JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 7, 2024) – Coming off a 21-point win over Newberry in the season opener on Monday, the ETSU men's basketball team is set to host Eastern Kentucky in the SoCon/ASUN Challenge on Friday night at 7 p.m. inside Freedom Hall.
 
GAME INFO
DATE: Friday, Nov. 8
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Freedom Hall 
TEAMS: ETSU (1-0) vs. Eastern Kentucky (1-0)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ (Keith Brake & Bruce Tranbarger)
LIVE STATS: ETSUBucs.com
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 (Jay Sandos)
TWITTER: @ETSU_MBB
TICKETS: ETSUTickets.com
GAME SPONSOR: Reliable Title
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU opened the season with a 72-51 win over Newberry on Monday night inside Freedom Hall
• Quimari Peterson and Jaden Seymour combined for half of the Bucs' points … Peterson scored a game-high 19 points, while Seymour added 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks
• ETSU outscored the Wolves by 19 points in the first half, 44-25 … The Bucs are 89-12 since 2015-16 when holding the opposition to 30 points or less in the first half, while going 60-2 during that span when limiting opponents to 60 points or less
• The Bucs blocked nine shots on Monday night … As of games played through Wednesday night, the nine blocks are tied for the 13th most this season
• ETSU was plus-11 on the glass Monday night as the Bucs outrebounded Newberry, 49-38
• The Bucs improved to 63-41 all-time in season openers and have walked away victorious in 40 of their last 44 home openers
• The Bucs are 11-4 at home in the Coach Savage era … In his six-plus seasons with the Bucs – first five as an assistant (2015-2020) and now as the head coach - Coach Savage's teams are 78-16 inside Freedom Hall (.830-win percentage)
• After netting six three-pointers on Monday night, ETSU has now made at least one three-pointer in 1,160 straight games – the third-longest streak in the country
• Following his 17-point performance, Jaden Seymour needs 60 points to get to 1,000 career points and needs 71 points for 1,000 points as a Buccaneer
• ETSU was picked to finish third in the SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll … The Bucs picked up two first-place votes, while reigning champion Samford was pegged number one and Chattanooga was selected season
• Jaden Seymour and Quimari Peterson landed SoCon preseason honors
• ETSU received 19 votes in the preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll
• The Bucs return 10 players from last year's 2023-24 roster
• ETSU only lost 8% of its scoring and 9% of its minutes played from last year's roster to the transfer portal – the fewest amount of production from any SoCon program 
• Coach Savage and his staff brought in five new players to complete the 2024-25 roster … The five newcomers include four transfers – Curt Lewis (Missouri), John Buggs III (North Texas), Davion Bradford (Wake Forest) and Roosevelt Wheeler (VCU) … In addition, true freshman Brandon Crawford is the fifth Buccaneer newcomer

ABOUT EASTERN KENTUCKY   

• Eastern Kentucky opened the season with a 98-69 home win over Alice Lloyd College on Monday night
• Three players scored in double figures, including George Kimble III netting a game-high 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting … Kimble transferred from Eckerd College where he was named Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year after averaging 19.4 points, 4.6 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game last year
• Junior guard Tyler Andrews, a transfer from Kansas City, got the start on Monday night … Andrews scored eight points and grabbed three rebounds in 12 minutes against the Bucs last year in Freedom Hall for the Roos
• EKU finished with an overall record of 17-14 last season and won the ASUN regular season title with a 12-4 mark – the Colonels first regular season conference title since 1978-79
• Devontae Blanton in the only returning starter from last year's championship team … Blanton earned Preseason All-ASUN honors after averaging 14.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game a year ago
• The Colonels lost four starters and two of the first three players off the bench … EKU lost 82 percent of its rebounds, 77 percent of its assists, 77 percent of its minutes and 75 percent of its points from last year's squad
• A.W. Hamilton was named 2024 ASUN Coach of the Year en route to becoming the first coach in program history to be chosen as the conference coach of the year twice (also earned the honor in 2020 when EKU was a member of the Ohio Valley Conference)
• EKU was picked to finish second this season in the ASUN Media Poll … The Colonels were picked fourth in the ASUN Coaches Poll

SERIES HISTORY

• Friday is the 52nd all-time meeting between the two programs
• EKU leads the series, 28-23
• The Bucs have won the last three meetings, including an 87-81 win the last time the two teams met back on Dec. 18, 2015 inside Freedom Hall
• ETSU and EKU were members of the OVC when the Bucs were in the league from 1958-59 – 1977-78

UP NEXT
ETSU concludes its three-game homestand next Wednesday when the Bucs host Tusculum at 7 p.m. inside Freedom Hall.
 
SEASON TICKETS
Fans can still purchase season tickets for 2024-25 Buccaneer basketball by calling 423-439-3878 or visiting ETSUTickets.com.
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.