CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 11/17 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (18-3, 14-3 SAC) will look to extend their winning streak by completing the regular season sweep of Catawba College (9-9, 8-8 SAC) on Wednesday night inside Goodman Gymnasium. The Royals are coming off their fifth consecutive victory and tenth win in the last 11 games when they dropped UVA Wise, 99-67, on Monday night. Following the action, Queens will return to Curry Arena for a South Atlantic Conference showdown with Carson-Newman on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 4:00 p.m.
 
Wednesday night's meeting will mark the 26^th contest between Queens and Catawba, with the Royals owning a 21-4 advantage. Queens has beaten Catawba in 19 straight games and has not fallen in Salisbury since Nov. 22, 2011. The two schools faced off earlier this season on Nov. 17 in Charlotte and Queens won 82-71. In the last meeting, Gavin Rains led the Royals with a 14 point and 12 rebound double-double. Kenny Dye was all over the court totaling 14 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. Jamari Smith would lead the Royals with 18 points while adding six boards. Queens made their presence known in the paint in the first meeting scoring 50 points under the basket.
 
Quick Facts (Game Notes)
Queens University of Charlotte (18-3, 14-3 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.
• The Royals are coming off their fifth straight victory on Monday night when they took down UVA Wise, 99-67 on the road. Queens has won ten of their last eleven games. In the win at Wise, Jay'Den Turner posted his second straight double-double with a 13 point and 14 rebound effort. BJ McLaurin led all scorers with 18 points while grabbing four rebounds. Kenny Dye would stuff the stat sheet again with 16 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Jamari Smith would also finish the evening with 16 points.
• Queens is a perfect 16-0 this season when leading at the half and when dropping at least 80 points. When the Royals shoot better than 45-percent, they are 13-0 this year.
• Jamari Smith has led the Royals all season long, scoring 16.5 points per game and ripping down 6.4 rebounds per game.  Because of his back to back 19 point and 12 rebound double doubles in the overtime win at Tusculum and the route of Mars Hill, Smith was honored for a third time this season as the South Atlantic Conference's AstroTurf Player of the Week for Week 11. He is the only player in the conference with that honor more than twice this season and is the first player since 2018 to be chosen three or more times.
• Queens has been efficient distributing the ball this season as seven Royals are averaging at least 8.5 points per game.  Veteran guard Kenny Dye facilitates the offense and sits No. 26 in the nation with 5.2 assists per game. He is also the conference's best three-point shooter, cashing in 52.5% of the time from deep, helping him tally 14.8 points per game.
• Crashing the glass continues to be a priority for Bart Lundy's team as they are top 10 in the country with 14.20 offensive rebounds per game and 12th in rebound margin, outrebounding opponents by 8.0 per game. Gavin Rains has been physical on the block pulling down a 8.1 rebounds per contest, including a league-best 3.5 offensive boards.
• The Royals are No. 16 in the nation in scoring offense averaging 86.2 points per game.
• Queens has displayed their depth as nine Royals are averaging at least 13.0 minutes per game.  There are 12 total players on the roster who consistently get more than 7.0 minutes per game on the floor.
• Junior guard Kenny Dye notched his 1,000th career point in the 80-72 victory over Wingate on Dec. 15. Dye became the 19th player in program history to hit the 1K mark.
• Sophomore forward Jamari Smith scored his 1,000th career point in the 99-67 victory over UVA Wise on Jan. 31. Smith became the 20th player in program history to hit the 1K mark and second this season after Kenny Dye
• The Royals opened the new season with a dominant 133-80 victory over Young Harris. The milestone victory was head coach Bart Lundy's 400th career win and the most points scored in program history.
• Jamari Smith and Kenny Dye were both named to the 2022 Bevo Francis Top 100 Watch List, as announced by Small College Basketball on Saturday, Jan. 15. The award is presented to one player who had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball.

Catawba College (9-9, 8-8 South Atlantic Conference)

• Catawba enters Wednesday night as winners of three straight games, including a massive upset against nationally ranked Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 22. Following the win over the Railsplitters, Catawba has rattled off a pair of conference wins at Coker and at home against Limestone. Over the last three games, the Indians are averaging an astounding 86.3 points per game.
• On the season, the Indians are averaging 81.1 points per outing on a 46-percent field goal percentage and 36-percent three-point percentage. Catawba is a team that can get to the free throw line as the Indians have totaled 394 attempts which ranks in the top 40 nationally. The Indians play big averaging 4.2 blocks per game which is third best in the conference.
• Catawba has statistically been a second half team as they are putting up 41.7 points in the final 20 minutes compared to 37.3 in the opening half.
• Catawba is a deep unit as ten players are averaging at least 17 minutes per game and seven Indians are scoring at least nine points per game. Caleb Robinson leads the way for the Indians scoring a league-best 20 points per game while also adding 7.1 rebounds per game.
• Head Coach Rob Perron is in his eighth season as the Indians head coach holding a 118-95 record.
• Catawba was picked to finish 7^th in the conference preseason rankings following a 9-11 overall season last year.

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