| Game 18: Charleston Southern (8-9, 2-3 Big South) at High Point (4-13, 1-3 Big South) |
Charleston Southern continues their stay in the Tar Heel state Saturday as they take on High Point for the first of two meetings this season. High Point took the lone matchup 51-50 last season surviving a last-second shot from the Bucs to open Big South play.
High Point leads the all-time series 22-16 since with every meeting coming as Big South foes. The Panthers made the jump to the Big South Conference prior to the 1998-99 season and have faced the Bucs just once in the Big South Tournament, a win by the Bucs on the Panthers' home floor during the 2005 tournament.
The home team has owned the series between CSU and High Point with the Bucs taking 12 of 18 from the Buc Dome and High Point winning 16 of the 20 contests at the Millis Center. Neither team has had much separation in the series as the final margin has been 10 points or fewer in 15 of the last 18 matchups with five being decided by a single possession.
CSU also makes their first of two ESPN3 appearances Saturday before hosting Presbyterian next Thursday on the platform. The Bucs also played two contests on ESPN3 last season splitting their matchups with Radford and Winthrop - a 53-52 home win over the Highlanders and an 80-78 2OT loss to the Eagles on the road.
Scouting The Panthers
- John-Michael Wright and Curtis Holland III both sit among the top-12 in scoring of the Big South Conference as the lone two Panthers averaging double figures on the season.
- High Point has struggled to score at times during the 2019-20 season reaching the 70-point mark seven times this season but falling in three of those games.
- Saturday marks the second of a three-game stretch over just five days as the Panthers traveled to UNC Asheville Thursday night and head to Spartanburg to take on USC Upstate Monday night.
- High Point ranks third in the Big South in blocks per contest (3.2) rejecting 55 shots in their 17 contests so far led by Caden Sanchez and Cliff Thomas Jr., who both sit among the league's top-8 shot blockers.
A Win on Saturday Would…
- Snap an 8-game streak the Panthers have at home versus the Bucs
- Be the fifth win at High Point
- Be the second win in the last three contests against the Panthers
- Complete a 2-0 weekend road trip after a 77-62 win on ESPNU at Campbell Thursday night
Last Time Out
- Charleston Southern has shined when the lights were bright in 2019-20. Thursday was no different.
- Paced by four players in double figures and a career-high 21 from Deontaye Buskey, Charleston Southern broke open what was a 23-22 lead into a 36-26 halftime margin and never looked back for a dominant 77-62 win at Campbell in the Big South's first ESPNU Wildcard affair.
- Buskey's career-night paced the Buccaneer attack as the junior guard also dished-out a season-high six assists while Phlandrous Fleming added 21 points himself. Redshirt-freshman Travis Anderson poured-in a career-best 17 points Thursday and Ty Jones finished with 11 for the Bucs.
- Campbell was led by 11 from Austin McCullough, but the Bucs shot .564 from the floor and forced 12 Camel turnovers for the complete performance. CSU also hit a season-high 13 treys in the win – four each from Buskey and Anderson.
- After taking the halftime lead, CSU shot over 60% from the floor in the second half extending their lead to as many as 24 with over seven minutes left to play.
Series History
- Charleston Southern and High Point square off for the 21st time in the Millis Center and 39th overall.
- The home team has owned the series dating back to 1999 with CSU boasting a 12-4 record in the Buc Dome and High Point a 16-4 mark in the Millis Center.
- High Point has extended their lead on the series history thanks to a 7-3 mark over the last 10 matchups.
Last Time Versus High Point
- Jordan Whitehead's tip-in with 2:06 remaining gave High Point the lead for good as the Panthers held off Charleston Southern, 51-50, in Saturday's Big South Conference opener at the Buc Dome.
- CSU led much of the way and was up seven at the 8:37 mark before HPU reeled off a 9-0 spurt to take its first lead since early in the first half. Christian Keeling buried a three-pointer to briefly put CSU back on top, but Whitehead's tip and two Brandonn Kamga free throws gave the Panthers enough points to prevail in the defensive struggle. The Bucs had the ball last with a chance to win, but Keeling's off-balance three fell off the mark at the buzzer.
- CSU turned in another strong defensive effort, holding HPU to 35 percent shooting, including just a 24 percent mark in the opening stanza. The Bucs struggled offensively, though, shooting just 30 percent, including a 9-for-38 clip from downtown.
