on Sunday (Jan. 31) in a noon start.

Both games will have Live Stats and streamed video. 

The link for the Live Stats is: http://www.go.emory.edu/LiveStats/MBB/XLIVE.HTM while the link for the video is http://www.emoryathletics.com/information/webcasts

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).

In his 11th season as the head coach at the University of Chicago is Mike McGrath (DePauw, 1992).  During his tenure with the Maroons, he has recorded a school and career won-lost mark of 167-106.  A three-time UAA Coach of the Year, McGrath has guided the program to four conference titles.

Mark Edwards (Washington University, 1969) is in his 29th campaign of directing the fortunes of the Wash U.  program.  Heading into a Friday night match-up against Rochester, Edwards owns a school and career ledger of 519-238.  He directed the Bears to the 2008 and 2009 NCAA Division III national championships and has captured nine UAA league titles.

2009-10 RECORDS - Emory has won its last five games and will take an overall record of 12-4, 4-1 in the UAA, into Friday's encounter against Chicago.  Over the weekend, the Eagles brought home a pair of wins on the road, besting NYU on Friday, 69-57, before defeating Brandeis on Sunday by a 77-64 count.  Emory's record is the second best 16-game showing in school history behind only the 1989-90 squad's 15-1 performance.  The team's league mark is the best five-game effort since 1989-90 when the unit started out 5-0. The men's wins at NYU and Brandeis were the first back-to-back UAA road wins since Jan. 24-26, 2003 when Emory won at NYU (81-66) and Brandeis (93-79). The Eagles received votes in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, the first time since Nov. 28, 2004, that the program had received recognition in that voting.

Chicago stands 9-7 in overall contests, 3-2 in the UAA.  Last weekend, the Maroons notched a pair of road victories, topping Carnegie Mellon, 71-57, and Case Western, 72-69.

The Bears of Wash U., ranked No. 3 nationally, in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, start the weekend with a 14-2 record, including a 4-1 effort in the UAA, good for a first-place tie with Emory.  Washington University emerged with 66-61 and 81-60 road triumphs last weekend over Case Western and Carnegie Mellon, respectively. 

 

Emory's Top Offensive Scoring Efforts Under Zimmerman    

SERIES RECORDS -  Chicago claims an all-time record of 32-13 against Emory.  The Maroons have captured the last eight meetings between the schools including last season's 55-50 (at Chicago) and 53-51 (at Emory) decisions.  Chicago was won 13 of 22 meetings played at Emory.

Wash U. has been victorious in 36 of 44 meetings with Emory. The Bears have won the last seven games in the series that include 2008-09's 79-58 (in St. Louis) and 71-68 (in Atlanta) outcomes.  Emory is 6-16 against Wash U in games played on its home floor with the last four meetings at the Woodpec have been decided by seven or fewer points.

CLAUNCH TIES SCHOOL RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE FREE THROWS - Sophomore Austin Claunch sank all 13 of his free throw opportunities over the weekend and in the process tied a school record with 35 consecutive makes from the foul line.  Claunch, who started the streak in the second half of the Hanover game (Dec. 19), has sank all 33 of his tries from the charity stripe during the month of January.  He is tied with Kevin Felner (1989-93) who recorded his streak during February of the 1991-92 season into December of the '92-93 campaign.  

In UAA statistics released Jan. 25, Claunch is first among UAA players with an 88.1 percent showing from the foul line (52-of-59) in overall contests and is tied with Reid Anderson of Case for top spot in conference action with a perfect 1.000 percent (27-of-27).


EMORY OFFENSE PUTTING UP NUMBERS - Through 16 games, 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 Jan. 24, Emory holds down the No. 1 spot among University Athletic Association teams with an 80.9 points per game average.  The Eagles have posted 90 or more points on five occasions and also top the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.414) while ranking fourth in field goal percentage (.480).

EMORY SECOND HALVES SPARK SUCCESS - After outscoring the opposition in just four of its first 11 games (12^th game a tie), Emory has outscored foes over the final 20 minutes of action in each of the last four contests.  In that stretch, the Eagles have posted a 45.8-34.8 second-half scoring advantage.

GULOTTA & GREVEN BOOST EMORY AS RESERVES - Sophomore Alex Gulotta and freshman Alex Greven each turned in big performances off the bench this past weekend in helping Emory to road wins at NYU and Brandeis.  Gulotta paced the Eagles with a career-high 17 points in 18 minutes of action, sinking six-of-10 from the floor, including five-of-seven from three-point range, in the 69-57 decision over NYU.  Greven came up big against Brandeis, leading all players with 16 points while chipping in a pair of steals in 21 minutes.  Included in Greven's offensive totals were three-of-four shooting from beyond the arc and five-of-six from the charity stripe.  Emory reserves posted a 34-21 scoring edge over NYU subs before registering a 37-10 bulge over Brandeis.

