GAME FACTS -  The Emory men's basketball team will close out the home portion of the regular-season schedule this weekend when it takes on a pair of University Athletic Association foes. On Friday (Feb. 10), the Eagles entertain New York University in an 8:00 p.m. start before meeting Brandeis on Sunday in a noon tip.  Sunday's contest against the Judges will be Senior Day with the contributions of Austin Claunch, Chris Cohen, Alex Gulotta, Justin Resnick and Corey Spraggins being recognized in a pre-game ceremony.

A video stream for both games will be available.  To access the webcasts, please go to – http://www.emoryathletics.com/information/webcasts

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 68-52.

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 win total in school annals.  

Joe Nesci (Brooklyn College, 1979) is in his 24^th season as head coach of the NYU program and brought a school and career ledger of 420-198 into a Feb. 7 contest against SUNY New Paltz. Since his debut in 1988-89, he has directed the Violets to 23 winning seasons and 16 postseason appearances.

In his 10th campaign at Brandeis University is Brian Meehan (Clark Univ., 1986).  Heading into a Friday road contest against Rochester, Meehan posts a school mark of 149-86.  Now in his 17^th year as a head coach, which includes a seven-year stint at Salem State, Meehan enters the upcoming weekend with a career mark of 309-125.

RECORDS – Emory, ranked 23^rd in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, stands 16-4 overall, 5-4 in the University Athletic Association.  The Eagles split a pair of home games this past weekend, shutting down Chicago, 83-67, on Friday before coming out on the short end of a 92-83 decision to No. 25 Washington University on Sunday.  The loss to the Bears snapped Emory's 17-game home win streak.

NYU, ranked 16^th in this week's D3hoops.com top 25 Poll, stands 17-2 overall heading into its home date against SUNY New Paltz.  The Violets are tied with Washington University for first place in the league with a 7-2 effort and are coming off a productive weekend on the road where they topped Carnegie Mellon (88-76) and Case Western (98-85).

Brandeis heads into a Friday night affair at Rochester with an overall slate of 12-8, 6-3 in the UAA. The Judges split a pair of road games last weekend, losing at Case Western, 91-68, on Friday before bouncing back to claim a 77-76 win in overtime against Carnegie Mellon on Sunday.

SERIES RECORDS – In a series that began in December of 1986, NYU posts an all-time mark of 32-18 against Emory.  The Violets captured the first meeting of this year, 89-73, back on Jan. 13 with sophomore Jake Davis leading the Emory scoring attack with 24 points while pulling down 10 rebounds.  NYU was captured 15 of the 24 meetings against the Eagles in games that have been contested in Atlanta.

Brandeis holds a 26-23 advantage in the all-time series with Emory that saw the first game played in January of 1988.   The Eagles have won the last two contests between the teams including a 95-58 triumph at Brandeis earlier this season.  Freshman Alex Foster totaled a team-high 20 points for the Eagles in that outing while Davis led the squad with eight boards.

Emory's Top Offensive Scoring Efforts Under Zimmerman 

CLAUNCH SETS SCHOOL RECORD FOR ASSISTS – Senior Austin Claunch broke his own school record last Friday when he doled out 13 assists in the Chicago game.  His effort against the Maroons bettered his previous mark of 12 that he had recorded on four occasions during his career, the most recent coming against Rhodes earlier this season (Dec. 29).  In addition to his assists total, he finished the Chicago game with 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals while logging all 40 minutes of action for the seventh time this season.   He followed that performance by dishing out 10 assists and totaling 18 points and four steals in 39 minutes against Washington University.   The 5-foot-9 Claunch has registered four games of double-figure assists this season and now has 11 in his career.  Claunch has 145 assists to his credit in 2011-12, good for the No. 3 spot on the school's seasonal list.  He holds the top two marks on that chart (186 in 2010-11 and 151 in 2009-10).

Claunch, along with Jake Davis, has scored in double-figures in all 20 games and will start the weekend with an 18.7 per-game scoring average in overall play, second on the team and third in the UAA. In league affairs, he is tossing in a team-best 20.0 points with that mark second among UAA cagers.   He has come through with 20 or more points in nine games this season and has 16 during his career with Emory registering a 13-3 record in those affairs.  Claunch is averaging 19.4 points and shooting 46.2 percent from the floor in Emory's nine home games while tossing in 18.0 points and shooting 49.6 percent from the field in the team's 11 away/neutral contests.  He has scored in double figures in his last 34 consecutive contests.

