| Game 2: Charleston Southern (1-0) at North Carolina A&T (0-1) |
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The 2019-20 Charleston Southern men's basketball team gets their road slate underway Friday night when they visit North Carolina A&T, whose fresh off a 19-win season.
Charleston Southern got off to a hot start with a 99-71 win over Columbia International Tuesday night inside the Buc Dome thanks to 22 points from
Dontrell Shuler and 20 from
Ty Jones.
After their season-opening win over CIU, the Bucs sit second among Big South schools in the 2019-20 KenPom rankings trailing only preseason favorite Radford. CSU sits just ahead of defending-champion Gardner-Webb, Winthrop and Hampton.
CSU is also one of just three Big South schools to open the 2019-20 season with a win as seven teams in total played on college basketball's opening night.
For Openers
- Charleston Southern opens their road schedule after picking up a win over a scrappy Columbia International team 99-71 inside the Buc Dome Tuesday night.
- The Bucs saw big nights around the floor as Dontrell Shuler paced all scorers with 22 points and six assists and Ty Jones added 20 with a team-high seven boards.
- Freshman forward TJ Porter added 10 points in his debut while Big South Preseason All-Conference guard Phlandrous Fleming Jr. added 13 giving CSU four players in double figures. Sean Price also had nine points on a perfect 3-of-3 night while Duncan LeXander and Deontaye Buskey each added eight points in the winning effort.
- Friday is the first matchup all-time between CSU and North Carolina A&T, the first of five teams the Bucs will take on for the first time in program history. Among those are Dayton, Michigan State, Missouri and North Carolina Central.
- CSU makes their first trip to the Tar Heel state in nonconference action since playing a pair at Davidson and N.C. State during the 2017-18 season.
- The road schedule in 2019-20 sees difficult trips throughout including contests at Dayton and Michigan State in a 48-hour span - both teams among the top-60 of KenPom rankings.
Scouting The Aggies
- North Carolina A&T fell to crosstown rival UNCG in their opener Tuesday night 83-50 as they were forced into 19 turnovers and shot just .326 from the floor.
- Ronald Jackson paced the Aggies with 17 points and two steals in 30 minutes while Kameron Langley grabbed nine rebounds.
- North Carolina A&T is coming off a 19-win season that saw a regular season sweep of eventual MEAC champion and NCAA Tournament participant North Carolina Central.
Challenging November Slate
- Four of Charleston Southern's nonconference opponents sit inside the KenPom top-100 rankings headlined by No. 1 Michigan State.
- Of the four top-100 teams CSU plays, three come in a three-game stretch between Nov. 12 and Nov. 18.
- CSU begins that daunting stretch with Furman (98) at home followed by a trip to Dayton (56) Nov. 16 and a visit to East Lansing for the preseason No.1 team in America, Michigan State (1) just 48 hours later on Nov. 18.
- Missouri (38) also looms on the Buccaneer schedule to open the December slate while Southern Utah (207), James Madison (223) and Eastern Kentucky (260) all sit within 40 spots of the Bucs in the KenPom rankings.
A Win on Friday Would…
- Move the Bucs to 2-0 on the season and 1-0 on the road
- Be the first win in a road opener since defeating Ole Miss in the 2014-15 season
- Give the Bucs wins over seven MEAC schools in program history
- Give CSU a 1-0 series lead in the initial meeting
- Push CSU's winning streak versus the MEAC to three after a 2-0 season versus South Carolina State and Coppin State last year.
