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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The fourth-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team meets Tusculum College to begin the second half of South Atlantic Conference play on Youth Day at the Levine Center. All youngsters aged 14 and under will receive free admission. Opening tipoff is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m.

The Royals lead the all-time series with the Pioneers 12-1 and won the first meeting this season in Greeneville, Tennessee, 77-63, behind 23 points and 11 rebounds from Todd Withers, and 14 points from Lewis Diankulu.

Tickets are $6, and admission is also free for Queens students with their school ID.

Live video coverage will be available on the Queens Sports Network with Phil Constantino and John Short.

Quick Facts

No. 4/5 Queens Royals (17-1, 9-1 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Queens returned to its winning ways on Thursday night with a 70-63 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne University at the Levine Center. Withers led Queens with 17 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, and two steals. Mike Davis added 13 points and seven rebounds, while Ike Agusi recorded his first double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high 11 assists.

-The Royals only loss of the season came two games ago versus then-No. 5 Lincoln Memorial University, 73-72, in front of a crowd of nearly 1,400 fans at the Levine Center. The Royals squandered a 14-point first half lead, as the loss put an end to a 16-game winning streak that tied program records for both winning streak, and best start to a season.

-As the league begins the second run through the 20-game double round-robin conference schedule, Queens sits in second place, one game back of Lincoln Memorial (16-1, 10-0 SAC), and two games ahead of Carson-Newman University in third place (15-3, 7-3 SAC).

-Queens is led by Withers who is averaging a team-high 13.8 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game. Withers is 15^th in the SAC in scoring and third in rebounding. On Dec. 30 versus Tarleton State University, Withers grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds and scored 11 points to record his 12^th career double-double and his fifth of the season. Since the start of December, Withers has scored in double figures in 10 of 12 games and posted a double-figure rebounding performance on five occasions.

-This week Withers was named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 100 Watch List. The Bevo Francis Award is presented annually to the player who had the finest overall season in Small College Basketball (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA, USCAA, and NCCAA).

-With seven rebounds on Thursday night, Withers moved into sixth place on the career rebounding list at Queens with 629, passing Antonio Stabler (624) who played for the Royals from 2009-2013. Withers is 62 rebounds away from tying for fifth place (691, Yogi Leo '93-'96). His 1,115 career points, ranks Withers 11^th all-time at Queens in scoring. He is 125 points away from tying for 10th on the scoring list (1,240 points, Adrien Pritchard '96-'99).
 
-Mike Davis is 24 points away from reaching 1,500 in his career. Davis has compiled 1,476 career points, 811 of which were scored in his first two collegiate seasons at Francis Marion University, and 665 of which have been scored since joining Queens prior to last season.

-The Royals feature a balanced attack with four of five starters averaging double figures (Withers 13.6 PPG, Davis 11.6 PPG, Agusi 10.7 PPG, and Jalin Alexander 10.2 PPG). Queens has featured seven different leading scorers in a game this season (Withers, Davis, Alexander, Agusi, Diankulu, Shaun Willett, Josh Van Weezep).

-In last week's NABC/Division II National Rankings, Queens reached No. 1 for the first time in program history and received 13 of a possible 16 first-place votes. Queens currently ranks No. 4 in the coaches' poll and No. 5 in the D2SIDA media poll. The Royals are also ranked No. 2 in the Southeast Region behind only LMU, receiving one of six first-place votes.

-Queens is the first ever Charlotte-area men's college basketball program to receive a No. 1 national ranking in its classification.

-Over the last three seasons, Queens has opened a combined 44-0 before losing, opening the 2015-2016 season 12-0, and opening the 2016-2017 season 16-0, prior to this season's 16-0 start.

-Queens is the only program in the nation, in all levels of NCAA competition, to have started each of the last three seasons 10-0 or better (More than 1,200 schools).

-The Royals have secured 12 of their 16 wins by double figures, and have compiled nine wins over teams with a record of .500 or better, two wins over regionally-ranked opponents and one win over a nationally-ranked opponent.

-Queens is beating opponents by an average of 14.9 points per game, which ranks No. 1 nationally.

-Queens is ranked in the coaches' poll for the 38^th consecutive week, a streak which began on Nov. 24, 2015, with the first poll of the 2015-2016 season. Queens has cracked the top 10 of the rankings during each of the previous two seasons.

-With a victory over Tarleton State University on Dec. 30, Queens completed its non-conference schedule unbeaten for the third consecutive season. The Royals last non-conference loss came versus Livingstone, 73-71, on Dec. 3, 2014. Queens has won 24 straight non-conference games including the postseason.

-The Royals are allowing 67.0 points per game which is the best mark in the South Atlantic Conference and ranks 23rd in the nation. Queens holds its opponents to 39.9 percent shooting (No. 11 NCAA, No. 2 SAC), and is out-rebounding opponents by 8.7 rebounds per game (No. 13 NCAA, No. 2 SAC).
 
Tusculum Pioneers (5-12, 3-7 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Tusculum most recently lost at home to Anderson University on Thursday night, 69-68, and has lost three of its last four games.

-As the second run through the SAC schedule begins, the Pioneers are in ninth place, one spot out from qualifying for the postseason tournament. TC is one game back of Anderson (6-12, 4-6 SAC).

-Tusculum is better on the road than at home this season, having gone 3-4 away from Pioneer arena, and just 1-7 in Greeneville.

-Since 1998, the Pioneers are 5-44 against nationally-ranked opponents, with their last win coming against No. 12 Queens two years ago at Pioneer Arena. TC won 96-89 in 2OT on Feb. 27, 2016. Tusculum's only road win against a ranked foe was in 2002 at No. 20 Wingate.

-TC is 0-6 all-time against Queens in Charlotte.

-The Pioneers are led by Donovan Donaldson and Peyton Woods, both of whom rank 11^th in SAC averaging 14.7 points per game. Caleb Hodnett is the team's leading rebounder averaging 4.9 per game (No. 18 SAC).

-Tusculum's offense is predicated on 3-point shooting. The Pioneers attempt 32.1 per game which is the second most in the league and make 11.9 per game which is the third most. As a team, TC shoots 3-pointers at 37.2 percent which is the fourth-best mark in the SAC.

-Tusculum's defense allows 85.6 points per game which ranks 10^th out of 11 teams in the league. The pioneers commit 20.5 personal fouls per game, which is the most in the conference.

-Saturday is a home game for Tusculum's Zailan Peeler who attended nearby Myers Park High School.