CLAUNCH FIGURES PROMINENTLY IN UAA RANKINGS - In addition to his free throw shooting prowess, Austin Claunch is proving to be one the UAA's most versatile players as he ranks among the top 10 overall UAA performers in six different categories.  In addition to holding the top spot in free throw percentage, the 5-foot-9 Claunch paces the league in minutes (36.6 mpg).  He is No. 2 in both assists (6.0 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (2.3) and is fourth in steals (2.0 spg). Finally, his team-high 12.9 per-game scoring average is good for the ninth spot on the league's scoresheet.

EMORY SPREADS SCORING AROUND - Through 16 games, Emory has had five or more players score 10 or more points in six 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 --  Emory continued its fine free throw shooting this past weekend, sinking a combined 38-of-46 (82.6%) in the outings against NYU and Brandeis.  The Eagles' 88.5 percent effort (23-of-26) from the charity stripe in the Brandeis affair marked the fourth time in the last six games that they connected on 80 percent or better in that category.   Emory will enter the Chicago contest with a seven-game streak of 75 percent or higher in foul shooting.

After shooting 66.4 percent from the foul line (85-of-128) in its first six games, Emory has been successful on 80.8 percent (169-of-209) from the stripe in the last 10 contests.  The Eagles are
No. 2 among UAA teams in that category in both overall play (.754) and conference (.791) action

THREE-POINT SHOOTERS A PROBLEM FOR OPPONENTS --  Emory has a stable of dangerous three-point shooters with the team's UAA leading mark of 41.4 percent (122-of-295) in overall action serving as evidence.  In the latest UAA statistics, the Eagles have three of the top eight and four of the leading 11 performers in three-point shooting.  Alex Gulotta's 70.0 percent showing (7-of-10) over the weekend has moved him into the top spot among UAA cagers at 52.9 percent (18-of-34).  Senior Daniel Curtin is second at 48.3 percent (28-of-58) while Alex Greven (8^th, 40.4%) rounds out Emory's reps on the top 10.  Austin Claunch stands 11^th at 38.3 percent (18-of-47).

The Eagles have seven or more treys in 11 contests and have a pair of outings of 10 or more including 15 from beyond the arc, the second-highest game total in school history, against Oglethorpe on Dec. 7.  Heading into this weekend's games, Emory has collected 122 treys this year and need eight to move into 12^th place on the school's seasonal list.

PLAYERS MOVING UP EMORY CAREER CHARTS - After 16 games, a pair of Emory players are moving up the school's career listings in various categories.  Daniel Curtin stands in the 10^th position with 111 three-point field goals and is seven shy of tying Blake Hollander (1994-98) for ninth place on that list.   In addition, his career effort of 37.1 percent (111-of-299) in three-point shooting is good for the No. 7 spot.

Anthony Fernandez has 352 career rebounds to his credit, good for 18^th position on the school's all-time list.  The 6-foot-4 Miami native is just seven boards shy of moving into 16^th place on that chart.  Scoring-wise, Fernandez stands 18^th with 842 points, six shy of tying Neil Bhutta (1997-2000) for the 17^th spot.

NOTES - Senior Chad Hixon's team-high nine rebounds against Brandeis marked the eighth time this year that he either led or shared for team honors in that department ... Hixon has six outings of seven or more rebounds this year ... The 6-foot-3 Hixon is pulling down a team-best 6.8 rebounds per game, good for a sixth-place tie among UAA players ... Greven's 16 points against Brandeis was his ninth double-digit contest of the season and his first since a season-best 21 point effort against Washington & Lee (Jan. 3) ... Freshman Michael Friedberg's six rebounds against Brandeis was his second-highest total of the season ... Friedberg is averaging 6.0 rebounds in his last three games ... Emory grabbed a season-high 18 offensive boards against NYU ...  Emory finished the NYU contest with just five turnovers, the fourth time in '09-10 that it had 10 or fewer miscues ... Over the last four games, the Eagles are averaging just 8.75 turnovers vs. 16 for the opposition ... Junior Julien Williams is second on the squad and 13^th among UAA players in rebounding (5.1 rpg) ...
The Eagles post an 8-1 won-lost slate under Zimmerman when sinking 25 or more free throws ... Emory has shot 50 percent or better from the field in six games this year and stands 6-0 in those contests ... The Eagles have enjoyed an edge in rebounding on eight occasions and show a 7-1 ledger in those affairs ... Emory has attempted more free throws than the opposition in eight games ... Sophomore Corey Spraggins is seventh in the UAA with a 53.3 field goal percentage mark (49-of-92) and has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 10 outings ... In games it has won, Emory is averaging 84.2 points and shooting 49.4 percent from the field ...  In games they have lost, the Eagles are scoring 71.0 points and shooting 43.8 percent from the field ... Emory is 9-1 this season when leading at halftime, 3-3 when facing a deficit.