The Opening Tip
• Nearing the end of a grueling stretch of five games in 10 days, Longwood hits the road for a rematch against Big South foe UNC Asheville Thursday in Asheville, N.C.
• The matchup features a showdown between two second-year head coaches in Longwood's
Griff Aldrich and UNC Asheville's Mike Morrell. Aldrich and Morrell were hired within four weeks of each other at their respective institutions in the spring of 2018.
• The Lancers enter Thursday's game winners of four of their past six games. Longwood's lone losses during that stretch have come at the hands of Big South preseason favorite Radford and then-unbeaten Winthrop.
• Longwood is just one win shy of setting a program mark for Big South wins in a season.
• The Lancers are 3-1 in February, their best four-game start to the month since joining the Big South in 2012-13.
Last Time Out
• Longwood freshman
Heru Bligen broke up Campbell's in-bounds pass with 1.2 seconds left to cap a game-changing defensive effort and secure a 57-56 Big South home win over Campbell that was the Lancers' fourth victory in the past six games.
• Stepping up in the absence of injured starting point guard
Juan Munoz, Bligen contributed eight points, three assists, two steals and punctuated his effort with deflections on each of Campbell's final two in-bounds plays.
• The win came without a single double-figure scorer for Longwood. Leslie Nkereuweum,
Shabooty Phillips,
JaShaun Smith and
Christian Wilson all finished with nine points, while Bligen added eight and
DeShaun Wade chipped in seven.
• The difference for the Lancers came on the defensive end where they held Campbell to just one made field goal over the game's final six minutes, capped by two deflections from Bligen and a steal from Nkereuweum in the final six seconds.
By The Numbers
• Longwood enters Thursday's game one win shy of setting a new program best for Big South wins. Last year's Lancers won five Big South games to match totals set in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
• During Longwood's recent six-game tear, the Lancers have assisted on 57.0 percent of their made field goals, compared to just 44.6 percent in the 19 games prior.
• The Lancers are 5-2 when holding opponents under 40.0 percent shooting from the field and 10-4 when shooting 40.0 percent or better themselves.
• In Big South play, point guard
Juan Munoz leads the league in steals per game (2.0) and three-point field goal percentage (.446). He also ranks second second in made three-pointers per game (2.8).
• Longwood's defense has amassed a conference-best 106 steals in Big South play.
•
JaShaun Smith has scored in double figures in five of his past seven games after doing so just seven times in 19 games prior. Smith is averaging 13.6 points and 9.9 field goal attempts per game over his past seven games compared to 8.7 points and 7.2 field goal attempts in 19 games prior.
•
Jordan Cintron has finished with a positive plus-minus rating in 15 of 24 games this season. He leads the team on the season with a +4.33 plus-minus rating per 40 minutes.
• Freshmen
Heru Bligen and Leslie Nkereuweum have combined to average 12.7 points per game over the past three games, including a combined 17 points in Longwood's win over Campbell.
• Longwood is 3-1 this season when
Shabooty Phillips scores at least 20 points. The lone loss among those four 20-point outbursts was a 102-99 triple-overtime defeat at the hands of The Citadel on Dec. 19.
• Either, or both,
Jordan Cintron and Leslie Nkereuweum have led Longwood in rebounding in 10 consecutive games.
Quotable
"Coach emphasizes purpose, us being connected, and execution. If we can keep pouring into the root, we'll get better each and every day. That's starting to show on the court."
— Longwood freshman
Heru Bligen following Monday night's 57-56 win over Campbell
Series History
• Longwood and UNC Asheville meet for the 16th time in series history and the second time this season Thursday in Asheville, N.C.
• UNC Asheville leads the all-time series 13-2, including an 11-2 record since Longwood joined the Big South in 2012-13.
• UNC Asheville had won nine straight in the series before the Lancers snapped that streak in the lone meeting between the teams in 2018-19. That win saw then-junior
Shabooty Phillips contribute 14 points en route to a 67-62 Lancer victory on Jan. 10, 2019 in Farmville, Va.
•
JaShaun Smith is averaging 9.3 points per game in six career games against UNC Asheville.
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