Longwood University Athletics

Game 9: Longwood (4-4, 0-0 Big South) vs. Delaware State (2-5, 0-0 MEAC)
Date & Time	Saturday, December 4, 2021 | 3 p.m.
Location	Farmville, Va. (Willett Hall)
Game Notes	Longwood | Delaware State | Big South
Statistics	Longwood | Delaware State | Big South
Live Stats	Longwood Live Stats
Video/TV	ESPN+
Radio	WVHL 92.9 Kickin' Country FM
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodMBB

The Opening Tip
•    Returning to Willett Hall where they are 4-1 this season, the Lancers host Delaware State Saturday in the first of three consecutive home games.
•    Longwood has excelled on its home court under fourth-year head coach Griff Aldrich, amassing a 30-17 record in Willett Hall during his tenure. That includes a 10-5 mark in 2018-19, an 8-6 mark in 2019-20 and an 8-5 mark in 2020-21. 
•    Longwood has been among the Big South's top defensive and rebounding teams, leading the league with a +7.1 rebound margin and ranking second in offensive rebound percentage (.366), offensive rebounds per game (13.9) and scoring margin (+11.8), and third in scoring defense (64.1).
•    Longwood has three players — DeShaun Wade (East Carolina), Jordan Perkins (N.C. Central) and Isaiah Wilkins (Virginia Tech/Wake Forest) who have all faced Delaware State at their previous institutions.

Last Time Out
•    Georgetown held off Longwood's upset bid in the closing minutes and leaned on a career-high 23 points from Collin Holloway to get past the Lancers 91-83 Tuesday in Capital One Arena.
•    Holloway scored 18 points in the second half and teamed up with Kaiden Rice to prevent Longwood from stringing together more than five consecutive points after the Lancers cut the Hoya lead to 67-66 with 6:56 to play.
•    Georgetown scored on its final eight possessions, including a game-clinching three-pointer by Rice that pushed a four-point lead to seven with 24 seconds on the clock.
•    DeShaun Wade led Longwood with a season-high 21 points and five three-pointers, while Isaiah Wilkins (14), Justin Hill (13) and Zac Watson (12) also scored in double figures. 
•    Longwood's 83 points were the most Georgetown has allowed this season.
 
By The Numbers
•    Through his first eight games at Longwood, senior Isaiah Wilkins is averaging more than doubled his career scoring and rebounding averages. A transfer from Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, Wilkins is averaging 11.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, compared to 3.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game he averaged in three seasons in the ACC.
•    Several of Wilkins' career-best performances came against Delaware State in his previous stops at Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. In those two games, Wilkins averaged 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game while shooting .571 (8-of-14) from the floor and .667 (6-of-9) from three-point range. He set single-game career highs in made three-pointers (5), steals (5) and assists (7) in those games.
•    Graduate student point guard Jordan Perkins also faced Delaware State eight times at N.C. Central and averaged 8.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game in those matchups. His single-game career highs for points (17), blocks (3) and made field goals (7) all came against the Hornets. 
•    Longwood has won four consecutive home games when coming off of a road loss, dating back to the 2020-21 season.
•    The Lancers have amassed more assists than turnovers in six of their first eight games this season, including 17 assists to 11 turnovers in their last outing against Georgetown. 
•    After averaging just 3.7 points and shooting just .167 (3-of-18) in his first three games this season, senior DeShaun Wade has been on a tear with four double-digit scoring outbursts in his past five games. He is shooting .490 (25-of-51) from the field and .382 (13-of-34) from three-point range during that span.
•    Longwood ranks second in the Big South in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.43.

Quotable
"The lesson that needs to be learned is it's about execution. It's about not fouling, staying down on shot fakes, which we didn't do in the second half and it really cost us. Those turned into either open shots or fouls. Twenty-six free throws in the second half, you're not going to win games doing that."
— Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich after Tuesday's loss at Georgetown

Series History
•    Longwood and Delaware State meet for the third time in series history Saturday in Farmville. 
•    The Lancers lead the all-time series 2-0 with the last of those wins coming in their first year under head coach Griff Aldrich, 89-73, on Nov. 16, 2018.
•    Saturday's matchup will be the second time the teams have met in Farmville, Va. 
•    Nobody on Longwood's 2021-22 roster was with the Lancers the last times the team met, though senior DeShaun Wade (East Carolina) graduate student Jordan Perkins (N.C. Central) and senior guard Isaiah Wilkins (Virginia Tech/Wake Forest) have all faced Delaware State at their previous schools.

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