GAME FACTS – The Emory University men's basketball team is one of 64 teams vying for the 2020 NCAA Division III national title, and will host the opening two rounds of the postseason at the Woodruff PE Center.
On Friday (Mar. 6) Centre College will battle Pomona-Pitzer in a 5:00 pm start, followed by Emory vs. Methodist at 7:30 pm. The winners advance to Saturday's second round with that game beginning at 7:30 pm.
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 235-107. In games played at the Woodruff PE Center, Zimmerman posts a 135-31 ledger and claims a 100-76 mark in road/neutral settings.
He has guided Emory to 11 straight winning seasons and eight consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020), the longest streak in the history of the University Athletic Association.
After going 17-33 his first two years at Emory, Zimmerman has amassed a won-lost slate of 218-74 (.747) since the 2009-10 season.
Zimmerman stands 10-7 in NCAA Tournament action.
David Smith (Methodist, '81) is in his 21st year at the helm of the Methodist program and owns a school and career record of 270-286. He has now guided the Monarchs program to three NCAA Tournament appearances.
Now in his 21st campaign as the head coach at Centre is Greg Mason (Centre, '94). Heading into this weekend, Mason has amassed an impressive school and career ledger of 411-153. He has guided the Colonels to eight NCAA Tournament berths and seven conference titles. In addition, he has won 20 or more games in a season on 10 occasions.
Pomona-Pitzer is led by 33rd-year head coach Charles Katsiaficas. Katsiaficas posts a school and career mark of 526-343 and has 27 winning campaigns to his credit.
2019-20 RECORDS – Emory, ranked No. 10 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, sports an overall record of 21-4 and tied for first place with Washington University in the University Athletic Association with a showing of 11-3. The Eagles captured the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of their two wins over Wash U.
Emory heads into the NCAA Tournament with wins in five of its past six outings. The Eagles concluded the regular season last Saturday with an 80-76 victory at Rochester. Junior Matt Schner led the Emory scoring attack with a game-high 20 points, hitting eight-of-15 field goal attempts, including four triples, while classmate Lawrence Rowley registered his fifth double-double of the year with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Emory's 21 wins is the fourth-highest mark in program annals while the 11 triumphs in UAA play tied the second-highest total.
Emory is 11-2 on its home floor this season, 10-2 in away/neutral contests.
Methodist will meet Emory with an overall record of 18-10 with wins in its last four decisions. The Monarchs brought home an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after winning the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament title, defeating Huntingdon, 79-73 in the final. Methodist finished the campaign with a 7-3 record in home dates while showing an 11-7 slate in road/neutral affairs.
Centre has won its last four games, boosting its overall record to 24-4 as it prepares for its battle with Pomona-Pitzer. The Colonels captured an automatic berth to the postseason after playing its way to a crown at the Southern Athletic Association Tournament, edging Berry by a 72-69 count in the championship. This year's spot in the national tournament is Centre's first since 2014.
Pomona-Pitzer stands 22-5 after defeating Redlands, 87-66, the in the finals of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship, earning an automatic bid to this weekend. The Sagehens will bring a six-game winning streak into their match-up with Centre.
EMORY NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY (12-8)
Mar. 3, 1990 – Emory 91, Emory & Henry 81 (H)
Mar. 9, 1990 – Calvin 80, Emory 73 (N)
Mar. 10, 1990 – Emory 102, Averett 93 (A)
Mar. 2, 2013 – Emory 77, Randolph 56 (H)
Mar. 9, 2013- Whitworth 86, Emory 67 (A)
Mar. 8, 2014 – Emory 72, Centre 62 (H)
Mar. 14, 2014 – Emory 76, UW-Stevens Point 73 (ot) (A)
Mar. 15, 2014 – UW-Whitewater 74, Emory 51 (N)
Mar. 6, 2015 – Emory 88, Spalding 59 (H)
Mar. 7, 2015 – Emory 85, Whitworth 84 (H)
Mar. 13, 2015 – UW-Stevens Point, 73, Emory 53 (A)
Mar. 4, 2016 – Emory 76, Covenant College 51 (H)
Mar. 5, 2016 – Emory 84, Birmingham Southern 78 (ot) (H)
Mar. 11, 2016 – Augustana 88, Emory 65 (A)
Mar. 3, 2017 – Emory 82, Texas Lutheran 69 (N)
Mar. 4, 2017 – Hardin-Simmons 95, Emory 85 (A)
Mar. 2, 2018 – Emory 91, Berry College 72 (H)
Mar. 3, 2018 – Emory 83, LeTourneau 82 (H)
Mar. 9, 2018 – UW-Oshkosh 93, Emory 72 (N)
Mar. 1, 2019 – Wittenberg 100, Emory 88 (N)
SERIES RECORDS – Emory has won all three meetings against Methodist, which saw the first game played on Nov. 21, 1986. The last time the Eagles and Monarchs played was on Nov. 23, 2013, when Emory won, 97-91, at the Holiday Inn Captains Shootout Championship played on the campus of Christopher Newport.
