CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – CU men's basketball will play two games in two days for the second time this season as they host the Lou Cunningham Classic this Friday and Saturday.
The Tigers will play Oakwood University on Friday at 3:00 p.m. then will play Philander Smith College on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. with each game followed by Lindsey Wilson taking on either Oakwood or Philander Smith.
Saturday's game will be preceded by Lady Tiger basketball, who will play Davis and Elkins at 1:00 p.m. ET.
LAST TIME OUT
The Tigers won their last game 109-79 Tuesday night over Alice Lloyd at the Powell Athletic Center. Six players scored in double figures led by
Hagen Tyler's 21 points with
Jacob King (19) and
Andrew Smith (18) not far behind.
Stephaun Adams stuffed the stat sheet for the Tigers with 11 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
SCOUTING OAKWOOD
The Ambassadors are members of the USCAA with a 2-4 record, playing against fellow Mid-South Conference member Cumberland University earlier this year, losing 100-88.
SCOUTING PHILANDER SMITH
The Panthers are 1-3 heading into the weekend, as they will face Lindsey Wilson at the Powell Athletic Center on Friday before facing the Tigers on Saturday. As a team, Philander Smith averages 67 points per game and allow 71.5 points per game. Their leading scorer Na'Quan Cothron averages 15.3 points per game for the Panthers.
SEASON OPENING STREAK
CU has started the 2018-19 season on a five-game winning streak. That is their longest winning streak since the 2014-15 season when they started with a streak of six-straight. In 2014-15 the Tigers finished the year with a 25-11 record, reaching the Fab Four of the NAIA Tournament.
CATEGORY LEADERS
The Tigers are in the top-20 in the NAIA in six key team categories in the first five games of the 2018-19 season. The highest CU ranks in any category is seventh in three-pointers made per game (12.2). They are also 12th in scoring (97.8), 13th in defensive rebounds per game (34.2), 15th in turnover margin (+5.8) and assist to turnover ratio (1.4) and tied for 20th in assists per game (19.0). Individually there are Tigers in the top 15 in three categories as
Deion Evans is 10th in defensive rebounds per game,
Hagen Tyler and
Stephaun Adams are tied for 11th in three-pointers per game and Adams is 13th in assists per game.
LEAVING NO DOUBT
Early on this season, CU has won four of their five games by a margin of 24 or higher. After leading at halftime during every single one of their games, they have only had one game where the final result was in question. Their most recent game against Alice Lloyd where the Tigers won by 30 points against the Eagles.
DOMINANT FRONT COURT TRIO
Last Saturday marked the return of center
Andrew Smith to the Tiger lineup where the big man recorded 17 points and eight rebounds. Along with
Deion Evans and
Joan Duran, the three forwards in the rotation for CU have done a good job in the scoring and rebounding department for the Tigers. All are averaging at least seven rebounds per game and double figures in scoring.
TYLER MOVING ON UP
Senior Guard
Hagen Tyler currently has 1,449 points scored in his CU career, good for ninth place all time in program history. Hagen entered the top-10 in scoring all-time in CU history in the season opener against Kentucky Christian. Tyler passed Jeff Gumm in that game. On Nov. 10 against Lindenwood-Belleville, Hagen once again moved up on the list to ninth, passing Steve Bugg.
START OF THE HOME STAND
Beginning with their game against Alice Lloyd, (Nov. 13), the Tigers will begin a seven-game home stand that will end with their game on Dec. 1 against Central Pennsylvania College. The home stand will include two back-to-back games over the next two weekends when they host Oakwood University and Philander Smith College for the Lou Cunningham Classic on Nov. 16-17 and then hosting Berkeley College and Allen University for the Campbellsville Classic on Nov. 23-24.
NEARING THE TOP 25
CU's Tigers begin this season exactly where they ended last season in the NAIA Coaches Poll, receiving votes. Campbellsville earned 20 points in the preseason poll, released on Oct. 23, with only three teams outside of the top-25 receiving more votes than the Tigers. CU will hope to break into the top-25 within the first in-season poll much like they did last year when they went 10-1 to move into the 21st spot.
HOME GAMES ON CU SPORTS NETWORK
All Tiger basketball home games will be streamed on the CU Sports Network on campbellsvilletigers.com as well as the home games in the Mid-South Conference schedule being aired on WLCU-TV. Even if anyone won't be able to make it out to the Powell Athletic Center for CU home games, you can watch the Tigers play all of their home games for free on our athletics website. New this season on the CU Sports Network will be the inclusion of four-camera broadcasts as we attempt to bring a more in-depth, professional broadcast feel to basketball games during the 2018-19 season.
DEEP MID-SOUTH CONFERENCE
Though the Tigers have the 28th most points in the NAIA coaches poll, four Mid-South Conference teams rank ahead of them in the preseason. Campbellsville was also picked to tie for fourth in the MSC by the Mid-South coaches in their preseason poll, tying with Lindsey Wilson with 29 points and behind Georgetown (47), Pikeville (45) and Cumberlands (34). The three teams ahead of CU and Lindsey Wilson are also all in the top 25 in the NAIA to start the season as Georgetown is ranked 4th, Pikeville is ranked 8th, Cumberlands is ranked 16th and Lindsey Wilson barely sneaked into the top 25 at 25th.
TOURNAMENT SEASON
Early season college basketball means tournaments, both on the road and at home for the Tigers. CU will host two tournaments in November in the Lou Cunningham Classic (Nov. 16-17) and Campbellsville Classic (Nov. 23-24) and also went on the road to play in the Faulkner Classic (Nov. 2-3).
UP NEXT
The Tigers will have a similar routine next weekend when they host the Campbellsville Classic against Berkeley College on Friday Nov. 23 and Allen University on Saturday Nov. 24.
