JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Dec. 17, 2024) – After a tough three-game road swing, the ETSU men's basketball team finally returns home to host Elon on Wednesday night inside Freedom Hall. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
 
GAME INFO
DATE: Wednesday, Dec. 18
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Freedom Hall (Johnson City, Tenn.)
TEAMS: ETSU (6-5) vs. Elon (7-3)
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: East Tenn Rent-Alls
 
ABOUT THE BUCS
·      ETSU sits 6-5 on the season
·      The Bucs dropped all three games of their road swing as ETSU lost at JMU, Wichita State and most recently at Jacksonville
·      This marks ETSU's first home game since defeating Austin Peay on Nov. 30
·      The Bucs have won five of their six games inside Freedom Hall this season and are 15-5 at home under head coach Brooks Savage
·      In the six home games this season, ETSU is averaging 80.0 points per game and shooting 47 percent from the floor (181-384) … The Bucs are holding opponents to 64.5 points and a 29 percent clip from beyond the arc (41-143)
·      On the season, ETSU ranks second in the SoCon in offensive rebounds per game (13.3), while ranking third in three-point shooting (35.6) and three-point shooting defense (29.8) … The Bucs are also third in scoring defense (67.7)
·      Quimari Peterson is tied for the SoCon lead in scoring (17.6 ppg) and Jaden Seymour is third at 16.7 points per game … ETSU is one of four schools to have teammates rank in the top three in scoring – Bowling Green (Javontae Campbell/Marcus Johnson), Army (Jalen Rucker/Josh Scovens) and North Dakota State (Jacksen Moni and Jacari White)
·      After hitting eight threes at Jacksonville, ETSU has made at least one three-pointer in 1,170 straight games – the third-longest streak in the country
·      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 second
·      Jaden Seymour and Quimari Peterson landed SoCon preseason honors
·      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 ELON    
·      Elon is 7-3 through its first 10 games of the season
·      The Phoenix have won their last four games with wins over Navy, Penn, Wofford and Virginia University of Lynchburg
·      This marks back-to-back games against Southern Conference foes as Elon hosts UNCG on Saturday night
·      Four players are scoring in double figures with TK Simpkins leading the team at 15.7 points per game, while Nick Dorn is right behind at 15.3 per game … TJ Simpkins (14.0) and Sam Sherry (12.1) are also averaging in double figures in scoring
·      Dorn leads Elon with 34 made threes, while he's shooting 43 percent from beyond the arc … Dorn ranks 18th nationally in three-pointers per game (3.4)
·      Matthew Van Komen ranks fourth nationally in blocks per game (3.22), sixth in total blocks (29) and 11th in offensive rebounds per game (3.9)
·      As a team, Elon is averaging 80.3 points per game and allowing 65.4
·      The Phoenix rank third nationally in fewest fouls per game (12.1), rebounds per game (44.5) and rebound margin (12.8), and sixth in field goal percentage defense (36.6) and defensive rebounds per game (30.8)
 
SERIES HISTORY
·      Wednesday is the seventh all-time meeting between ETSU and Elon
·      ETSU leads the series, 4-2
·      This is the third straight year the two programs are playing as ETSU won 77-64 on Nov. 11, 2022 in Asheville, N.C., while Elon won last year 79-76 on its home floor  
·      This marks Elon's first trip to Johnson City since Jan. 15, 2005, when ETSU won 79-67
·      The Bucs are 2-0 all-time against the Phoenix in Johnson City as ETSU also won 73-58 on Feb. 14, 2004
·      In last season's setback, Quimari Peterson scored a career-high 29 points, while Jaden Seymour added 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists … In the two games against Elon, Seymour is averaging 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game
 
UP NEXT
ETSU wraps up non-conference play as the Bucs play at Kansas City Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET.
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.