Emory and Pomona-Pitzer have met on just one occasion with the Sagehens claiming a win on their court, 66-56, on Nov. 29, 1996.
The only time Emory and Centre have met on the hardwood came on March 8, 2014, during the second round of the NCAA Tournament when the Eagles manufactured a 72-62 second-round win at the Woodruff PE Center.
TREY BALL KEY PART OF EMORY ATTACK – Emory leads the UAA and stands 39th in the D-III ranks with an average of 10.0 treys per contest. The Eagles hold down the No. 2 position on the conference ladder and stand 29th nationally with a 38.3 percent showing (251-of-655). Emory's 251 three-pointers rank 5th on the program's seasonal ladder.
Emory has 10 or more three-pointers to its credit on 14 occasions this year, including a pair of 16-trey barrages, tying the school's sixth-highest game total, vs. Pfeiffer (Nov. 30) and Case Western Reserve (Jan. 26).
Matt Davet holds down the No. 3 position on the conference chart with an average of 2.5 treys per contest. Davet has 17 multi-trey outings to his credit this year, including 13 with three or more. Romin Williams is one spot behind with an effort of 2.4 triples per outing, and he claims 15 games with multiple triples and a dozen with three or more. Matt Schner posts a mark of 2.0 three-pointers per contest, ninth on the conference ladder, and stands second with a showing of 46.7 percent (50-of-107) from distance.
EMORY SEASON THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS
1. 266 – 2017-19
2. 263 – 2018-19
3. 256 – 2014-15
256 – 2015-16
5. 251 – 2019-20
GET A REBOUND!! – Emory's win at Rochester last Saturday raised its record to 18-1 when finishing with an edge in rebounding. The Eagles grabbed 30 boards in the 80-76 victory compared to the Yellowjackets' 28.
The Eagles have outboarded nine foes by 10 or more caroms and find themselves second among UAA squads and 35th nationally in rebound margin (6.4).
The Eagles are pulling down an average of 12.2 rebounds on the offensive end of the floor, good for second in the league, which has aided them in registering 328 second-chance points (13.2 scppg). A check at the UAA stats show that junior Lawrence Rowley sits No. 3 on the UAA ladder in rebound average (8.4 rpg) while Matthew Schner stands fifth (7.6 rpg).
Schner has led or tied for team honors in rebounding on 13 occasions this season while Rowley has earned that distinction in 12 games.
EMORY UAA LEADER IN SCORING AVERAGE – The Eagles are averaging 87.6 points per outing in overall contests (currently the school's 4th highest mark) , good for the No. 1 spot among UAA schools and 16th in D-III. Emory has tossed in 85.4 points over their 13 home dates and 90.0 in 11 away/neutral affairs. The Eagles have totaled 90 or more points on 11 occasions this season.
In breaking down scoring by halves, Emory is putting up 42.2 points during the opening 20 minutes of play and 45.4 in the second half. The Eagles have totaled 50 or more points in 10 halves of action.
Emory has four of the top 11 UAA scoring leaders in overall play, led by Romin Williams who is averaging 16.1 points per contest, good for the No. 2 position. Williams has logged 18 performances of double-figure scoring including eight of 20 or more points. Matt Schner holds down the No. 3 spot at 15.7 points per game while Matt Davet's showing of 14.2 points per game is 8th. Lawrence Rowley rounds out the quartet with his 13.9 per-game effort slotting him 11th.
Emory has had five or more players score in double figures on eight occasions this year.
