The Opening Tip
• With Longwood's conference opener postponed due to COVID-19 protocols in the Hampton program, the Lancers will instead pivot and play host to in their first game of 2022.
• Three of Longwood's previous four scheduled games, at St. Francis-Brooklyn, at Maryland Eastern Short and at Hampton, were canceled or postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within other programs.
• The game will be Longwood's first in 13 days since last playing at Abilene Christian on December 22.
• The Lancers have posted a winning non-conference record for the second time in the past four seasons under head coach
Griff Aldrich.
• Longwood is currently the second-highest ranked Big South team in the NCAA NET rankings. At No. 172, the Lancers trail only No. 167 Campbell.
Last Time Out
• Western Athletic Conference powerhouse Abilene Christian leaned on matching 17-point efforts from Damien Daniels and Mahki Morris, an aggressive defense, and a demonstrated homecourt advantage to pull away from Longwood late en route to a 74-58 win in Abilene.
• Abilene entered as the nation's leader in turnover margin and among the top 10 in steals, scoring margin and scoring defense, ACU broke through with a game-changing 13-2 run after halftime.
•
Nate Lliteras led the way with 13 points, and ,
DA Houston and
Leslie Nkereuwem added 10 points apiece for Longwood.
• That wasn't enough to overcome an Abilene Christian defense that forced the Lancers into a season-high 22 turnovers that turned into 24 points the other way.
By The Numbers
• Longwood has two of the Big South's top four leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Jordan Perkins leads the conference with a 3.2 mark (35/11), whileÂ
Justin Hill (1.9, 48/25) sits in fourth. The Lancers are second in the Big South overall with a 1.26 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Longwood has totaled more assists than turnovers in nine of 12 games this season. The Lancers' 12.7 turnovers per game rank as the fourth-fewest in the Big South, and the team leads the Big South in turnover margin (+2.83).
• Longwood's bench is contributing 34.9 points per game, with 11.9 of those coming from
Leslie Nkereuwem. Nkereuwem leads the Big South in scoring off the bench as well as field goal percentage with a .662 (51-77).
• The Lancers lead the Big South in scoring offense (77.9 points per game) and rank second in scoring defense (63.0 points allowed per game). Longwood is one of three Big South schools ranked among the league's top five in both categories. Longwood leads the conference in scoring margin with an average of +14.9 points per game.
•
Nate Lliteras and
DeShaun Wade have both hit a three-pointer in every game this season.
• Longwood has excelled on its home court under fourth-year head coach
Griff Aldrich, amassing a 33-17 record in Willett Hall during his tenure. That includes a 7-1 mark this season, an 8-5 record in 2020-21, an 8-6 record in 2019-20 and a 10-5 mark in 2018-19.
• Only Iowa, Georgetown and Abilene Christian have scored more than 65 points against Longwood. The Lancers have held five teams to 55 points or fewer.
• The Lancers' +8.9 rebounding margin ranks 16th nationally, while their 14.3 offensive rebounds ranks seventh in the nation.
Quotable
"This is an opportunity for us to continue to grow and learn the lesson. We're going to have conference games like this where it's really tight, and if somebody goes on a run, we have to be aware they're on a run and be able to respond."
— Longwood head coach
Griff Aldrich following the loss at Abilene Christian
Series History
• Longwood and Pfeiffer meet for the first time since 2003, when the two competed at the NCAA Division II level.
• The Lancers began the transition to Division I in 2004. Pfeiffer has since transitioned to NCAA Division III and competes in the USA South.
• The two played every year between 1996 and 2003, playing a total of 17 times in that stretch.
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