GAME FACTS -  The Emory men's basketball team gears up for University Athletic Association road action this weekend with the Eagles playing at the University of Chicago on Friday and at Washington University on Sunday.  The Ratner Center on the UC campus serves as the venue for the 50^th meeting between the Eagles and Maroons and tip is slated for 8:00 pm (CST).  On Sunday, the WU Field House will be the setting for the 49^th clash between Emory and the Bears with that bout slated for a noon (CDT) start.

A video stream for both games will be available.  To webcast of the Chicago game can be accessed by going to  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/uchicago-athletics while Sunday's contest at Wash U can be viewed at the following address: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wustl.portal#

THE COACHES - Leading the Emory program is fifth-year Head Coach Jason Zimmerman (Davidson, 1994). 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' program, he has compiled a school and career record of 67-49.

Last season, Zimmerman directed the Eagles to an overall record of 20-5, the program's first 20-win campaign since 1989-90.  In addition, Emory placed second in the University Athletic Association with an 11-3 slate, the second-highest league-play total in school annals.  

Mike McGrath (DePauw, 1992) is in his 13^th season as head coach of the Chicago program and will take a school and career ledger of 190-133 into Friday's game.  During his stint at UC, McGrath has been tabbed as the UAA's Coach of the Year on three occasions while directing the Maroons to four league titles.

In his 31st campaign patrolling the sidelines at Washington University is Mark Edwards (Washington Univ., 1969).  Heading into a Friday home date against Rochester, Edwards owns a school and career mark of 554-255.  He directed the Bears to D-III national titles in 2008 and 2009 and has been tabbed as the UAA Coach of the Year on eight occasions.

RECORDS – Emory checks in with an overall record of 15-1, including a 4-1 effort in the UAA that is good for a first-place tie with New York University and Wash U.  The Eagles jumped up four spots in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll and enter the weekend ranked No. 4 among D-III programs, tying its highest ranking of the season.   This past weekend, Emory ran its home court winning streak to 16 games following triumphs against Carnegie Mellon, 83-68 on Friday, before closing out the weekend with a 70-59 verdict over Case Western.   Emory's overall record ties the 1989-90 squad for the best 16-game record in school history. 
Chicago will entertain Emory with an overall slate of 9-7, 2-3 in the conference.  The Maroons came out on the short end of a pair of home contests last weekend, dropping an 81-71 verdict to NYU before losing in overtime to Brandeis, 97-89.

Wash U. posts an overall record of 12-4, 4-1 in the league, prior to its game against Rochester.  Last weekend, the Bears split a pair of conference affairs, topping Brandeis, 80-54, before falling to NYU, 89-75, with that defeat snapping a five-game win streak.

Emory's Top Offensive Scoring Efforts Under Zimmerman 

SERIES RECORDS – In a series that began in January of 1987, Chicago posts an all-time mark of 33-16 against Emory.  The Eagles have captured three of the last four meetings between the schools including both contests last year, 78-70 at Chicago and 91-87 in overtime in Atlanta.  The Maroons have captured 20 of the 25 meetings played in the Windy City.

Washington U.  holds a 38-10 advantage in the all-time series with Emory.  The Eagles captured both meetings last season, 69-68 at the WU Field House and 92-67 at the Woodruff PE Center.

GREVEN TURNS IN SOLID WEEKEND – Junior Alex Greven came through with a big weekend in the team's victories over Carnegie Mellon and Case, averaging 18.0 points and 6.5 rebounds.  Greven recorded his first career double-double with a season high 22-point, career-high 11 rebound performance against the Tartans of CMU before finishing with 14 points against CWRU.  It represented the first time this year that the 6-foot-3 native of Winston-Salem, NC, had put together back-to-back double-figure scoring contests.   Greven suffered an injury early in the Berry game (Nov. 22) and missed the team's next five games before returning to the lineup in a reserve capacity against Rhodes (Dec. 29).   He was re-inserted to the starting lineup against Guilford and has drawn a starting nod in the Eagles' last seven outings.  A double-figure scorer on four occasions this year, Greven starts the weekend No. 4 on the team's scoring ladder (8.9 ppg).  In addition, he has converted 91.3 percent (21-of-23) of his opportunities from the free throw line.

DAVIS CHURNS OUT DOUBLE-DOUBLES --  Sophomore Jake Davis chalked up 19 points along with a game-high 13 rebounds against Carnegie Mellon, his sixth double-double of the season and ninth of his career.   His six double-doubles leads the UAA with David Thompson of Case Western and Youri Dascy of NYU next up with four each.  Emory has compiled a 7-2 won-lost mark when Davis has manufactured a double-double during his career.

Davis, along with Austin Claunch, has scored in double figures in all 16 Emory games and checks into Friday's action tops on the club and the league in scoring with an 19.3 per-game average that ranks 50^th nationally.  Davis, who has been the team's top point producer in seven contests, has totaled 20 or more points in six outings.   His 52.7 percent mark from the floor ranks 11^th on the squad and he has been successful on 50 percent or better of his field goal opportunities on nine occasions.  In Emory's seven home games, he is averaging 18.4 points and shooting 50 percent (50-of-100) while putting up 20.0 points and converting 54.9 percent (67-of-122) from the field in the Eagles' nine away/neutral contests.

