GAME NOTES
2021-22 Regular Season
North Carolina Central (5-7, 0-0 MEAC)
Vs.
Hampton (4-7, 0-0 Big South)
Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021 – 1:00 p.m.
Prudential Center – Newark, N.J.
TV: TNT
Radio: NCCU Sports Network
Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/central.php?tid=959
 
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
 
STARTING FIVE:
1. LeVelle Moton is now the third coach in program history to reach 200 wins.
2. NCCU will play 11 of its 14 non-conference games away from home, and three of those at a neutral site.
3. NCCU will face six first-time opponents during the non-conference slate.
4. NCCU has gone 21-1 at home in non-conference games since 2016.
5. NCCU has four Big South opponents on the non-conference schedule.
 
SCOUTING THE PIRATES
NCCU and Hampton are meeting for the first time since the 2018 MEAC Championship, and the Pirates' subsequent departure to the Big South in the Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic.  Hampton is 4-7, and has already played in a neural site event at the Boost Mobile HBCU Challenge in Phoenix, Arizona against Norfolk State and Morgan State.  Hampton is led by Preseason Second Team All-Big South guard Deuce Dean, who is averaging 11.7 points, 3.2 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game.  Najee Garvin is the team's leading scorer with 16.4 points and 5.9 caroms per outing.
 
LAST FIVE VS HAMPTON:
03/10/18 MEAC Championship71-63 W
02/05/18 at NCCU.......... 70-86 L
01/16/17 at Hampton.... 64-51 W
01/18/16 at NCCU.......... 80-79 W
01/19/15 at Hampton.... 52-59 L
 
HARD RESET
NCCU not only lost 11 student-athletes from the 2020-21 season, the most during LeVelle Moton's 13-year tenure, the Eagles also welcome 12 student-athletes to this year's roster.  Nine of the newcomers are transfers, and three are incoming freshman.
 
SECOND-STINT, SECOND TEAM
Randy Miller Jr. returns to NCCU after one season at Indiana State, and was selected as a Preseason Second Team All-MEAC member.  In 2018-19, Miller was NCCU's second-leading scorer with an average of 13.3 points per game. He finished top-15 in the MEAC in that category, and was a top-10 three-point shooter as he connected on 37.1 percent of his attempts and averaged 1.9 treys per contest. He also knocked down 66 threes to tie for the 10th-most in a single season at NCCU. Miller was also efficient from the free-throw line, as he finished top-10 in the league with a success rate of 80.7 percent.
 
EAGLES ON TOUR
NCCU went on its second four-game road trip of the season from Nov. 29-Dec. 6 when it visited Gardner-Webb, USC Upstate, UNC Asheville and The Citadel.  This is the second time in the last three seasons where the Eagles have had multiple four-game road trips.  The last time it happened was during the 2019-20 season: Nov. 26-Dec. 7 and Jan. 11-20.
 
CALDWELL, FOUR THREE!
Alex Caldwell got off to a hot start at Richmond in the season-opener on Nov. 9, as he went 4-for-4 from downtown on his way to a career-high 17 points.  The last time an Eagle had a perfect game from downtown was when Deven Palmer also went 4-for-4 on the road at Coppin State on Feb. 8, 2020.  Caldwell then went 4-for-4 from the arc in the first half again against Warren Wilson on Nov. 23 during a run of making his first five attempts. 
 
RUNNING EAGLES
NCCU has turned defensive into offense multiple times in 2019-20, highlighted by the Eagles holding Florida A&M scoreless for the final 8:37 of a tied game to spark a 16-0 run on the way to a 61-45 win to start league play.  NCCU brought that same intensity to its 2021-22 home opener against Warren Wilson as the Eagles started the game with an 18-0 run in the first 3:39.  Below is a look at the Eagles' best scoring runs within the past few seasons.
             .......................... Points........ Time
1. vs. CC (12/12/19)....... 28................ 7:32
2. vs. WWC (11/23/21). 18................ 3:39
2. vs. FAMU (1/4/20)...... 16................ 8:37
3. vs. NSU (2/3/20)......... 16................ 8:13
4. vs. HOW (2/24/20)..... 14................ 6:43
5. vs. CC (12/9/21)......... 14................ 2:39
6. vs. BSC (11/21/19)...... 13................ 4:44
7. vs. MACU (12/31/19). 13................ 3:10
8. at LA Tech (12/17/19) 12................ 3:32
 
LONG ROAD HOME
For the second consecutive season, NCCU will play its first four games of the season away from home.  Unlike last year, it will be four true road games this time at Richmond, Memphis,Iowa, and Alabama State.  Last season, NCCU faced Southern in a neutral-site contest inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena at Iowa, and the Eagles came away with a thrilling 85-78 victory in overtime.
 
ARC ARCHERS
NCCU hit the mark 14 times from the perimeter against South Carolina State on Feb. 1, 2021,  and shot 58.3 percent (14-24) in that game as well on the way to a 91-77 victory.    The Eagles also made an impressive eight treys in the first half alone.  14 three-pointers is the most made by the Eagles in a regular-season game against a MEAC opponent since NCCU connected 16 times against North Carolina A&T on Jan. 28, 2017 in an 82-59 win.  The Eagles found the range once again in the 2021-22 season as they drilled 15 in the home-opening win against Warren Wilson on Nov. 23.  NCCU delivered 11 of those triples within the first 20 minutes as well.
 
WINDOW WASHERS
NCCU cleaned the glass on the road against North Carolina A&T on Feb. 27,2021 as the Eagles pulled down 50 rebounds that night, the most against a MEAC opponent in the Division I era.  Nine of the 11 Eagles that checked in collected at least one carom, led by Jahnathan Maxwell who pulled down a joint game-high nine.
 
ON THE WRIGHT PATH
Sophomore guard Justin Wright has taken a big step forward in his second season, and broke out for 10.3 points per contest during a four-game stretch from Dec. 1-9 that culminated in a career-high 20 points against Carver on Dec. 9.  He also averaged 4.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per outing, and shot 40.0 percent from the floor, and 80.0 percent from the free throw line during the run.