CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 10/15 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (20-3, 16-3 SAC) will look for their eighth straight win on Wednesday night when they square off with Coker University (4-17, 4-14 SAC) inside the Harris E. & Louise H. Deloach Center at 7:30 p.m. Queens is coming off a 24 points victory at home against Carson-Newman last Saturday afternoon as the Royals have won 12 of their last 13 games. Following the action Wednesday night, Queens will return home for consecutive games beginning on Saturday, Feb. 12 against UVA Wise.

Wednesday night marks the 55^th meeting between the Royals and Cobras with Queens owning a 46-8 advantage all-time. The meeting will be the second of the season as the conference opponents faced off on Dec. 11 and the Royals won 81-74. In the victory, Quan McCluney led the way with a game-high 22 points while grabbing five rebounds. Jamari Smith would add 16 points and Kenny Dye would contribute 12 in the victory. Gavin Rains was a monster on the glass pulling down 16 rebounds. Queens managed to shoot 46-percent from the field and got to the free throw line a season-high 44 times, but only converted at 61-percent. The Royals enter the matchup on a 14-game winning streak in the series which is the second longest behind a 17-straight streak between Jan. 13, 2001 and Fe. 23, 2008. The last time the Royals lost to the Cobras was in Hartsville on Nov. 25, 2014.


Quick Facts (Game Notes)
Queens University of Charlotte (20-3, 16-3 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 seventh straight victory on Saturday afternoon when they downed Carson-Newman 74-50 inside Curry Arena. Queens has won 13 of their last 14 games and are in the midst of their third winning streak lasting more than five games. In the win versus Carson-Newman, Jamari Smith led the charge with a 20 point and 12 rebound double-double effort. BJ McLaurin would have a terrific game off the bench scoring 10 points and bringing down eight rebounds. Quan McCluney would contribute to the scoring with 11 and AJ McKee added nine. Kalib Matthews provided valuable minutes off the bench scoring six points and dishing out a game-high four assists across 19 minutes of action.
• Queens is a perfect 18-0 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 17.0 points per game and is top 10 with his 6.9 rebounds per game.  Smith has collected seven double doubles this season, including three of his last four 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 7.0 points per game.  Veteran guard Kenny Dye facilitates the offense and sits third in the conference with 5.1 assists per game. He is also the conference's best three-point shooter, cashing in 49-percent of the time from deep with 37 total made three pointers on the season, helping him tally 14.0 points per game.
• Crashing the glass continues to be a priority for Bart Lundy's team as they are third in the nation in total offensive rebounds with 330, top seven in the country with 14.35 offensive rebounds per game, and 9th in rebound margin, outrebounding opponents by 8.0 per game. Gavin Rains has been physical on the block pulling down 7.9 rebounds per contest, including 3.4 offensive boards which leads the conference.
• The Royals are No. 15 in the nation in scoring offense averaging 85.7 points per game.
• Queens has displayed their depth as nine Royals are averaging at least 14.0 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.

 
Coker (4-18, 4-15 SAC)

• The Cobras come into Wednesday on a six-game losing skid while having loss 10 of their last 11 games. Coker's last victory came on Saturday, Jan. 22 when they dropped Lenoir-Rhyne on the road 62-60. The Cobras have only touched the court once this week falling to UVA Wise 73-72 on the road on Monday night. Coker has played better in their home gym holding a 3-7 record compared to a 1-10 road mark.
• Through 22 games, Coker is averaging 67.4 points on 46-percent shooting from the field and 33-percent shooting from behind the arc. The Cobras do not get to the free throw line often with the second lowest attempts in the conference at 304. When they do find themselves on the line, they have struggled only making 65-percent of their opportunities which is last in the conference. The Cobras have also been turnover prone throughout the season averaging 15.6 per game which is third most in the conference.
• On defense, the Cobras are allowing opponents to score 77.0 points per game while shooting 50-percent from the field and 37-percent from deep. Coker is averaging 7.1 steals per game with 1.3 blocks.
• Coker has 10 players averaging at least 15.0 minutes per game. The Cobras are led offensively by Williams Onyeodi who is averaging 12.2 points per game while pulling down 5.1 rebounds per game. In the first meeting between the two programs, Onyeodi scored eight points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field.
• Chandler Lindsay is another player to keep an eye on for the Cobras as the guard is averaging 13.5 points on 47-percent shooting. In the first meeting, Lindsay posted a team-high 20 points and five assists.
• The Cobras are led by third year head coach Jarred Merrill. Coker was picked to finish 10^th in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Poll.

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.