Emory Men's Basketball Gears Up For Three-Game Homestand

GAME FACTS -  After breaking for the holidays, the Emory men’s basketball team returns to action with a trifecta of home games on the docket.  On Thursday (Dec. 30), the Eagles close out 2010 when they welcome Washington & Lee to the Woodruff PE Center in a 4:00 p.m. tip.  On Sunday (Jan. 2) Emory continues its homestand when it entertains Huntingdon College starting at 4:00 p.m.  The following evening, the Eagles play their final non-conference regular-season game when Piedmont College comes to town in an 8:00 p.m. start.

All three games will be video streamed.  For information on how to access the webcast, go to: http://www.emoryathletics.com/information/webcasts.

THE COACHES - Leading the Emory program is fourth-year Head Coach Jason Zimmerman (Davidson, '94)  Named head coach in April of 2007, Zimmerman came to Emory after serving as an assistant coach at the University of Evansville (2003-04 through 2006-07).  Prior to his stint with the Aces, Zimmerman was an assistant at Davidson College for seven years (1996-97 through 2002-03).  Last season, Zimmerman directed the Eagles to an overall record of 15-10, the program’s first winning season since 2004-05.  In addition, Emory tied for third place in the University Athletic Association with a 7-7 slate, with its win total the most since 2000-01.  For his efforts, Zimmerman, along with assistants Chris Murphy and Ben Wright were named the UAA’s Co-Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
Adam Hutchinson (Amherst, 1993) is in his eighth season as the head coach at Washington & Lee. During his stint with the Generals, he has posted a 78-110 won-lost mark including a 65-50 effort the past five campaigns.  Last season, Hutchinson directed the Generals to a 17-10 slate, with the victory total the most by a W&L squad since 1988-89.

In his fourth year as the head coach at Huntingdon College is Mike Pugh.  In 2009, Pugh led the Hawks to a second-place finish in the Great South Athletic Conference.

Now in his eighth season of calling the shots at Piedmont College is Lee Glenn.  Glenn has recorded a school and career effort of 88-106 that included an NCAA-era best 15 wins last season, just the second time in the previous 14 years that a PC squad reached that win total.

Emory's Top Offensive Scoring Efforts Under Zimmerman  

2010-11 RECORDS – Emory will meet Washington & Lee with a 7-1 record.  In the Eagles’ last outing (Dec. 16), they suffered their first setback of the year as LaGrange College posted a 74-66 win on its home court.  Freshman Jake Davis led the Emory scoring attack with 17 points while sophomore Alex Greven chipped in 16 points.   So far this season, the Eagles, who received votes in the Dec. 19 D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, have won all four of their home contests. 

Washington & Lee comes to town sporting a 6-2 record.  Thursday’s game against Emory will be the Generals’ first contest since Dec. 8 when they snapped a two-game losing streak with a 71-67 win at home over Guilford.

Huntingdon College will meet Emory with a record of 4-7.  The Hawks closed out the 2010 portion of their schedule with a 73-68 setback at the University of New Orleans on Dec. 22.  Leading Huntingdon in scoring in that affair was D’Awvalo Turnipseed with 16 points.

Piedmont College posts a 6-6 record following a split of a pair of games at the Hyatt Regency Holiday Tournament (Dec. 20-21) at Transylvania University.  The Lions opened the tourney with a  74-69 loss to Westminster College (PA) before bouncing back to notch a 71-50 triumph over Millikin University.  Freshman Will Skaggs earned all-tournament honors after totaling 27 points and 11 assists in the two games. 

SERIES RECORDS -  Washington & Lee holds a slim 8-7 edge in the all-time series.  The two squads met last year at W&L with the Generals prevailing by a 76-65 count.  The Eagles have won the last two meetings played at the Woodruff PE Center and stand 4-3 vs. W&L in games played on their home floor.

Emory has won all seven meetings against Huntingdon.  The Eagles and Hawks last met in November of 2009 with Emory coming away with a 91-82 win in Montgomery, Alabama.  Emory is 3-0 against Huntingdon at the Woodruff PE Center.

Emory has captured four of six contests against Piedmont.  The two squads met once last season with Emory winning, 70-60, at Piedmont.  The Eagles have captured three of four affairs played in Atlanta.

GULOTTA’S 3-POINT FG STREAK CONTINUES – Junior Alex Gulotta knocked down a pair of three-point field goals against LaGrange, running his streak to 20 games where he has recorded at least one triple.  Gullota’s 20-game streak ties him with Michael Thompson (Jan. 15, 1999 though Dec. 7, 1999) and Rashawn Allen (Nov. 27, 2004 through Feb. 14, 2005) for the fifth-longest in school history.

Through UAA games played through Dec. 23, the 6-foot-1 Gulotta leads the UAA in three-pointers per game (4.5 tpg) and is third with a .563 showing from beyond the arc, sinking 36-of-64 opportunities.   In Emory’s four home games, he is shooting 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from distance while checking in with a blazing 58.3 percent (21-of-36) effort in the team’s four games away from the Woodpec.

GREVEN LEADS UAA IN SCORING – When Emory returns to action on Dec. 30, the UAA will see Alex Greven pacing all players in scoring with a 19.0 per-game average.  The 6-foot-3 Greven has produced double-digit scoring in his last six and in a total of seven (team high) contests this year.    After averaging 15.7 points through his first three games,  Greven has upped his scoring pace over the last five contests, tossing in 21.0 points per outing in that stretch. 

In addition to his scoring average, Greven holds down the No. 7 spot on the UAA ladder in free throw percentage (.818).


DAVIS MAKING THE MOST OF MINUTES – Freshman Jake Davis is one of four double-figure scorers for the Eagles with his 12.4 points-per-game average placing him fourth on the squad and 14^th among UAA players.  The 6-foot-5 Davis has come through with double-figure scoring in his last four affairs, averaging 18.5 points while shooting 65.1 percent from the floor (28-of-43) in that stretch.  Davis, who has paced the Eagles in scoring the past two games, connected on eight-of-nine from the floor against LaGrange.  Heading into the Washington & Lee game, his .561 field goal percentage mark leads the team and is good ninth place in the UAA. In addition to his scoring, Davis is third on the club in rebounding (5.3 rpg) and has topped the team in that category on three occasions this year.

EMORY SHARP AT THE CHARITY STRIPE – Emory continued its fine free throw shooting in the LaGrange contest, sinking all 13 of its attempts from the charity stripe.  Heading into the Washington & Lee game, the Eagles rank as the UAA’s leader in free throw percentage by a healthy margin, knocking down .820 (141-of-172) from the stripe.  Holding down the No. 2 position is NYU at .761 (86-of-113).

Emory has hit 80 percent or better from the free throw line in its last six outings, the first time in school history that an Eagle team has accomplished that.  The team’s perfect performance against LaGrange marked just the second time in school history that it had posted a 1.000 percentage from the foul line (10 or more made).  The previous occasion took place on Jan. 6, 1995, when Emory drained all 21 attempts vs. Nazareth.

EMORY NOTES -- Emory is averaging 81.8 points per contest, tops among UAA teams … The Eagles stand second in the league with a 9.1 treys-per-game average … Austin Claunch, who has been the team’s leader in assists in all eight games this year, holds down the No. 6 spot on Emory’s career ladder with 272 assists … Emory has outshot four of its eight foes from the floor this year … Emory has attempted more free throws than  the opposition in five affairs.