GAME FACTS – The Emory men's basketball team will gear up its final two games prior to finals and the holidays. On Wednesday (Dec. 4), the Eagles travel south on I-85 to battle LaGrange College before returning home on Saturday (Dec. 7) to square off against Piedmont College. The Mariotti Gym on the LaGrange campus will serve as the site for the 28th meeting between Emory and the Panthers with that affair slated for a 7:00 pm tip. The Woodruff PE Center will be the venue for the 16th match-up between Emory and Piedmont, and that game is slated for a 4:00 pm start.
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 221-103. In games played at the Woodruff PE Center, Zimmerman posts a 127-29 ledger and claims a 94-74 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 compiled a won-lost slate of 204-70 (.744) since the 2009-10 season.
Coach Zimmerman stands 11-5 vs. LaGrange and 9-2 against Piedmont.
Kendal Wallace is in his ninth year as the head coach at LaGrange. Heading into Wednesday's action, Wallace has compiled a school and career record of 128-95, which includes four trips to the NCAA D-III Tournament and three USA South Tournament championships.
In his seventh season at the helm of the Piedmont College program is Greg Neeley (Ohio Northern, '07). Prior to a Tuesday home game against Oglethorpe, Neeley had registered a 75-84 won-lost mark. Now in in his eighth campaign as a head coach, which includes a one-year stint at Warren Wilson, Neeley currently has a career effort of 94-94.
2019-20 RECORDS – Emory, ranked No. 2 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll for the second straight week, sports a 7-0 mark. The Eagles competed at the Maryville College Thanksgiving Classic over the weekend, where they established a school scoring record in a 124-112 verdict over Pfeiffer University followed by a 95-82 triumph over the host Scots. Juniors Matt Davet and Matt Schner each averaged 22 points over the two games, with Schner shooting 57.7 percent (15-of-26) from the floor while Davet pulled down 9.5 rebounds.
The No. 2 national ranking is the highest ever for the Emory men's program, with the previous high being No. 4 on Jan. 24, 2012.
LaGrange takes on Emory with a 1-3 record. After coming out on the short end in their first three contests, the Panthers got into the win column with an 85-72 outcome over Bob Jones on Nov. 23.
Piedmont will bring a 4-1 mark into its meeting with Oglethorpe. The Lions saw a four-game win streak snapped when they fell at Sewanee, 74-58, last Tuesday.
SERIES RECORDS – In a series that began in January of 2001, Emory holds an all-time record of 20-7 against LaGrange. The Eagles captured the last battle between the schools, a 96-87 decision on Dec. 5, 2018 at the Woodruff PE Center that snapped a three-game skid to the Panthers. Emory has won five of the nine contests played on LaGrange's home floor.
Emory has been victorious in 12 of 15 meetings against Piedmont. The Eagles have won the last four match-ups including last year's 98-80 result at Piedmont. The Eagles have won the last five and check in with an 8-1 edge vs. PC in games that have been played at the Woodruff PE Center.
EAGLES OFF TO SOLID START – Emory's 7-0 record is the first time the program has captured its opening seven games since the 2011-12 campaign, when that unit eventually posted a school-best 12-0 slate to begin the year. It marks the third time during Zimmerman's stint as head coach that Emory has started out 7-0.
THREE 20-POINT PLUS SCORERS HIGHLIGHT PFEIFFER WIN – For just the 10th time in school history, Emory finished with three players who tallied 20 or more points in the 124-112 victory over Pfeiffer University on Saturday. Matt Schner led the offensive barrage with 27 points while Romin Williams was close behind with 26. Lawrence Rowley rounded out the trio with 23 points.
The 76 points recorded by the three Eagles marked the program's highest output by a trio with 20 or more points, bettering the previous mark of 70 that Austin Claunch (25 pts.), Alex Greven (24 pts.) and Jake Davis (21 pts.) scored in a 103-99 win over Maryville on Nov. 28, 2010.
EMORY TOUGH ON THE GLASS – Emory finished with a 62-30 bulge in rebounding in the Pfeiffer game and followed that by registering a 43-36 advantage in that category against Maryville, the fifth and sixth contests thus season where it held the upper hand on the glass. Emory enters the LaGrange contest with a 44.0-32.7 per-game advantage in rebounding with its +11.3 margin tops among University Athletic Association teams.
