A&T Travels to Buies Creek For Big Road Contest

The Aggies are looking for their first road win since Jan. 19.

Kevin L. Dorsey

David Beatty and his Aggie teammates look to snap their four-game road losing streak.

Men's Basketball | 2/19/2022 8:34:00 AM

North Carolina A&T vs. Campbell
When: Saturday, February 19, 4:30 p.m.
Where: Pope Convocation Center (Buies Creek, N.C.)
TV/Radio: ESPN+ / Spencer Turkin (Aggie Sports Network-WWBG 1470 AM)

A&T Team Leaders
Points: Marcus Watson (12.1 PPG)
Rebounds: Marcus Watson (5.8 RPG)
Assists: Kameron Langley (4.7 APG)
Blocks: Harry Morrice (19)
Steals: Kameron Langley (39)
Field Goal Percentage: Tyler Maye (.483)
3-pt Field Goal Percentage: Demetric Horton (.350)
Free Throw Percentage: Tyler Maye (.733)

A&T Big South Leaders (Top-10)
Rebounds: Marcus Watson (5.7) – 7th
Assists: Kameron Langley (122) – 1st
Blocks: Harry Morrice (19) – t-9th
Steals: Kameron Langley (39) – t-3rd; Demetric Horton (35) – t-8th

A&T National Leaders (Top-100)
Assists: Kameron Langley (122) – t-37th

NORTH CAROLINA A&T AGGIES (11-16, 6-7 BIG SOUTH): The Aggies are coming off a tough loss at long-time rival Hampton, 93-82, on Wednesday night. It was the most points that A&T has given up all season, due largely to the damage the Pirates imposed from the 3-point arc.

Hampton made 11 3-pointers and shot a scorching 68.8 percent from beyond the arc. The Aggies are 11th in the conference for the season in 3-point field goal defense, with their opposition shooting 35.6 percent.

A&T wins Big South games when they defend the perimeter. In their six wins, A&T holds their opponents to 29.3 percent shooting from downtown, but in their seven losses, opponents are shooting 44.4 percent from 3-point range.

Coach Jones is in his third season overall and second full season after initially taking over on an interim basis on December 24, 2019. In that same year, Jones earned Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) coach of the year and has a 36-31 (.537) record.

CAMPBELL (14-10, 7-6 BIG SOUTH): The Camels suffered a 71-67 setback to the Radford Highlanders on Wednesday night.

After winning three straight, beginning with their last-second victory at A&T on Jan. 22, Campbell has lost three of their last five.

The Camels were projected to win the North Division in the Big South's preseason poll and are led offensively by Cedric Henderson, Jr., who averages 13.3 points per night. He is also the team's leading rebounder at 5.5 boards per game.

Campbell has three players averaging double-figures – Henderson, Jr., Jordan Whitfield (11.6 PPG), and Ricky Clemons (10.0 PPG). Against the Aggies in January, Whitfield had 17 points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win the game for the Camels.

Head coach Kevin McGeehan is in his ninth year with the Camels. McGeehan has one regular-season championship in 2019 to his credit after leading Campbell to a 20-win season and a 12-4 league record. In addition, he earned conference coach of the year honors in the same year. McGeehan has an overall record of 137-144 (.488) and 67-85 (.441) in conference play.

THE SERIES: Saturday will be the 15th all-time meeting between these two schools and just the sixth in Buies Creek. Historically, A&T is 8-6 (.571) against the Camels, but Campbell has won four out of the last five.

QUOTABLE: "We have to do a better job of being there at the catch and contesting. We have to get back to playing with more intensity defensively and not giving guys wide-open shots, and to be honest with you, some of those shots have been highly contested, they've just been going in, and sometimes that's how the ball bounces."

Head coach Will Jones on playing better defense down the stretch of the season

GAME NOTES:

On Jan. 24, 1978, the two teams first met inside A&T's historic Moore Gymnasium. The Aggies won the game, 76-68.
Campbell, however, has won four of the last five meetings, including a last-second 73-72 victory over A&T earlier this season on Jan. 22. Campbell's previous two wins in Corbett have come on buzzer-beaters after their 2005 win.
The loss snapped the Aggies 29-game home conference win streak.
In February, the team is 10-5 (.667) all-time under head coach Will Jones, but just 2-5 (.286) on the road.
The Aggies rely heavily on their defense when it comes to winning games.
In fact, in their six conference wins, A&T holds their opponents to 37.3 percent shooting from the field and only 29.3 percent from 3-point range.
In their seven losses, however, Aggie opponents shoot 50.3 percent from the floor, including 44.4 percent from downtown.
They'll have to give the Camels a taste of their own medicine, as Campbell is tops in the Big South in scoring defense, allowing just 61.7 points per game.
Graduate guard Kameron Langley leads the Big South in assists per game (4.7). His 879 career dimes are first in the country among active players.