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Men's Basketball

No. 10/6 Queens Travels to No. 24 Catawba for Matchup of SAC's Top 2

Royals hold a one-game lead over Indians for 1st place

Live Audio: Queens Sports Network
Phil Constantino (pxp)

TV: Antenna TV (Ch. 18.2, Spectrum Ch. 1261)
Chris Edwards (pxp), Jay Sonnhalter (color), Erin Summers (sideline)

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 10/6 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (15-2, 6-0 SAC) travels to No. 24 Catawba College (13-2, 6-1 SAC) on Wednesday night for a matchup between the first and second place teams in the South Atlantic Conference standings. Opening tipoff from Goodman Gymnasium in Salisbury, North Carolina, is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Queens and Catawba will meet for the 18th time with the Royals holding a 13-4 all-time edge. Queens has won 11 straight over Catawba, with the last Indians victory coming on Nov. 22, 2011, by a final score of 80-77.

Quick Facts
No. 10/6 Queens Royals (15-2, 7-0 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Last time out, behind Shaun Willett's NCAA-leading 14th double-double and the first career double-double for Daniel Carr, No. 13 Queens edged Carson-Newman University, 81-77, on Saturday afternoon at the Levine Center. Despite shooting 13.6 percent from the 3-point line, and going 0-for-11 from three in the second half, the Royals picked up a 10th consecutive victory to maintain sole possession of first place in the SAC. Willett finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds while Carr grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds to go along with 15 points.

-Saturday's win stretched the Royals' winning streak to 10 games, giving Queens a winning streak of 10 games or more in each of the last four seasons. The current hot streak is the fourth longest active winning streak in Division II. Queens last lost a game on Nov. 24, versus Belmont Abbey College, 76-55, at the Levine Center.

-On Tuesday, Queens returned to the top 10 in both national polls, improving three spots to No. 10 in the NABC / Division II Rankings, and three spots to No. 6 in the most recent edition of the D2SIDA Media Poll. The placement in the seventh official coaches' poll of the season, marks the 52nd consecutive week in which Queens has been featured in the poll dating back to Nov. 24, 2015, the first poll of the 2015-2016 season. The Royals have cracked the top-10 nationally in both polls during each of the last four seasons.

-With his 14th double-double on Saturday versus CN, Willett maintained his NCAA lead (more than 1,200 institutions) for double-doubles this season. At the Division II level, Kendrick Colvin of Emmanuel College and Will Vorhees of Notre Dame College are tied for second with 11 double-doubles. In Division I, Devontae Cacok of the University of North Carolina Wilmington has 12, and in Division III, two players are tied with 12.

-Willett was named AstroTurf SAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for games played Jan. 7-13, after averaging 25 points, 16 rebounds and one steal across two games. The award was Willett's first Player of the Week selection of his career, and the third time that a Queens player claimed the conference's weekly honor in five weeks.

-Bart Lundy was named HoopDirt.com NCAA Division II Coach of the Week presented by Just Play Solutions for week nine of the college basketball season. Lundy led Queens to a perfect week with SAC wins over Newberry College, on the road, 96-94, on Jan. 9, and versus Carson-Newman, 81-77, on Jan. 12, at the Levine Center.

-Willett was featured in SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays of the Night, on Jan. 3, 2019, for a dunk that helped Queens to a 102-85 victory over Virginia Union University. The dunk, which was Willett's fourth of the game, was ranked No. 7 by ESPN. Willett became the second Queens player to ever appear in the nightly countdown by ESPN's flagship program. On Nov. 18, 2016, a dunk by Daniel Camps received the No. 9 ranking from ESPN's Top Plays in an 84-69 win over Lees-McRae College.

-Willett currently ranks fifth in the SAC in scoring, averaging 18.8 points per game. He is first in the League in rebounding, and third nationally, with 12.2 rebounds per game.

-Carr is eighth in the SAC in scoring (16.4 PPG), third in assists (4.8 APG), and tied for fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (46.4%).

-Diankulu is the League's fourth-leading rebounder with 7.7 boards per game and ranks sixth in field goal percentage (59.6%).

-Van Turner Jr. is eighth in 3-point shooting (45.5%) and his 61 made 3-pointers ranks him atop the SAC and T-2nd nationally for total 3-point field goals made.

-As a team, Queens is shooting 50.6 percent (No. 11 NCAA, No. 1 SAC) and 40.8 percent from three (No. 16 NCAA, No. 1 SAC).

-Six times this season the Royals have held an opponent under 40-percent shooting, including in four of the last seven games. At no point this season has an opponent shot more than 50 percent from the field against Queens. Five games ago, at Tusculum University on Dec. 16, Queens posted a season-best defensive performance, allowing 62 points and holding the Pioneers to 34.4-percent shooting.

-Head Coach Bart Lundy is in his sixth season since returning to Queens and his 11th 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 343-170 (.668 win pct.) and a record at Queens of 247-83 (.748 win pct.). Lundy has led Queens to all three of its Elite Eight appearances.
 
No. 24/NR Catawba Indians (13-2, 6-1 SAC)

-Catawba is 13-2, 6-1 in conference play after most recently defeating Lincoln Memorial University, 96-83, on Saturday at home. The victory ended an 11-game skid to the Railsplitters, as Marcell Haskett led five Indians in double figures with 22 points against his former team. The win also gave Catawba sole possession of second place in the League's standings.

-Catawba's current winning streak is four games, since its only conference loss to Wingate University, 88-74, on Dec. 19.

-This week, Catawba was ranked No. 24 in the coaches' poll, cracking the national rankings for the first time since 2008-2009. The Indians are also ranked No. 3 in the Southeast Region.

-The Indians are led by Jameel Taylor, a two-time second-team all-conference selection, who ranks 11th in the SAC with a scoring average of 15.2 points per game. Jeremy McLaughlin is the team's leading rebounder with an average of 6.3 boards per game (No. 9 SAC).

-Head Coach Rob Perron is in his fifth year at Catawba and eighth year overall. He holds a coaching record of 85-120 (.415 win pct.) and a record at Catawba of 68-61 (.527 win pct.) Perron spent three years as the head coach at St. Andrew's University from 2002-2005.
 
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Players Mentioned

Daniel Carr

#1 Daniel Carr

PG
6' 0"
Junior
Shaun  Willett

#3 Shaun Willett

F
6' 4"
Senior
Van Turner Jr.

#22 Van Turner Jr.

G
6' 2"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

Daniel Carr

#1 Daniel Carr

6' 0"
Junior
PG
Shaun  Willett

#3 Shaun Willett

6' 4"
Senior
F
Van Turner Jr.

#22 Van Turner Jr.

6' 2"
Redshirt Junior
G
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