Men's Basketball 12/14/2021 6:00:00 PM

Royals Preparing for Wednesday Night Clash with Wingate

WINGATE, N.C. – The No. 19/21 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team will look to keep their winning ways alive as they head on the road to Wingate for a Wednesday night showdown at 7:30 p.m. The Royals are coming off a gritty, 81-74, win against Coker on Saturday where they used a big second half surge to build their lead that they would never surrender. Following the contest on Wednesday, Queens comes back home to Curry Arena where they will host conference rival No. 11 Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, at 4:00 p.m.

Saturday evening marks the 42^ndall-time meeting between Queens and Wingate, with the Royals holding a 25-16 series lead. Queens has won eight of the last nine meeting between the teams, winning those games by an average of 17.3 points per game. However, the Bulldogs ended Queens' eight game win streak in the series last season in Curry Arena by a final of 80-71. That streak was the longest in this series' history as it stretched from Mar. 4, 2017 to Feb. 26, 2020. Queens has won three-straight games on the road at Wingate, including an overtime thriller in the 2019 season. The two squared off just once last season as the Bulldogs upset the Royals in Charlotte. Gavin Rains was one board shy of a double-double in that game with 12 points and nine rebounds. Kenny Dye added nine points, six rebounds and five assists on the night as well. Both teams are jockeying for a top spot in the early South Atlantic Conference standings.

Quick Facts (Game Notes)
Queens University of Charlotte (8-2, 5-2 South Atlantic Conference)

In the season opener against Young Harris, the Royals set a new program record with 133 points scored as eight Royals finished with double figures.
Head Coach Bart Lundy picked up his 400^th career victory in the dominant season opener. Lundy is in his 14^th season at Queens and 20^th season overall as a collegiate head coach.
Queens has scored 80 or more points in all eight of their wins this season and are No. 3 in the nation in offensive rebounds per game with over 16 a contest. Jamari Smith leads the team in scoring with 15.0 points per game, shooting just under 50-percent from the floor to go along with 55-percent from beyond the arc and 5.0 rebounds per contest. Kenny Dye facilitates the offense, and ranks in the top 25 in the nation with 5.7 assists per game to go along with his 14.3 points and 4.4 rebounds. Dye also comes into the game sitting just six points shy of 1,000 on his career. He is looking to be the 19th player in school history to reach that plateau on Wednesday night.
The Royals have been effective distributing the ball this season as seven players are averaging at least eight points per game. Dye is No. 22 in the nation in assists per game, dishing out 5.7 a game, while freshman guard Trey Hubbard comes in at just under three per game.
Queens continues to display their depth as nine guys are averaging at least 15.0 minutes per game and five with over 20 minutes per game.
The Royals has been efficient shooting the deep ball ranking top 20 in the country in three-point field goal percentage. Jamari Smith and Kenny Dye sit in the top five in the the South Atlantic Conference cashing in on 55-percent and 50-percent of their shots from behind the arc respectively.
Queens checked into recent national rankings coming in at No. 9 in the NABC Week Three Media Poll, No. 16 in the D2SIDA Week Four Poll, and No. 3 in the Southeast Region.
Returning their top six scorers and top five rebounders, Queens was picked to finish atop the South Atlantic Conference's Preseason Poll, as voted on by the League's coaches. The Royals received over half the first-place votes and 150 total votes as the preseason favorites.
Kenny Dye and Jamari Smith were each named to the SAC's First-Team Preseason All-Conference Team and Gavin Rains earned Second-Team honors.

Wingate (8-2, 5-2 SAC)

The Bulldogs are off to their best start as a program since the 2013-14 season having won eight of their first 10 games for just the second time in over a decade, including four-straight heading into Wednesday night. They have South Atlantic Conference wins over Catawba, Limestone, Newberry, Tusculum and handed the only loss of the season to Lincoln Memorial, who was ranked No. 17 in the country at the time.
Wingate is coming off a blowout win over Tusculum on Saturday, and a season-high in points, taking down the Pioneers by a final of 92-75. Four Bulldogs were in double figures on the night as they were led by junior guard Andreas Wilson who dropped in 22 points, going 6-for-10 from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard, Donell Nixon, was right behind with 21 points, led the team with seven assists and was one of three guys with seven rebounds on the game for Wingate.
The Bulldogs have scored an average of 78.8 points per game on 43.5-percent shooting from the floor and 35-percent from behind the arc. Wingate is averaging 41.4 rebounds per game on the season and have forced 14.5 turnovers on average, including 6.5 steals per game. Despite allowing opponents to shoot just over 41-percent from the field, the Bulldogs have been able to stay strong beyond the arc, holding opposing offenses to just over 28-percent on the season.
Coker has ten players averaging 16 minutes per game and five players are averaging over 30 minutes per game, four of which score in double figures. Jarren Cottingham leads the team in scoring with 16.3 points per game while also hauling in 5.0 rebounds per contest and leading the team with 23 assists on the season. Sean Elmore and Andreas Wilson lead the teams three-point attack, tying with one another for the team high in three-point shots made with 28 apiece.
Head Coach Brian Good is in his 14^thseason as the Bulldogs head coach and is the winningest coach in program history with 224 wins at the helm. In his 18^th season as a Division II head coach, he is trying to lead this Wingate program back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
Wingate was picked to finish sixth in the conference following a 11-9 overall season, and 10-8 mark in South Atlantic Conference play last year.

Fans can tune in to the game tomorrow afternoon on the Queens Sports Network starting at 4:00 p.m. Be sure to follow the Royals men's basketball program on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates surrounding the team. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on social media @QueensAthletics to follow all of the Royals sports in action.

Print Friendly Version