FRIEDBERG THE REJECTOR – After sitting out the Carnegie Mellon game, Junior Michael Friedberg returned to action against Case Western and extended his streak to 10 games with at least one blocked shot with a pair of rejections of Spartan shot attempts. During that ten-game streak, he has blocked two or more shots in nine contests, and he will enter the weekend No. 1 in the UAA and 10^th nationally with 2.6 blocks per game.  Friedberg has blocks to his credit in 13 of 15 outings and his season total of 39 is fifth on the Emory ladder, just four shy of moving into third.  Career-wise, Friedberg stands third all-time at Emory with 108 blocked shots.  In addition to his blocks numbers, he stands No. 2 on the team and is tied for eighth in the conference in rebounding with a 6.1 per-game showing.  He has finished with six or more boards in eight contests and has three games of double figures.  

On the offensive end of the floor, he is averaging 11.3 points per game, good for a 16^th-place tie among UAA players.  He is team's top shooter with his 54.4 percent mark (62-of-114) placing him eighth on the league ladder.  He has scored in double figures on eight occasions this season.

CLAUNCH KEEPS EMORY'S OFFENSE CLICKING – Austin Claunch averaged a team-high 21.5 points and 3.5 assists in Emory's two wins last weekend and now stands second on the team and third in the UAA in scoring average (18.1 ppg).  The 5-foot-9 backcourt ace logged all 40 minutes of action in each contest and his 24 points against Case Western represented his 16^th double-figure scoring game of the season and seventh of 20 or more points.  Career-wise, he owns 14 contests of 20 or more points with Emory posting a 13-1 ledger in those affairs.  In addition to his point total, he led the team with a career-high tying eight rebounds and dished out six assists while registering four steals.  Heading into the weekend, Claunch continues to lead the UAA in assists with his 6.5 per-game mark good for the No. 6 spot nationally.  He is third among conference performers and 28^th nationally in free throw percentage (.873) and holds down the No. 2 spot on the league ladder in steals (1.8 spg).   Other categories where he ranks prominently in the UAA include assist/turnover ratio (t-1^st, 2.7) and minutes (1^st, 33.9 mpg).

Already the school's all-time leader with 504 assists, Claunch is working his way up some other Emory career lists including steals where he resides in the No. 7 spot with 147 thefts, good for sixth place, just two shy of moving past Matt Maguire (1995-98) into the No. 5 spot.  Claunch has steals in 12 games this year and nine contests of multiple thefts.   In scoring, he is No. 8 on the school's career chart with 1,136 points, just 11 shy of passing Kevin Felner's (1989-93) current seventh-place mark of 1,146.  He is No. 2 in career free throw percentage (.878, 266-of-303) and has drawn 68 starting assignments, tied for 10^th all-time at the school.

NOTES –  Emory's 12 steals in the Case contest represented the seventh time this year that it registered double figures in that category …  Heading into the weekend, the Eagles lead the UAA in steals (8.7 spg) … Case's 59 points marked the fourh time this season that Emory limited an opponent to 60 or fewer points … In the last three games, Emory claims a 62-36 advantage in the points-off-turnovers department … In Emory's nine away/neutral contests, it is averaging 85.2 points and shooting 46.2 percent from the field while its foes are scoring at a 69.2 per-game clip and sinking 41.4 percent from the floor … In the Eagles' seven home dates, they are averaging 83.4 points and shooting 44.7 percent from the floor … Emory has outscored the opposition in 25 of 32 halves … The Eagles stand 14-0 when leading at the break this season, 51-8 during Jason Zimmerman's tenure as head coach … Emory has turned the ball over on fewer occasions than the opposition in 14 games this season … Emory is No. 2 among UAA teams and 37^th nationally in fewest turnovers per contest (12.1 tpg) … Emory has scored 90 or more points under Zimmerman on 24 occasions and posts a 22-2 slate in those contests … Junior Nash Oh tied his career high with 10 points in the Carnegie contest … Emory is averaging an UAA-leading 83.4 points per game, good for 16^th place nationally among D-III programs …  The Eagles show a +5.25 mark in turnover margin, tops in the league and 20^th on the national scene … Emory's two wins last weekend raised its home court winning streak to 16 games … The Eagles hit a season-high 27 free throws in the Carnegie Mellon game and have attempted more from the stripe than the opposition in 10 games … The Eagles have shot 70 percent or better from the foul line in 11 games and stand first in the league and 19^th nationally in free throw percentage (.749) … Jake Davis saw his consecutive free throws streak end at 37 when he missed his first attempt in the Carnegie Mellon game … His 37 consecutive makes is the second-longest streak in school history, second only to Austin Claunch's 38 … Senior Alex Gulotta's three-point field goal in the Case contest was the 169^th of his career, good for a third-place tie with Kevin Felner (1989-93) on the school's all-time list … Gulotta is averaging a team-leading 2.3 triples per game, good for sixth place in the UAA … Emory has outshot 12 opponents from the floor this year … Emory ended up the Carnegie Mellon game with seven turnovers, the fifth time this season that it finished a contest with fewer than 10 miscues … … In the last three games, Emory is averaging 10 turnovers compared to the opposition's mark of 17.3 miscues … Emory has scored 50 or more points in seven halves this year … Emory has had six different players lead the team in scoring this season, headed by Jake Davis in seven contests with Austin Claunch next up at four games … The Eagles are shooting 46.1 percent (259-of-562) from the floor during the first half and 44.9 percent (220-of-490) in the second stanza …  Opponents are shooting 40.2 percent (179-of-445) in the opening half and 42.7 percent (191-of-447) over the final 20 minutes.