CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 11/17 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (19-3, 15-3 SAC) will look to extend their winning streak to seven games by completing the regular season sweep of Carson-Newman University (14-8, 11-7 SAC) on Saturday afternoon inside Curry Arena.  The game time has been rescheduled to a 2 p.m. tip-off with the cancellation the women's game that was scheduled beforehand.  The Royals are coming off their sixth consecutive victory and 11th win in the last 12 games when they downed Catawba, 76-67, on Wednesday night. Following the action Saturday, Queens head back on the road for a midweek match up at Coker, before returning home for three of the last four regular season games.  

Saturday night marks the 22nd meeting, and the second this season, between the Royals and Eagles, with Queens owning a 17-4 advantage all time.  The conference opponents matched up earlier this season on Nov. 20 in Jefferson City and the Royals used a buzzer beating deep ball from Jamari Smith to inch past the Eagles, 83-81. With three seconds remaining, AJ McKee controlled an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Jamari Smith on the wing for the dagger. McKee and Smith would finish with 16 points each while Smith also added 10 boards for his first double-double of the season. Queens shot an incredibly efficient 57-percent from deep while focing 16 Eagles turnovers. In their last 15 meetings, Queens is 14-1 after falling last season in Charlotte, 88-79, snapping a 13-game winning streak.  Queens is averaging 80.7 points per game in the series which is a favorable number for the Royals this season as they are perfect, 16-0, when hitting the 80-point mark.


Quick Facts (Game Notes)
Queens University of Charlotte (19-3, 15-3 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 sixth straight victory on Wednesday night when they downed Catawba in a 76-67 battle on the road. Queens has won 11 of their last 12 games and are in the midst of their third six-game winning streak of the season. In the win at Catawba, Jamari Smith led the way with his sixth double double of the season as he dropped in 21 points and collected 11 rebounds.  Jay'Den Turner fell one rebound shy of a double double of his own with 14 points and nine rebounds, while AJ McKee and Trey Hubbard also contributed double digit points on the night.   Kenny Dye orchestrated the offense beautifully as he racked up six assists and pulled down five boards to go along with nine points on the night.
• Queens is a perfect 17-0 this season when leading at the half and 16-0 when dropping at least 80 points. When the Royals shoot better than 45-percent, they are 14-0 this year.
• Jamari Smith has led the Royals all season long, and is fifth in the conference, with 16.9 points per game and is top 10 with his 6.6 rebounds per game.  Smith has collected six double doubles this season, including two of his last three games.  He is the only player in the conference given the honor of AstroTurf Player of the Week 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 third in the conference with 5.2 assists per game. He is also the conference's best three-point shooter, cashing in 50.0% of the time from deep with 36 total made three pointers on the season, helping him tally 14.8 points per game.
• Crashing the glass continues to be a priority for Bart Lundy's team as they are second in the nation in total offensive rebounds with 313, top seven in the country with 14.23 offensive rebounds per game, and 12th in rebound margin, outrebounding opponents by 7.9 per game. Gavin Rains has been physical on the block pulling down a 8.1 rebounds per contest, including 3.5 offensive boards, and leads the conference in both marks.
• The Royals are No. 15 in the nation in scoring offense averaging 86.3 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.

Carson-Newman University (14-8, 11-7 South Atlantic Conference)

• The Eagles come into Saturday sputtering just a bit as they have lost three of their last five games, including a 68-67 heartbreaker last time out to Tusculum.  That is the sixth time this season that Carson-Newman has lost by four points or less.
• Carson-Newman is led offensively and defensively by senior guard Tripp Davis who is not only putting up 13.1 points per game and four rebounds per game, but also is fifth in the country in total steals with 53, seventh in steals per game at 2.79.  He is currently sixth all-time in program history in total steals with 144 overall.
• The Eagles have four other guys averaging double figures on the season.  Luke Brenegan is second in scoring with 12.1 points per game, while leading the team with 43 made three-pointers on the season and shooting 37.7-percent from beyond the arc.  Senior forward EJ Bush and freshman guard Ren Dyer each add 10.4 points per game to the effort as well.
• Junior center Bryant Thomas is among the best in the nation in shot blocking as he ranks ninth with 47 blocks on the season.  He leads the South Atlantic Conference in both blocks and blocks per game.  
• Carson-Newman was picked to finish second in the SAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll after posting a 16-6 overall record last season and winning the conference tournament championship.
• Preseason Second Team All-Conference selections EJ Bush and Ren Dyer return for the Eagles.