Concord Stats -
Virginia Union Stats -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team plays the middle game of a three-game home stand when it welcomes Virginia Union to the Carter Center 5:30 p.m. Monday in a non-conference clash.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live in-game statistics and live video of Monday's game.Â
Live Stats
Live Video
SERIES HISTORY: Tied 1-1
ALL-TIME MEETINGS VERUS VIRGINIA UNION
December 12, 2017: Concord 84 - Virginia Union 80 (Athens, W.Va.)
December 11, 2016: Virginia Unino 95 - Concord 78 (Richmond, Va.)
FOUR MAN FRENZY
Concord's starting four man, fifth-year senior forward
Jevon Laidler, has been playing some of the best basketball of his career as the season hits the home stretch. After netting 24 points to go with eight rebounds in Wednesday's win at Notre Dame, Laidler followed it up with 19 points and a career-best 16 rebounds against Salem on Senior Day Saturday. Fifteen of the 16 rebounds for Laidler came on the defensive end. Laidler's 16 rebounds are the most in a Mountain East Conference game this season. And it marks the second straight year that a CU player recorded 15 or more rebounds in a game after Daniel Rahama accomplished the feat at Salem in January last year. Laidler also vaulted into the top 10 in the MEC in rebounding with 6.1 per game.
KNOCK 'EM IN
In a game that featured more than 50 fouls and 79 combined free throw attempts, Concord outscored Salem 31-17 at the foul line in the 100-92 win. The Mountain Lions set a season high in both free attempts (39) and makes (31). For the second straight game, sophomore guard
Kollin Tolbert made 10 foul shots. He is 20-for-21 at the foul line over the last two contests. And has moved into sixth in the MEC in free-throw shooting (83.6 percent). As part of his 19 points versus Salem, senior guard
Jordan Wooden connected on a career-best seven free throws in eight tries. The 31 made free throws are the second most in a conference game this season, and the most for the Mountain Lions since February 2012 against Alderson Broaddus when they hit on 34 free throws. After Saturday's performance, CU is second in the MEC in foul shooting (74.6 percent).
A COMMON THEME
Even though CU was outshot against Salem (49.2-46.2 percent), the Mountain Lions outrebounded SU 51-31. Along with Laidler's work on the boards, junior forward
Amare Smith tied his season high with seven rebounds while Tolbert also added seven rebounds, right at his season average. Individually speaking, it was Tolbert's 10
th game this season with at least seven rebounds. As a team, Concord recorded its fifth game of the winter with at least 50 rebounds, but the first since December 6 versus Frostburg State. Saturday was the third time this season that CU has owned a rebounding margin of 20 or more, and the seventh time that Concord has outboarded the opposition by double digits. CU is 15-0 when it outrebounds teams this year.
BALANCED ATTACK
In the 100-92 win over Salem, Concord put five players in double figures. Laidler, Tolbert and senior guard
Jordan Wooden all netted 19 points. For Wooden, it was his best scoring game since January 5 at Fairmont State when he posted 23 points. Before Wednesday and Saturday, the only other time Laidler had been in double figures in back-to-back games was December 2 and 6 against Notre Dame and Frostburg State. Sophomore forward
Rene Diop finished three points shy of his career high with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. And fellow sophomore forward
Ayden Ince came off the bench with 10 points as he tied his career with two three-pointers. In each of its last three Saturday games, versus Glenville State, at Frostburg State and versus Salem, CU has had at least five double-digit scorers in each.
CLASH OF STYLES
Both Concord and Virginia Union are shooting 45 percent from the floor this season. But because of pace of play, CU averages 81.6 points per game while Virginia Union only tallies 68.4 points per game. The Mountain Lions have scored 80 or more points in five of their last six games. Despite averaging less than 70 points per game, VUU has scored 75 or more points in back-to-back games for just the second time this season ahead of Monday night. The Panthers are coming off an 89-77 win over Bluefield State where they shot 56 percent. Virginia Union does outrebound teams by 1.5 boards per game, but only collects 33.1 per game while CU grabs nearly 46 rebounds per game.
HELLO, AGAIN
Monday will be just the third all-time meeting between Concord and Virginia Union. The teams had a home-and-home series during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. The first meeting between the teams was controlled by VUU as it won 95-78 on at home in December 2016. In December 2017, the Mountain Lions jumped out to a 10-point halftime advantage and hung on to win 84-80 at the Carter Center. Tommy Bolte and BJ Hamlet each had 28 points in CU's win. With a victory over Virginia Union, the Maroon and Gray would have its first undefeated non-conference regular season record since 2012-13.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
4- Concord has shot at least 46 percent in four consecutive games—the best streak of the season.
8- Season low in turnovers versus Salem, the fewest since an overtime win over Wheeling last year.
32- Consecutive games with at least three blocks for Concord.
VIRGINIA UNION AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 11-14
CIAA Record: 6-7
Home Record: 4-4
Away Record: 5-8
Neutral Record: 2-2
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Traditionally one of the best teams in the CIAA, Virginia Union is having a bit of a down year. VUU made the NCAA Tournament last season and advanced to the Round of 32 after knocking off Fairmont State. Head coach Jay Butler has not had a losing season in his previous eight seasons at Virginia Union and has three 20-win seasons to his credit. Tahj Harding is the only Panther scoring in double figures at 19.5 points per game. Harding shoots 40.9 percent from three-pointer range. Jonathan Salazar adds in 8.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest.
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