GAME FACTS – After registering a successful outcome in its University Athletic Association opener, the Emory men's basketball team will take to the road this weekend for a pair of conference tilts. On Friday (Jan. 17), the Eagles tackle New York University before squaring off against Brandeis on Sunday.
The Hunter Sportsplex will serve as the site of the 66th meeting between Emory and NYU and that contest is slated for an 8:00 pm start. On Sunday the scene will shift to the Auerbach Arena on the Brandeis campus for the 65th battle between the Eagles and Judges, with that affair tipping at noon.
Video and Live Stats will be available for both games with the links as follows:
NYU
Live Stats - https://gonyuathletics.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Video - https://gonyuathletics.com/watch/?Live=458&type=Live
Brandeis
Live Stats - https://www.brandeisjudges.com/sports/mbkb/2019-20/boxscores/20200119_jhnf.xml
Video - https://www.brandeisjudges.com/sports/mbkb/streaming
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 225-104. In games played at the Woodruff PE Center, Zimmerman posts a 130-30 ledger and claims a 95-74 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 208-71 (.746) since the 2009-10 season. He posts a 15-9 won-lost effort against NYU and is 16-8 vs. Brandeis.
Dagan Nelson (Ramapo College, '96) is in his second season as head coach of the NYU program and stands 15-22. Now in his sixth campaign as a college head coach, which includes a four-year stint at SUNY New Platz, Nelson checks in with a career effort of 50-88.
Jean Bain (Northeastern, 02) is in his second year patrolling the Brandeis sideline and heads into a Friday clash against Rochester with a school and career mark of 27-14. Last season, he oversaw the Judges' 18-11 record that included a berth in the ECAC DIII Tournament.
2019-20 RECORDS – Emory, ranked No. 3 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, starts the second weekend of league action with an overall record of 11-1 (1-0 UAA). The Eagles opened loop action this past Saturday with a solid 75-57 win at home over Rochester. The junior tandem of Nick Stuck and Lawrence Rowley paced the Emory scoring attack against the Yellowjackets with each player scoring 20 points (career high for Stuck). Stuck connected on six-of-nine field goal attempts and eight-of-11 from the stripe in notching his third straight and sixth double-digit outing of the year. Rowley converted eight-of-12 floor opportunities along with four makes from the foul line in dialing up his 10th outing of 10 or more points.
Emory is 6-1 on its home floor this season, 5-0 in away/neutral contests.
NYU will entertain Emory with an overall record of 7-5, 0-1 in the UAA. The Violets opened conference play with a 76-71 setback at home to Brandeis. NYU is 2-4 in home games and 5-1 in road/neutral contests.
Brandeis will bring a four-game winning streak into its match-up against Rochester that has boosted its overall record to 9-3. The win over NYU last weekend raised the Judges road/neutral record to 6-2 while their home slate stands at 3-0.
SERIES RECORDS – In a series that dates from December of 1986, NYU holds an all-time record of 36-29 vs. Emory. The Eagles have won the last four contests between the schools including last year's 97-75 (in Atlanta) and 75-67 (in NYC) outcomes. The Violets have captured 19 of the 33 meetings that have been played in New York.
In the series that saw the first played in January of 1988, Emory stands 35-29 all-time vs. Brandeis. The Eagles have emerged victorious in the last four and is six of the last seven affairs. Last season, Emory registered 92-59 (at the Woodruff PE Center) and 88-64 triumphs. The Judges will enter Sunday's against with a 19-13 edge over Emory in games that have played on their home court.
EMORY PUTTING UP THE POINTS – As Emory approaches the midway point in the season, it offensive attack is averaging a conference–high 89.8 points per game, good for 13th place (through Jan. 13) among D-III schools. The Eagles have tossed in 81.7 points over their seven home dates and 101.1 in five away/neutral affairs.
In breaking down scoring by halves, Emory is putting up 43.3 points during the opening 20 minutes of play and 46.4 in the second half. The Eagles have totaled 50 or more points in seven halves of action.
GET A REBOUND – Emory finished with a 38-32 edge in rebounding over Rochester, raising the team's record to 10-0 this year when finishing with the advantage in that category. The Eagles, who have outboarded five foes by 10 or more caroms, find themselves second among UAA squads and seventh nationally (through Jan. 13) in rebound margin (+10.3).
The Eagles are pulling down an average of 13.7 rebounds on the offensive end of the floor, good for the No. 1 spot on the conference chart, which has aided them in registering 182 second-chance points (15.2 scppg). Through games played Jan. 12, a check at the UAA stats show that Lawrence Rowley sits No. 3 on the UAA ladder in rebound average (8.9 rpg) while Matthew Schner holds down the No. 11 slot (6.3 rpg).
THREE BALL A KEY WEAPON FOR EMORY – Emory's affinity for the trey ball has resulted in a conference-best 10.3 triples per game, with that mark ranking 36th nationally. The Eagles will head into the NYU game with 10 or more treys to their credit in a total of eight games this season. Back on Dec. 7 Emory drained a season-best 15 three-pointers against Piedmont, tying the program's eighth-highest game total.
