Games 5+6: Charleston Southern (1-3) vs. Hampton (1-4)

 

Date	Game 1: Monday, Dec. 21, 2020 Game 2: Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020
Time	Game 1: 7 p.m. Game 2: 6 p.m.
Location	Charleston, S.C. | Buccaneer Field House
Game Notes	Charleston Southern (PDF) | Hampton (PDF)
Season Stats	Charleston Southern (XML) | Hampton (XML)
Live Stats	Charleston Southern Live Stats
Live Stream	Game 1: ESPN+ Game 2: ESPN+
Social Media	@CSU_Mbball | @CSUGameday | @CSUsports

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern opens Big South play with the first of 10 league series as they host Hampton. The Pirates are the first of three home series with the Virginia-based Big South schools followed by Radford (Jan. 9 & 10) and Longwood (Feb. 11 & 12).

All three meetings in Big South play between the Bucs and Pirates have been high-flying, fast-paced affairs with the winner scoring at least 85 points each contest. Hampton's 72 points in the last meeting were the fewest scored in a regular season meeting by either side.

Monday and Tuesday mark the first-ever back-to-back Charleston Southern will play in regular season Big South history (1985-86) and makes it three-straight home bouts with Hampton after playing the first three contests (2019 CIT included) at the Convocation Center in Hampton, Va.

Dec. 21 & 22 are also the earliest Charleston Southern has opened Big South play since a Dec. 2 matchup with Winthrop in 2015, an 83-82 Eagle victory inside the Buc Dome.

Last Time Out

• Charleston Southern saw six players reach double figures Tuesday night as they ran away in the second half for a 94-59 home win over Carver from Buccaneer Field House.
• Charleston Southern (1-3) senior guard and Preseason Big South Player of the Year Phlandrous Fleming got the scoring started early and often on their way to a season-high 94 points. Fleming had 15 points in his season debut as Jamir Moore poured-in a career-high 16 to pace all scorers.
• Carver (0-11) hung around in the early stages of the game, but the athleticism and size of the Bucs took center stage in the early part of the second half. Melvin Edwards Jr. added 11 points in his first collegiate start, Ja'Quavian Florence scored 14 and had a team-high seven rebounds, Malik Battle had a career-high 15 and Sean Price added 10 off the bench for the victorious Bucs.
• CSU got season-highs in scoring, shooting percentage, steals and assists while knocking down nine treys and shooting 15-of-20 from the free throw line.
• Carver was paced by 17 from Bryson Scott including 3-of-4 from downtown while Antwon Ferrell added 11 and Devin Ervin scored 10 for the Cougars.

Scouting the Pirates

• Hampton enters the 2020-21 season replacing 73.9% of its scoring load from the 2019-20 campaign. That total ranks 13th amongst NCAA Division I schools in highest percentage of points to replace and second in the Big South behind only Radford.
• Among scoring lost for the Pirates, Jermaine Marrow and Ben Stanley averaged 15-plus points last season and finished top-4 for Big South Player of the Year.
• Davion Warren has stepped up in their absence sitting among the tops in the Big South in scoring at 15.8 ppg good for 4th in the Big South. Chris Shelton has been a 3-point threat for the Pirates knocking down 19 already on the season and averaging 14.0 points a night while Edward Olive-Hampton scores 11.6 points per contest.
• Despite the loss of two stars, Hampton is still a high-flying, fast-paced attack dishing out 14.4 assists and rank 46th in the NCAA in pace (possessions per game). Their 77.6 possessions per game rank 4th in the Big South just behind Winthrop (79.6), USC Upstate (77.9) and Charleston Southern (77.8).
• Hampton also stands the tallest in the Big South at 6-4.92 average with seven players listed at 6'5 or taller and player listed at 7-0 tall.

Series History

• In the young series history, the home team has dominated with Hampton holding a 3-0 record in the Convocation Center and Charleston Southern sitting at 1-0 inside Buccaneer Field House.
• The first four matchups came at a neutral site or in Hampton, Va. before last season's February meeting finally saw the Pirates visit the Buc Dome.
• Including postseason play, the first three matchups since Hampton joined the Big South saw the Bucs head north to the Commonwealth. Starting last season and including this year's back-to-back scheduling model sees the Pirates play three-straight in Charleston.

December League History

• Charleston Southern has only played 10 Big South league games all-time in the month of December boasting a 6-4 record including a 4-game win streak across the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.
• Of the 10 contests, only four have come against current Big South members (High Point 2x, Radford and Winthrop) with CSU holding a 3-1 margin in those contests.
• Monday also marks just the third time CSU will open league play at home in the month of December with wins over High Point and Radford and an 83-82 loss versus Winthrop.
• All 10 league contests in CSU's program history have come under head coach Barclay Radebaugh's tenure starting in the 2008-09 season. Monday is the first December league game for CSU since the 2015-16 season.

On this Date in History

• Charleston Southern has enjoyed strong showings on Dec. 21 in program history winning their last three contests including last season's 76-69 win at Eastern Kentucky.
• CSU is also 6-1 at home all-time on Dec. 21 with wins over Bethune-Cookman, Furman, Southeastern, Bluefield and Johnson & Wales.

• Charleston Southern has only played one home contest on Dec. 22, a win over Newberry in 2005 - Coach Radebaugh's first season at the helm.
• Tuesday is just the eighth all-time game on Dec. 22, all coming since the 1997 season.