THREE BALL A KEY WEAPON FOR EMORY – Emory's 16 three-point field goals in the win over Maryville represented the fifth this season time that it had totaled double figures in that department while tying the program's sixth-highest game total. The Eagles are averaging a UAA-best 11.0 triples per game and their mark of 40.1 percent (77-of-192) from beyond the arc is No. 2 among conference squads.
Matt Davet paces the league with an average of 3.7 treys per contest while Romin Williams stands third with an effort to 3.0. Davet has three or more triples to his credit in six games while Williams has multiple treys in six contests.
EMORY STRONG AT THE STRIPE – After shooting 81.6 percent (31-of-38) from the foul line in the Pfeiffer victory, the Eagles connected on a blazing 95 percent (19-of-20) from the stripe against Maryville, the sixth time this season they finished 70 percent or higher. Emory has been successful on 78.7 percent (129-of-164) from the foul line with that mark leading the UAA.
The Eagles claim two of the conference's top-10 free throw shooters, with Davet's showing of 90.9 percent (30-of-33) second on the conference chart and Romin Williams' 81.3 percent (26-of-32) good for the No. 10 spot.
MOVING UP THE LADDER – Romin Williams has 21 three-point field goals through seven contests, upping his career total to 162 which is good for a seventh-place tie with Alex Greven ( 2009-13) on the Eagles' all-time chart … Williams has cracked the school's all-time Top-20 in scoring with his 991 points placing him 16th on that list … Matt Davet has totaled 116 career three-point field goals and in in the process moved into the No. 20 spot on the program's all-time chart … Matt Schner is off to a hot-shooting start, connecting on 56.3 percent (40-of-71) of his field goal attempts … Schner ranks as the program's career leader in field goal shooting at 58.1 percent (179-of-308) … Junior Nick Stuck stands 12th all-time at Emory with 187 assists.
ROWLEY RECORDS BACK-TO-BACK DOUBLE-DOUBLES – Lawrence Rowley chalked up back-back double-doubles at the Maryville Thanksgiving Classic, picking up 23 points (second-highest career total) and 10 rebounds vs. Pfeiffer before coming through with 16 points along with a game-leading 12 rebounds against Maryville. Rowley now has seven career double-doubles to his credit.
Through seven outings the 6-foot-5 Rowley is averaging 14.3 points and leads the team, while ranking seventh in the UAA, with a 58.7 percent (37-of-63) mark from the field. In addition, his 8.4 per-game average in rebounding sets the pace for the Eagles and places him third among UAA performers. He has led the team in rebounding in three games this year.
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 – Nick Stuck doled out a career-high 12 assists in the victory over Maryville, tying the school's ninth-highest individual game total … Stuck stands third in the UAA in assists (6.1 apg) and ninth in assist/turnover ratio (+2.7) … Junior Clay Washburn led all players with a career-high 12 rebounds in the Pfeiffer contest … 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 … Emory has scored a total of 326 points in both the first and second half this year for an average of 46.6 points per 20 minutes of action.
DID YOU KNOW -- Since the 2010-11 season, Emory has the No. 1 record among UAA teams in overall (189-60) play and the second-best mark in league action (91-35) .… Washington University has the conference's second-best overall ledger (179-63) and the top slate in conference play (93-33) … That Emory has at least one three-point field goal in its last 578 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 55 of its last 56 games when allowing 69 or fewer points (3-0 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 37-4 ledger in games since the 2016-17 season when it has converted 10 or more three-pointers in a contest (5-0 in '19-20, 11-2 in '18-19, 11-0 in 2017-18, 10-2 in '16-17 … The Eagles have won 45 of their last 46 games at the Woodruff PE Center against non-league foes with the only blemish coming last season (Nov. 25, 2018) against Randolph-Macon … Emory is 109-13 (.893) over its last 122 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 119-7 when outshooting the opposition from the floor (4-0 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 181-21 when leading at halftime (5-0 in '19-20, 20-2 in 2018-19, 19-1, in '17-18, 13-0 in '16-17; 18-3 in 2015-16).