Live Video: Queens Sports Network
Phil Constantino (pxp), Walker Mehl (analyst)

Live Stats: QueensAthletics.com

 
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 7/8 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (2-0) meets Lees-McRae College (2-0) on Saturday evening at the Levine Center in the season's home opener. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

The Royals and the Bobcats will meet for the first time since on Mar. 10, 2018, when Queens defeated LMC, 90-69, in Harrogate, Tennessee, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Queens leads the all-time series 32-2.
 

Quick Facts
No. 7/8 Queens Royals (2-0)
(Game Notes)

-Queens opened 2019-2020 with a pair of wins at a conference challenge in Young Harris, Georgia. On opening night, the Royals beat the Young Harris College Mountain Lions, 110-96, to win their fifth consecutive season opener. On Saturday, Queens edged Emmanuel College, 100-91, behind 26 points from Daniel Carr.

-Carr was named South Atlantic Conference AstroTurf Men's Basketball Player of the Week for his week-one performance. In the two wins over Young Harris and Emmanuel, Carr averaged 24 points, four assists, two steals, and two rebounds while shooting 70.6 percent from the floor and 62.5 percent from the 3-point line. The weekly honor was Carr's second career Player of the Week nod.

-Queens entered the 2019-2020 season ranked No. 7 nationally in the D2SIDA Preseason Rankings (media poll) and No. 8 in the NABC/Division II Preseason Rankings (coaches' poll). The preseason top-10 placement marks the fifth consecutive year in which the Royals have reached the top 10 in both national polls.

-The two-time reigning regional champions were ranked No. 1 in the Southeast Region's Preseason Poll, compiled by the D2SIDA. The Royals received five of six first-place votes and 58 points, placing just ahead of reigning regional runner-up, Augusta University, in second.

-Queens, the reigning South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Champion, was picked atop the SAC's Preseason Poll, as voted on by the League's coaches. The Royals received eight of 12 first-place votes and 117 points to edge Lincoln Memorial University, who was picked second, and Catawba College, who was picked third.

-Two Royals received preseason all-conference honors in advance of the 2019-2020 season. Senior guard Daniel Carr, who was named a first-team all-conference selection last year, was named to the League's first team, and redshirt-senior guard Van Turner Jr., who earned an honorable mention all-conference nod last year, was named a preseason second-team all-conference selection.

-Carr was named a Preseason Honorable Mention All-American by Street & Smith's Basketball Magazine. Last season, Carr was named a second-team all-region selection by two outlets (NABC & D2CCA) and to the Bevo Francis Award Top 100 Watch List.

-Over the past three seasons, the Royals have won 93 games, the fourth most of any program at all NCAA levels during that span (Gonzaga 103, Northwest Missouri State 100, Villanova 94).

-The Royals have won 30 games or more in each of the last three seasons and are one of just two programs in all levels of NCAA basketball who have accomplished the feat (Gonzaga).

-Queens concluded the 2018-2019 season at No. 10 in the NABC/Division II Rankings released on Tuesday, Mar. 12. The placement in the final official poll of the season marked the 60th consecutive week in which Queens had been featured in the national rankings dating back to the first poll of the 2015-2016 season on Nov. 24, 2015. The Royals also finished No. 5 in the D2SIDA Media poll, and have cracked the top-10 nationally in both polls during each of the last four seasons. The 2018-2019 season was the third consecutive top-10 finish for Queens in both polls. The first coaches' poll of the regular season will be released on Tuesday, Nov. 19.
 

Lees-McRae Bobcats (2-0)    
          
-Lees-McRae is 2-0 to open the season after beating SAC foes Carson-Newman University (103-101) and the University of Virginia College at Wise (89-78) at home last weekend.

-The Bobcats were picked sixth in the Conference Carolinas Preseason Poll after finishing 2018-2019 in eighth place with an 11-18 overall record (7-11 CC).

-LMC is led by junior guard Quay Kimble, a third-team all-conference selection last season, who is averaging 19 points per game.

-Head Coach Steve Hardin is in his eighth season at Lees-McRae. He holds an overall record of 85-120 (.415 win pct.). In 2017-2018, Hardin led Lees-McRae to its best season in program history. The Bobcats set eight single-season statistical program records en route to a program-record 23 wins.