TOP-SCORING EMORY INDIVIDUAL HALVES
19 pts. – Matt Davet – 1st half vs. Maryville (Dec. 1)
19 pts. – Romin Williams – 1st half vs. Sewanee (Nov. 20)
18 pts. – Matt Schner – 2nd half vs. Pfeiffer (Nov. 30)
17 pts. – Nick Stuck – 2nd half vs. Case Western Reserve (Feb. 23)
17 pts. – Lawrence Rowley – 2nd half vs. Brandeis (Feb. 16)
17 pts. – Romin Williams – 2nd half vs. UW-Oshkosh (Dec. 29)
17 pts. – Romin Williams – 2nd half vs. Piedmont (Dec. 7)
17 pts. – Matt Schner – 2nd half vs. LaGrange (Dec. 4)
17 pts. – Romin Willians – 2nd half vs. Berry (Nov. 12)
SCHNER'S ALL-AROUND PLAY A BOOST FOR EMORY – Matt Schner stands as one of the UAA's most versatile performers with the 6-foot-4 native of Boca Raton, Florida, ranking among the league's top-10 in 12 categories.
The league leader in minutes (33.9 mpg), Schner is No. 2 in three-point shooting at 46.7 percent (50-of-107), currently seventh on the program's seasonal ladder.
No. 2 on the squad and fourth in the UAA in scoring, Schner, who has 21 double-figure scoring contests to his credit, is connecting on 53.3 percent (129-of-243) of his field goal attempts, good for second on the team and sixth on the league list. Schner has converted 50 percent or better of his floor attempts on 19 occasions this season.
Schner's play on the glass can't be overlooked as he has either led or tied for team honors in five of the last eight and in a total of 13 games. Second on the club with an average of 7.6 caroms per outing, he has snatched 61 offensive rebounds and his average of 2.4 offensive rebounds per game is third among UAA cagers.
He has shown the ability to distribute the ball with his average of 3.1 assists per game second on the team and sixth on the UAA leader board. His 36 steals pace Emory while his 1.4 thefts-per-game average ranks ffourth in the conference.
Matt Schner's UAA Rankings
1st – Minutes (33.7 mpg)
2nd – 3pt FG% (.467, 50-of-107)
3rd – Scoring (15.7 ppg)
3rd – Offensive Rebounds (2.4)
4th – Steals (1.4 spg)
5th – FT% (.829, 68-of-82)
56h – FG% (.533, 137-of-257)
5th – Rebounds (7.6 rpg)
6th – Assists (3.1 apg)
7th – Assist/Turnover Ratio (2.1)
7th – Defensive Rebounds (5.2)
9th – 3pt FG per game (2.0)
MOVING UP THE LADDER – Lawrence Rowley ranks No. 2 all-time on the Eagles' all-time list in field goal percentage with an effort of 56.2 percent (289-of-514) while Matt Schner stands No. 3 on the chart at 55.9 percent (276-of-494) … Romin Williams has 60 three-point field goals through 25 contests and a career total of 201, good for third place on the school's all-time ladder and eight shy of tying Adam Gigax (2014-18) for the No. 2 position … Williams has cracked the school's all-time Top-10 in scoring with his 1,261 points placing him eighth on that list … Matt Davet has totaled 152 career three-point field goals and is 10th on the Eagles' all-time ladder … In addition, Davet has logged a total of 1,021 points during his Emory tenure (tied for 16th all-time in program history) … Junior Nick Stuck stands 9th all-time at Emory with 279 assists … Lawrence Rowley has moved into the ranks of the school's all-time top 20 rebounders with his 456 boards ranking 18th.
EMORY CAREER SCORING LEADERS
1. – Tim Garrett (1986-90) 1875
2. – Jake Davis (2010-14) 1870
5. – Terry Gorsuch (1987-91) 1480
6. – Austin Claunch (2008-12) 1292
7. – Alex Greven (2009-13) 1268
8. – Romin Williams (2017-SA) 1261
ROWLEY SCORING AND BOARDING – Lawrence Rowley has been a consistent performer for the Eagles, scoring in double figures on 20 occasions while snatching 10 or more rebounds in seven outings. Heading into the weekend, Rowley ranks 11th among UAA players and fourth on the team's score sheet with an average of 13.8 points per contest. His 8.4 per-game effort in rebounding is third in the conference, and he has finished as the Eagles' top performer on the glass in 12 games this year. He has five double-doubles to his credit this season (10 in career), most recently a 17-point, 13-rebound performance in the 80-76 win over Rochester (Feb. 29).
