Game Notes: NCCU at Bethune-Cookman (PDF)
THE GAME
North Carolina Central University looks to rebound from a tough loss to Florida A&M on Saturday as the maroon and gray faces the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman looking to avoid their first 0-2 start in MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) play since becoming official members three seasons ago. The Eagles have won the last four regular season matchups in this series.
THE SERIES
This will be the ninth meeting between these two teams dating back to Dec. 31, 1954 with the series tied at 4-4. NCCU has won four of the last five matchups against the Wildcats. The maroon and gray are 284-263 against MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) opponents all-time.
NCCU SPORTS NETWORK
The NCCU Sports Network will have wall-to-wall coverage of Monday evening's doubleheader beginning at 5:15 p.m. with the Denny's of Durham Pregame Show. Both contests will be carried online on NCCUEaglepride.com and the NCCU Sports Network app, but the men's contest will be carried on 99.9 HD3-The Ticket as play-by-play voice Chris Hooks will call the action live from Moore Gymnasium. Fans can interact with the broadcast by following @NCCUAthletics on twitter using the hashtag #NCCUMBB, and by sending e-mails to either whooks@NCCU.edu or nccusn@nccu.edu.
SCOUTING REPORT: BETHUNE-COOKMAN
-Bethune-Cookman enters Monday's action in the MEAC riding a 14-game losing streak following the 70-67 loss on Saturday afternoon to North Carolina A&T. The Wildcats nearly clawed back from an 11-point halftime deficit, cutting the margin to one, but A&T's Lamont Middleton drilled both of his foul shots in the waning moments and stole the ensuing inbound to seal the first win for the Aggies in Daytona Beach since 1995. At 2-16 overall 0-3 in league play, B-CU has dropped its last six conference contests by an average margin of 9.6 points.
-This series dates back to Dec. 31, 1954, NCCU and Bethune-Cookman are tied at 4-4 with the Eagles taking the last four of the last five matchups
2/11/13- vs. B-CU- 81-75 W
1/14/13- at B-CU- 75-66 W
3/8/12- vs. B-CU*- 59-60 L
2/6/12- at B-CU- 81-79 W
1/9/12- vs. B-CU- 69-64 W
2/28/11- at B-CU- 60-73 L
1/31/11- vs. B-CU- 64-67 L
*- MEAC Tournament (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
-Monday night's showdown will be the fifth home contest for the Wildcats who have yet to take down an NCAA Division I opponent this season with close loses to teams like Stetson (56-52), Northern Colorado (65-60), Prairie View A&M (89-80), and North Florida (64-60). All while one of the top guards in the MEAC, Ricky Johnson, has been in-and-out of the lineup with injury.
-B-CU is led by third year head coach Gravelle Craig who has compiled a 34-52 record in three seasons. Craig became the first coach at B-CU since Raymond McDoogle in 1966-67 to record a winning record in his first season, and only Wildcat coach to make it to the conference title game in his inaugural season (16th highest win total among first-year head coaches in the NCAA Division I level in 2011-12.
-Bethune-Cookman is led by 6-2 guard Mikel Trapp who drops in 11.5 points a game, while 6-6 senior guard Malik Jackson is second on the team averaging 10.5 points a contest. Both Trapp (38-for-115, 33.0 percent) and Jackson (27-for-75, 36.0 percent- 9th in the MEAC) are potent three-point shooters, along with the third-best scorer on the roster, Clemmye Owens, a 6-1 freshman guard is averaging 9.7 points a game and is shooting 35.2 percent from beyond-the-arc (37-for-105). Jackson also tops the team in rebounding averaging 4.4 boards a game. Point guard Tony Kynard leads the team with 48 helpers on the year, currently sitting 10th in the MEAC at 2.7 per game. Defensively, Owens is eighth in the conference averaging 1.3 thefts a game. Travis Elliot, 6-8, 230-pound center, Travis Elliott is 10th in the league ripping down 2.4 offensive rebounds a game.
-As a team, B-CU is 10th in the MEAC averaging 62.8 points a game, fifth in scoring defense allowing 73.1 points per contest. B-CU is sixth in free-throw percentage (70.5 percent), 11th in field goal percentage (39.5 percent), 10th in field goal percentage defense (46.0 percent), third in three-point field goal percentage (32.9 percent), and eighth in three-point field goal percentage defense (35.7 percent).
NCCU VS. MEAC
Throughout NCCU's illustrious basketball history, the Eagles have taken on every team in the conference that it helped start back in 1970. NCCU is 283-264 against MEAC opponents all-time.
Bethune-Cookman- 4-4
Coppin State- 5-3
Delaware State- 17-13
Florida A&M- 8-2
Hampton- 45-31
Howard- 36-26
Md. Eastern Shore- 18-16
Morgan State- 45-40
Norfolk State- 8-27
North Carolina A&T- 67-75
Savannah State- 6-8
SC State- 24-19
