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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – After recently earning its 20^th win for the third consecutive season, and the 14^th time in program history, the second-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team hosts Coker College on Wednesday night. Opening tipoff from the Levine Center is scheduled for 8 p.m.

The Royals lead the all-time series with the Cobras, 39-8, and won the first meeting this season 82-75, on Dec. 18, at the DeLoach Center in Hartsville, South Carolina. Queens trailed by two at halftime, and by eight with less than 12 minutes left to play, before climbing back, to at the time, keep the unbeaten season alive. Todd Withers led all scorers that night, posting a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. The Royals have won six straight meetings with the Cobras.

Tickets to Wednesday's game are $6 and admission is free for all 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. 2/3 Queens Royals (20-1, 12-1 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Queens most recently defeated Anderson University on Saturday night, 91-68, to win its fourth consecutive game. The Royals faced a halftime deficit for just the third time this year and scored 58 points in the second half to win, their most points in a half this season. Withers led the Royals with 29 points, tying a career high, on 10-of-15 shooting. Mike Davis and Ike Agusi also reached double figures scoring 14, and 12 points, respectively.

-The win was the 20^th on the season for Queens, giving Bart Lundy his seventh 20-win season as a collegiate head coach in 16 years, and his sixth in 10 years at Queens.

-The Royals have found a new offensive stride over the last three games, averaging 90.7 points per game, while shooting 49.7-percent from the field, and 39.2-percent from 3-point range. In the three games prior, Queens averaged 74.3 points per game, on 45.7-percent shooting, and 30.2 percent 3-point shooting.

-In the win versus Anderson, Queens held its opponent to 70 points or less for the 13^th time in 21 games. Only two opponents all season have scored more than 80 points in a game against Queens (Carson-Newman, Catawba). Queens has held opponents to 60 points or less four times.

-The Royals rank 27^th in the nation, and No. 1 in the SAC in scoring defense, allowing 67.5 points per game. Queens has held 18 of its 21 opponents under their season scoring average.

-The Royals are holding opponents to 40.5-percent shooting (No. 19 NCAA, No. 2 SAC), and are out-rebounding opponents by 9.5 rebounds per game (No. 8 NCAA, No. 2 SAC).

-Queens is beating opponents by an average of 15.7 points per game, which ranks No. 9 nationally.

-The Royals only loss of the season came versus the current No. 1-ranked team, Lincoln Memorial University, 73-72, on Jan. 13, 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.

-Queens is led by Withers who is averaging a team-high 14.2 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game. Withers is 13^th in the SAC in scoring and third in rebounding.

-On Jan. 15, 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).

-Withers ranks sixth on the career rebounding list at Queens with 654 and is 37 rebounds away from tying for fifth place (691, Yogi Leo '93-'96). His 1,164 career points, ranks Withers 11^th all-time at Queens in scoring. He is 176 points away from tying for 10th on the scoring list (1,240 points, Adrien Pritchard '96-'99).

-The Royals feature a balanced attack with four of five starters averaging double figures (Withers 14.2 PPG, Davis 12.1 PPG, Agusi 11.0 PPG, and Jalin Alexander 10.3 PPG). Queens has featured seven different leading scorers in a game this season (Withers, Davis, Alexander, Agusi, Shaun Willett, Lewis Diankulu, Josh Van Weezep).

-Queens currently holds second place in the South Atlantic Conference standings, one game back of Lincoln Memorial (19-1, 13-0 SAC), and three games ahead of Carson-Newman University in third place (17-4, 9-4 SAC).

-On Jan. 9, Queens reached No. 1 in the NABC/Division II National Rankings for the first time in program history and received 13 of a possible 16 first-place votes. Queens currently ranks No. 2 in the coaches' poll and No. 3 in the D2SIDA media poll, having advanced one spot in both polls from last week. The Royals are also ranked No. 2 in the Southeast Region behind only LMU, receiving one of six first-place votes.

-With LMU No. 1, and Queens No. 2, two teams from the same conference make up the top-2 teams in the coaches' poll for the first time since Feb. 23, 2016, when Wheeling Jesuit University and West Liberty University out of the Mountain East Conference ranked No. 1 and 2 respectively.

-Queens was 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).

-Queens is ranked in the coaches' poll for the 40^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.
 
Coker Cobras (8-12, 5-7 SAC)

-Coker has lost three games in a row, and five of their last six, most recently falling on Saturday at home versus Carson-Newman 104-92. Jake Barrett scored a career-high 30 points in the loss, with seven rebounds and three steals on 11-of-16 shooting.

-Coker currently sits in a three-way tie for sixth place in the SAC standings along with Newberry College and Anderson, .5 games back of Lenoir-Rhyne University (6-7) in fifth.

-The Cobras fare much better at home than on the road this season, going 6-4 in their own gym, and just 1-7 on the road.

-Coker is led by Donte Samuels who averages 15.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He ranks seventh in the league in scoring and sixth in rebounding. Barrett is second on the team and 14^th in the conference with 14.2 points per game.

-In the first meeting with Queens, Marquis Green (16 points) and Larry Cooper (14 points), paced five Cobras in double figures.

-Coker plays a fast style, averaging 94.9 possessions per game, which is the sixth most in the nation. The Cobras also play a pressure-style of defense, averaging 9.8 steals per game (No. 10 NCAA, No. 2 SAC) and forcing 17.65 turnovers per game (No. 12 NCAA, No. 2 SAC).