THE GAME
North Carolina Central University returns to conference action as the Eagles host the Hornets of Delaware State in a MEAC twinbill. This is the first of four straight league contests in the friendly confines of McDougald-McLendon Gym, as the maroon and gray look to garner momentum heading down the backstretch of the year.
THE SERIES
This will be the 31st meeting between these two programs with the Eagles leading the series 17-13, even though the Hornets are 2-1 against NCCU since the maroon and gray rejoined the MEAC. The Eagles did take the last meeting 54-43 on Feb. 2, 2013 inside Memorial Hall in Dover, Del.
NCCU SPORTS NETWORK
The NCCU Sports Network will have full coverage of Saturday's MEAC twinbill beginning at 1:45 p.m. with the Denny's of Durham Pregame Show. Both contests will be carried with live video ($8.95) and audio (Free) on www.NCCUEaglePride.com, while the men's contest will be carried on 99.9 HD3- The Ticket. Play-by-play voice Chris Hooks will call the action for the men's contest while Jonathan Duren will be on the mic for the women's game. fans can interact with the broadcast by following @NCCUAthletics on twitter using the hashtag #NCCUMBB, along with sending an e-mail to whooks@nccu.edu or nccusn@nccu.edu.
SCOUTING REPORT: DELAWARE STATE
-Delaware State enters Saturday's MEAC affair still in search of its first league win as the Hornets nearly broke the conference's longest winning streak falling to Norfolk State 58-56 on Monday night giving the Spartans 23 consecutive MEAC wins heading into the weekend. In that contest the Hornet defense held the top team in the league in field goal percentage to 39,6 percent shooting including a dismal 2-for-13 from deep. All-MEAC center Kendall Gray led the DSU charge with his second straight double-double (fourth of the season) 20 points and 12 rebounds, as fellow teammate Casey Walker finished in double figures with 11 points. DSU cut a five-point deficit down to one with 10.7 seconds left, unfortunately A.J. Thomas's last second 30-foot heave hit the back iron.
-Delaware State sits right behind NCCU in scoring defense in the league allowing 65.2 points per game, but its No. 1 in the MEAC in three-point field goal percentage defense (29.7 percent) sitting 30th in the nation in that category. The Hornets are eights in the league in field goal percentage (39.6 percent), 11th in three-point field goal percentage (29.0 percent), DSU is also No. 12 in the league in rebounding offense (32.5 rebounds per game), eighth in blocked shots (3.3 blocks per game), and 11th in steals averaging 5.6 thefts per game.
-The Hornets enter the contest 3-7 in their last 10 games as a trio of players lead the way in scoring. Guard Casey Walker tops the team averaging 12.3 points a game, while center 6-10 center Kendall Gray averages 11.3 points a game, while junior forward Tyshawn Bell is contributing 10.8 points a game as well. Gray is fourth in the MEAC in rebounding averaging 6.9 boards a game, fifth in field goal percentage shooting 54.8 percent from-the-field, and fourth in the league. On the other hand, Bell is the top free throw shooter in the MEAC shooting 42-for-47 (89.4%) from the charity stripe, and is tied for 15th in steals averaging 1.1 thefts per game.
-Now in his 14th season as the head coach at Delaware State, Greg Jackson, has compiled a 200-213 record at DSU while racking up a 363-291 record in 23 seasons of coaching. The former NCCU head coach (1991-2000) has been named MEAC Coach of the Year twice, leading the Hornets to three consecutive MEAC regular season titles from 2004-07, earning a berth into the NCAA Tournament in 2005. DSU is coming off a season where they marched to the MEAC Tournament semifinals for the eighth time in his tenure. During his time at NCCU, Jackson went 164-78 winning 67.8 percent of his games, and took his 1992-93 squad to the NCAA Division II "Elite Eight". Jackson is 2-1 against NCCU since the maroon and gray rejoined the MEAC, with the lone loss coming in Dover, Del. on Feb. 2, 2013 as the Eagles earned a 54-43 victory over the Hornets. Here is a look at the last three matchups between these two programs.
2/2/13- vs. NCCU 54-43 L
1/28/12- at NCCU 70-76 W
1/8/11- at NCCU 59-68 W
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 284-264 against MEAC opponents all-time.
Bethune-Cookman- 5-4
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
GRAND LARCENY
In NCCU's 64-49 win over Bethune-Cookman, the Eagles amassed 12 steals on their way to a big conference win. Here's a list of the top defensive performances by the maroon and gray in steals since re-joining the league.
14- at Florida A&M (2/4/12)
13- at Florida A&M (1/12/13)
12- at Bethune-Cookman (1/13/14)
12- vs. Coppin State (1/26/13)
11- vs. South Carolina State (2/13/12)
11- vs. Howard (1/21/13)
10- at Md. Eastern Shore (2/4/13)
10- vs. Md. Eastern Shore (3/6/12)*
*-MEAC Basketball Tournament