On the year, the Eagles have shot 39.0 percent (124-of-318), placing them third in the UAA and 37th in D-III. Emory has shot 40 percent or better from beyond the arc on five occasions this year.
Romin Williams and Matt Davet are tied for third among league performers with an average of 2.8 treys per contest. Williams has multiple treys in nine games while Davet has three or more triples to his credit in seven outings. Matthew Schner finds himself deadlocked for the No. 8 position on the conference chart at 2.3 three-pointers per game while standing fifth in three-point percentage (.509, 28-of-55).
EMORY STRONG AT THE STRIPE – After shooting less than 70 percent from the foul line in both games at its Holiday Classic, Emory regained its touch against Rochester, knocking down 75 percent (21-of-28) of its attempts. The Eagles' 21 makes represented the fourth time this year that they had totaled 20 or more free throws.
So far this year, Emory sits atop the UAA chart and stands 25th nationally with a 76.8 percent showing (219-of-285) from the foul line. The Eagles have been successful on 70 percent from the stripe in nine contests. In its seven home games, Emory has converted 71.5 (103-of-144) of its foul shots while draining 82.2 percent (116-of-141) in the five away/neutral contests.
The Eagles claim three of the conference's top eight and four of the top 12 free throw shooters – Romin Williams' effort of 84.5 percent (60-of-71) is fifth on the conference ladder while Matt Davet' 84.4 percent (38-of-45) mark is good for the No. 6 spot. Matt Schner holds down the No. 8 spot at 81.8 percent (36-of-44) while Lawrence Rowley ranks 12th at 73.5 percent (36-of-49).
MOVING UP THE LADDER – Lawrence Rowley currently ranks as the program's career leader in field goal shooting at 57.5 percent (225-of-391) … Romin Williams has 34 three-point field goals through 12 contests, upping his career total to 175 which is good for fifth place on the school's all-time ladder, just four shy of tying Alex Gulotta (2008-12) for the No. 4 position … Williams has cracked the school's all-time Top-20 in scoring with his 1,094 points placing him 14th on that list … Matt Davet has totaled 124 career three-point field goals and is 15th on the Eagles' all-time ladder … In addition, Davet has logged a total of 860 points during his Emory tenure … Matt Schner has connected on 53.1 percent (68-of-128) of his field goal attempts, second on the squad and 13th among league cagers … Schner ranks as the program's No. 2 career leader in field goal shooting at 56.7 percent (207-of-365) … Junior Nick Stuck stands 10th all-time at Emory with 217 assists.
ROWLEY SCORING AND BOARDING – Lawrence Rowley has been a consistent performer for the Eagles, scoring in double figures on 10 occasions while snatching 10 or more rebounds in five outings. Heading into the weekend, Rowley, ranks 11th among UAA players and fourth on the team's score sheet with an average of 14.5 points per contest. His 8.9 per-game effort in rebounding is third in the conference, and he has finished as the Eagles' top performer on the glass in six games this year. He has four double-doubles to his credit this season (nine in career), most recently an 11-point, career-high 16-rebound performance in the 87-80 win over UW-Oshkosh (Dec. 29).
The 6-foot-5 Rowley stands as the squad's most accurate shooter, converting 61.1 percent (66-of-102) from the field, good for the No. 3 spot on the UAA leader board. He has been successful on 50 percent or better on his field goal attempts in all 12 games.
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 is third among UAA players and 19th (through games played Jan. 13) in D-III in assists (6.1 apg) … Romin Williams has recorded double-figure scoring in all 12 Emory games while Matt Schner has cracked double digits on 11 occasions … Over the last three games, Emory has scored 50 points off opponent turnovers vs. 37 points foes have tallied off Eagle miscues … When Romin Williams notched his 1,000th career point in the LaGrange game (Dec. 4), he became the second-fastest player in school history to reach that plateau (61 games), trailing only Jake Davis who accomplished it in 60 contests … 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.
DID YOU KNOW -- Since the 2010-11 season, Emory has the No. 1 record among UAA teams in overall (193-61) play and the second-best mark in league action (92-35) .… Washington University has the conference's second-best overall ledger (183-64) and the top slate in conference play (94-33) … That Emory has at least one three-point field goal in its last 583 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 56 of its last 57 games when allowing 69 or fewer points (4-0 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 39-5 ledger in games since the 2016-17 season when it has converted 10 or more three-pointers in a contest (7-1 in '19-20, 11-2 in '18-19, 11-0 in 2017-18, 10-2 in '16-17 … The Eagles have won 47 of their last 49 games at the Woodruff PE Center against non-league foes … Emory is 112-14 (.889) over its last 126 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 122-8 when outshooting the opposition from the floor (7-1 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 185-22 when leading at halftime (9-1 in '19-20, 20-2 in 2018-19, 19-1, in '17-18, 13-0 in '16-17; 18-3 in 2015-16).