He leads the conference in assists in both overall (7.3 apg) and league (7.6 apg) action and was No. 3 nationally in that category in NCAA statistics for games played Feb. 5. He is the league leader and is 11^th nationally in assist/turnover (+3.02), and also ranks prominently on the league listings in steals (2^nd, 2.0), free throw percentage (5^th, .873) and minutes (1^st, 34.4 mpg).

Claunch's efforts against UC and WU boosted his career scoring total to 1,220 points, good for fifth place on the school's all-time scoring list.  He has 413 career field goals to his name, sixth all-time at Emory, and he ranks 13^th on the Eagles' career chart with 114 three-point field goals.  Already the school career record holder with 545 assists, Claunch ranks prominently on the school's all-time ladder in free throws (6^th, 280), free throw percentage (2^nd, .879) and steals (4^th, 158). In addition, he has drawn 72 starting assignments, 10^th all-time at Emory.

FRIEDBERG THE REJECTOR – Junior Michael Friedberg extended his streak to 14 games with at least one blocked shot last weekend when he swatted away one shot attempt in both the Chicago and Wash U. contests.  Friedberg enters Friday's action No. 1 in the UAA and 18^th nationally in blocked shots with a 2.3 per-game average.  He has two or more blocks to his credit in 11 outings this year and his 44 total blocks rank third on Emory's seasonal chart.  Friedberg holds down the No. 2 spot on that list with 51 rejections during the 2010-11 campaign.

Career-wise, Friedberg stands third all-time at Emory with 113 blocked shots.  In addition to his blocks numbers, he ranks No. 2 on the team and ninth in the UAA in rebounding with a 6.1 per-game showing.  He has finished with six or more boards in his last three and in a total of 11 games and has three games of double figures. His team-high eight caroms represented the sixth time in 2011-12 that he either led or shared for the squad's lead in that category.

On the offensive end of the floor, he is averaging 11.2 points per game, good for 19^th place among UAA players.  He is team's No. 2 shooter with his 51.4 percent mark (76-of-148) tying for 11^th on the league ladder.  He has scored in double figures on 10 occasions this season including five of his last seven outings.

NOTES –  Chicago's 26 first-half points represented the 10^th time this year that Emory held  an opponent to less than 30 points in a half … The Eagles converted ten three-point field goals against Chicago, raising the team's record to 10-2 this year when finishing with double digits in treys … While Emory saw its 17-game home win streak come to an end in the Wash U. game, it is still outscoring the opposition by a 83.3-71.1 per-game margin at the Woodruff PE Center this season … Senior Alex Gulotta's three three-point field goals against WU on Sunday marked his 12^th outing this year with two or more triples … Gulotta, whose team-high 2.2 treys is good for a fifth-place tie among UAA players, has 176 career three-pointers to his credit, good for the No. 3 spot on Emory's all-time list, six shy of tying Jeff Hall (2002-06) for the No. 2 position .. Emory has had six different players lead the team in scoring this season, headed by Jake Davis in nine contests with Austin Claunch next up at six games … Emory stands 10-1 this year when attempting more free throws than the opposition, 6-3 when the opponents have more attempts from the stripe … The Eagles stand 15-1 when leading at the break this season, 52-9 during Jason Zimmerman's tenure as head coach … Junior Alex Greven's 17 points against WU was his fifth double-digit effort in his past six games … Greven will enter the NYU game with seven performances this season with 10 or more points and claims the longest current streak on the team with three-point field goals in nine straight contests …  Greven stands 15^th in the league in three-point shooting in overall action (.400) and is sixth for league games only with a mark of 44.1 percent (15-of-34) …  Greven's 1.7 treys per game in conference outings is good for a sixth-place tie on the UAA ladder … Senior Justin Resnick has nine games of two or more triples this year including six contests of three … Emory is averaging an UAA-leading 85.3 points per game, good for 14^th place nationally among D-III programs …  Emory has outshot 13 opponents from the floor this year … The Eagles have shot 70 percent or better from the foul line in 13 games and stand second in the league and 28^st nationally in free throw percentage (.742) … The Eagles are shooting 45.8 percent (318-of-694) from the floor during the first half and 46.0 percent (261-of-567) in the second stanza … Emory has scored 90 or more points under Zimmerman on 25 occasions and posts a 22-3 slate in those contests … Emory has recorded 10 or more steals in eight games this season and starts the weekend as the league leader in thefts (8.6 spg).