Men's Basketball | 1/26/2022 1:29:00 PM
North Carolina A&T at Longwood
When: Wednesday, January 26, 2002, 7 p.m.
Where: Willett Hall (Farmville, Va.)
ESPN3; tobaccoroadsportsradio.com/1470 AM: Spencer Turkin, pxp
A&T Team Leaders (minimum 1.5 shots per game for percentages)
Points: Marcus Watson (12.4)
Rebounds: Marcus Watson (5.8)
Assists: Kameron Langley (5.1)
Blocks: Harry Morrice (0.9)
Steals: Kameron Langley (1.5)
Field Goal Percentage: Webster Filmore (.541)
3-point Field Goal Percentage: Demetric Horton (.394)
Free Throw Percentage: Tyler Maye (.719)
A&T Big South Leaders (Top-10)
Rebounds: Marcus Watson (5.8) – 8th
Assists: Kameron Langley (5.1) – 1st
Blocks: Harry Morrice (1.1) – 6th
Steals: Kameron Langley (1.5) – 8th
Free Throw Percentage: Marcus Watson (.708) – 6th
3-point Field Goals Made: Demetic Horton (2.1) – 8th
Assist/Turnover Ratio: Kameron Langley (2.2) – 3rd
Offensive Rebounds: Webster Filmore (2.3) – 2nd;
Tyler Maye (2.1) – T3rd
Defensive Rebounds: Marcus Watson (4.5) –9th
A&T National Leaders (Top-100)
Assists: Kameron Langley (5.1) – 35th
Total Assists: Kameron Langley (97) – 30th
Assists/Turnover Ratio: Kameron Langley (2.2) – 74th
NORTH CAROLINA A&T AGGIES (9-11, 4-2 BIG SOUTH): The Aggies are coming off a brutal, heartbreaking loss against Campbell Saturday night. Camels guard Jordan Whitfield hit a baseline 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining to lead the Camels to a 73-72 win at Corbett Sports Center. The loss snapped A&T's 29-game home winning streak against conference opponents. The loss also put the Aggies a game and half behind the Longwood Lancers for first-place in the Big South Conference Northern Division.
The good news for the Aggies is that they visit Farmville, Va., on Wednesday to face the Lancers. Another positive for the Aggies is that they have won three of four in true road games, including two Big South Road wins.
A win over Longwood at Willett Hall will be a challenging task. The Lancers are 10-1 at home this season. The Aggies, however, are starting to develop a true low-post presence in center
Collin Smith. Smith was one-point shy of his career-high on Wednesday as he posted 22 points and nine rebounds on 8-for-12 shooting. He scored the go-ahead basket for A&T before Whitfield's big shot.
Head coach
Will Jones is in his third season with the Aggies after taking over on an interim basis on December 24, 2019. Jones is 23-7 (.767) against conference opponents, and he is 34-27 (.557) overall as the Aggies headman. Last season, Jones led the Aggies to their first regular-season title in 31 years, and in 2020 he was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) coach of the year.
LONGWOOD LANCERS (13-5, 5-0 BIG SOUTH): Longwood comes into the game with one of the best defenses in the Big South. The Lancers are coming off a dominant defensive performance against Hampton in a 73-49 win at Hampton. The Lancers held the Pirates to 36.4 percent shooting. Justin Hill led the Lancers offensively with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting.
The Lancers have the second-best scoring defense in the league, and they have the third-best field goal percentage defense. But the Lancers are even more impressive on the offensive end. They have the best scoring offense in the league, posting 78.3 points per game. Longwood defeats its opponents by an average of 14.8 points, and the Lancers are the second-best free throw shooting team (.708) in the Big South.
Longwood comes into the game with a six-game winning streak. Hill has scored 100 points over those six games to average 16.7 points. He is shooting 36-for-72 (.500) over that span. Hill leads the Lancers in scoring at 12.8 points per game. Isaiah Walker is the top 3-point threat, shooting 40.5 percent while averaging 12.6 points per game. He also leads the team in rebounding (6.1).
Griff Aldrich has been the Lancers head coach since March of 2018. Last season, Aldrich led the Lancers to a program-record 10 Big South wins. He also led the Lancers to the College Basketball Invitational for the second time in three years. In 2019, Aldrich was a Joe B. Hall Coach of the Year Award. Overall, he is 55-58 (.487) and 29-30 (.492) in Big South play.
THE SERIES: The two teams will meet for the fourth time. The Aggies lead the series, 2-1. Their last meeting occurred on November 29, 2013, in a tournament hosted by Monmouth as the Aggies defeated the Lancers 85-78. The home team won the previous two games.
QUOTABLE: "We haven't had a game where everybody is clicking on all cylinders. But hopefully, that game is on the horizon, and we can show what our potential really is as a team."
GAME NOTES:
- A&T's last three wins on the road have been by a combined five points.
- The Aggies last trip to Longwood took place on February 2, 2006. The Aggies lost 83-77.
- The Aggies have the second-best attendance in the Big South, averaging nearly 2,000 fans per game. High Point leads the conference, averaging 2,730 fans per night.
- This season, all six of A&T's Division I wins have been decided by less than 10 points. This season's largest margin of victories was eight-point wins over Presbyterian and Hampton, respectively.
- In conference games only, guard Demetric Horton is the sixth-best scorer in the Big South, averaging 16.3 points in the Aggies first six conference games.
- Collin Smith's 22 points and Horton's 20 against Campbell marked the second time two different Aggies have scored 20-plus in the same game this season. Marcus Watson and Horton did the same against Samford on November 26.
- Smith's 22 points are a season-high. His career-high is 23 points scored on November 23, 2019, against College of Charleston when Smith played for Central Florida.
- David Beatty has turned the ball over only nine times in six games since becoming the Aggies starting point guard on January 5 against Presbyterian.
- Graduate guard Kameron Langley's 854 career assists ranks 20th all-time in NCAA history. He needs 46 more to become one of only 15 NCAA Division I players with 900 career dimes.
