Live Video: Queens Sports Network
Phil Constantino (pxp), John Short (color)

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Riding a four-game winning streak, the 19^th-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (9-2, 3-0 SAC), hosts Johnson & Wales University (4-5) on Wednesday afternoon for Education Day at the Levine Center. Students from neighboring Myers Park Traditional School will be in attendance. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

Prior to Wednesday's game, the men's basketball program will hold a ring ceremony, in which members of the 2017-2018 team will receive their championship rings for claiming the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Title. Last season's team finished as the winningest in program history.

Wednesday marks the second all-time meeting between the Royals and Wildcats, with Queens having won the only previous meeting on Nov. 15, 2016, 92-50, at the Levine Center.

Tickets are $6 and admission is free for all Queens students with their Queens ID.

Quick Facts
No. 19/13 Queens Royals (9-2, 3-0 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Last time out, Queens shot 60 percent from 3-point range as the Royals defeated the Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters, 90-62, in a rematch of the last two conference championship and regional championship games. Queens went 12-for-20 from beyond the arc, led by Daniel Carr who scored a game-high 22 points on five of seven 3-point shooting, to pick up the Royals' fourth straight win and their eighth in the last nine games. The loss was the most lopsided defeat for the Railsplitters since 2008 and the first conference regular-season loss in 36 games since Queens beat LMU on Jan. 9, 2017.

-Queens completed last week 2-0, defeating two reigning conference champions by an average of 24 points. On Monday, Queens beat reigning CIAA Tournament Champions Virginia Union University, 92-72, on the road. The Royals followed with the win over reigning SAC Champions LMU on Saturday. The 28-point win over the Railsplitters ended with the largest margin of victory this season.

-Carr was named AstroTurf SAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for his performance, Dec. 3-Dec. 9. The award was the first SAC weekly honor in his career. Carr scored 20 points in Monday's win over VUU on 6-for-10 from the floor and a perfect seven of seven at the free throw line, while tying a career-high with eight assists and securing five rebounds. Against LMU, Carr scored 22 points, 15 from distance on five of seven 3-point shooting and a perfect 3-for-3 at the stripe. For the week, Carr averaged 21 points, 4.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 50 percent from the floor, 60 percent from the 3-point line and 100 percent from the free throw line.

-Queens was named the season's first NCAA Division II Team of the Week by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), for its performance Nov. 25-Dec. 1. The Royals finished that week 2-0, with a road win over then-No. 23 Lenoir-Rhyne University, 76-69, and a win over Anderson University, 79-77.

 -Several Royals rank near the top of the League's statistical categories one month into the season. Carr currently ranks sixth in the SAC in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game, fourth in assists, with 5.2 assists per game, and sixth in 3-point field goal percentage (51.9%). Shaun Willett is tied for ninth in scoring, averaging 16.7 points per. He also leads the League in rebounding and ranks T-3 nationally with 11.0 rebounds per game. Lewis Diankulu is the League's sixth-leading rebounder with 7.5 boards per game. Van Turner Jr. is seventh in 3-point shooting (51.9%).

-As a team, Queens is shooting 50.7 percent (No. 20 NCAA, No. 2 SAC) and 45.0 percent from three (No. 4 NCAA, No. 1 SAC).

-Since allowing 87 points in each of the first two games of the season, the Royals have ramped it up defensively. Queens has held each of its last nine opponents to less than 80 points, four of its last nine to less than 70 points, and are allowing an average of 71.1 points per game in that stretch. The Royals are holding opponents to 41.7-percent shooting over the nine games, having three times in that span held an opponent under 40-percent shooting. Queens enters Wednesday's game off of a season-best 62 points allowed and 37.5-percent opponent shooting percentage versus LMU.

-For another week, Queens remained in the official coaches' poll, improving two spots to No. 19 in the most recent edition of the NABC/Division II Rankings released on Tuesday. The placement in the fourth official poll of the season marks the 49th consecutive week in which Queens has been featured in the national rankings dating back to the first poll of the 2015-2016 season on Nov. 24, 2015. The Royals opened the year at No. 7 in the coaches' poll and have cracked the top-10 nationally during each of the last four seasons. Additionally, Queens appeared at No. 13 nationally in the D2SIDA Media Poll released on Tuesday. The Royals are ranked second in the Southeast Region with a region record of 8-1.

-Head Coach Bart Lundy is in his sixth season since returning to Queens and his 11^th overall at the helm in Charlotte. In 17 years as a head coach in Division I and II, Lundy has posted an overall record of 337-170 (.664 win pct.) and a record at Queens of 241-83 (.743 win pct.). Lundy has led Queens to all three of its Elite Eight appearances.
 
Johnson & Wales Wildcats (4-5)

 -Johnson and Wales competes in the Eastern Metro Athletic Conference (EMAC) under USCAA affiliation and has only fielded a men's basketball team since the 2010-2011 season.

-The Wildcats are 4-5 to open the year, having lost two straight games versus NCAA Division I opponents. JWU lost to The Citadel, 127-93, on Wednesday, and fell to Gardner-Webb University, 102-55, on Saturday.

-The Wildcats have already played three games this season versus NCAA DI competition, also falling to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 105-57, on Nov. 16. JWU is 4-2 versus USCAA opponents this season.

-The Wildcats are led by Majerle Poole, who averages 17.1 points per game. Robert Hobson is second on the team scoring 13.9 points on average.

-JWU is coached by Dan Larkin, a Charlotte native and first-year head coach who holds a graduate degree from Queens and spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach on the men's basketball staff.