The 6-foot-5 Rowley stands as the squad's most accurate shooter, converting 56.3 percent (124-of-221) from the field, good for the No. 3 spot on the UAA ladder and seventh on the school's seasonal chart He opened the season by shooting 50 percent or better from the floor in 12 straight games and now has 20 to his credit.
DAVET & WILLIAMS THREE-POINT THREATS – Matt Davet and Romin Williams stand as the UAA's second-most prolific three-point shooting duo. Davet (62) and Williams (60) have totaled 122 makes from beyond the arc with only Washington University's tandem of Jack Nolan (77) and Payden Webb (52) accounting for more with 129.
EMORY CAREER THREE-POINT FIELD GOAL LEADERS
1. Robert Spivey (2000-04) 227
2. Adam Gigax (2014-18) 209
3. Romin Williams (2017-20) 201
4. Jeff Hall (2002-06) 182
7. Rashawn Hall (2000-05) 165
8. Alex Greven (2009-13) 162
9. Spiros Ferderigos (2004-08) 157
10. Matt Davet (2017-SA) 152
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 – Emory has shot 70 percent or better from the free throw line in the last six and in a total of 17 games this season … Over the last six contests, the Eagles are converting at a 77.9 percent clip (106-of-136) from the charity stripe … Emory leads the UAA and ranks 53rd nationally in free throw percentage (.749) … In his last five games, Lawrence Rowley is shooting 58.4 percent (31-of-53) from the floor and averaging 17.6 points … Rowley has registered five games of 20 or more points this season … Matt Davet is scoring at 16.3 per-game average over his last four performances while connecting on 64.4 percent (29-of-45) from the field, 53.1 percent (17-of-32) from three-point range … Nick Stuck's career-high 21 points vs. Case Western (Feb. 23) was his 12th double-digit performance of the campaign … Nick Stuck is second among UAA players and 29th in D-III in assists (5.4 apg) … Stuck's 2.11 assist/turnover ratio is second in the UAA … The Eagles have attempted more charity tosses than the opposition on 18 occasions this year … In its 13 home games, Emory has converted 70.7 (200-of-283) of its foul shots while draining 79.5 percent (209-of-263) in 12 away/neutral contests … During the 14-game UAA schedule Emory scored 208 points (14.8 ppg) off opponent turnovers while the opposition has totaled 136 points (9.7 ppg) … Emory has held the edge in points-off-turnovers category in 14 contests …Emory reserves scored a season-high 52 points in the 106-70 win over Case Western … Emory has finished with single digits in turnovers in 10 games this season … The Eagles are No. 2 in the UAA and 51st among D-III programs with an average of 16.6 assists per game … Romin Williams has played in 78 games during his Emory career and registered 64 double-figure scoring performances … Williams has logged 20 or more points on nine occasions this year and 25 during his career … Emory has outscored the opposition in 35 halves, been outpointed in 12 and been tied in three … Emory has held eight opponents to less than 40 percent from the field … The Eagles have had players tally 20 or more points 25 times vs. 19 for opponents … Emory has made 20 or more free throws in five contests this year … 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 (203-64) play and the second-best mark in league action (102-38) .… Washington University has the conference's second-best overall ledger (201-67) and the top slate in conference play (104-36) … That Emory has at least one three-point field goal in its last 596 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 61 of its last 62 games when allowing 69 or fewer points (9-0 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 44-6 ledger in games since the 2016-17 season when it has converted 10 or more three-pointers in a contest (12-2 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 117-15 (.886) over its last 132 home contests … The Eagles have recorded 100 or more points 56 times in program history and own a 50-6 won-lost record in those affairs … During Jason Zimmerman's tenure as head coach, Emory has 25 contests of 100 or more points and stands 23-2 in such games … Since the 2012-13 season, the Eagles are 130-8 when outshooting the opposition from the floor (15-1 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 192-22 when leading at halftime (16-1 in '19-20, 20-2 in 2018-19, 19-1, in '17-18, 13-0 in '16-17; 18-3 in 2015-16).