The Opening Tip
• Longwood hosts Campbell for the first time of 2022. The two teams will play again at Campbell in Longwood's final game of the season
• The matchup features the two teams picked to finish atop the newly formed North Division in the Big South. Campbell was picked to finish second overall with 20 first place votes and 148 points, and Longwood was picked to finish fifth in the league, second in the north, with 96 points.
• Longwood and Campbell have split the season series in four of the past five seasons, including last year.
• Longwood boasts one of the top offenses and defenses in the Big South, boasting the league's top scoring outfit and second-best defensive unit by points allowed per game.
•
Isaiah Wilkins was named the Big South Player of the Week after averaging 18 points, 8.5 rebounds, two assists and three steals per game.
Last Time Out
• Longwood hustled its way to a 66-60 win over Gardner-Webb despite only shooting 34 percent from the floor
• The Lancers grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and forced 16 turnovers, allowing the team to squeak past the Runnin' Bulldogs after erasing multiple double-digit deficits.
•
Isaiah Wilkins took charge on offense, pouring in a game-high 20 points. He hit a pair of big three's in the second half while also going a perfect 4-4 at the free throw line to clinch the game late.
• Every Lancer that played scored in the contest. Longwood closed the game on a tear, going on a 22-6 run in the final few minutes to erase a 54-44 hole.
Jordan Perkins hit a pair of free throws on a flagrant-one foul with less than a minute to play to give Longwood a 61-60 lead before Wilkins closed it out.
By The Numbers
• Longwood's offense has been one of the top outfits in the Big South sharing the basketball all season. The Lancers lead the league with 15.6 assists per game. Point guard
Justin Hill ranks fifth in the league in assists per game (3.9).
• Longwood has totaled more assists than turnovers in 11 of 15 games this season. The Lancers' 12.4 turnovers per game rank as the third-fewest in the Big South, and the team leads the Big South in turnover margin (+3.3).
• Longwood's bench is contributing 33.9 points per game, with 10.7 of those coming from
Leslie Nkereuwem. Nkereuwem leads the Big South in scoring off the bench and has shot at least 10 free throws in four of the past six games.
• The Lancers lead the Big South in scoring offense (79.5 points per game) and rank second in scoring defense (64.0 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 +15.5 points per game.
•
DeShaun Wade has hit a three-pointer in 13 of 15 games this season.
Nate Lliteras has accomplished the feat in 13 of 14.
• Longwood has excelled on its home court under fourth-year head coach
Griff Aldrich, amassing a 35-17 record in Willett Hall during his tenure. That includes a 9-1 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 five teams have scored more than 65 points in regulation against Longwood. The Lancers have held five teams to 55 points or fewer.
• The Lancers' +9.0 rebounding margin ranks 10th nationally, while their 14.1 offensive rebounds per game rank eighth in the nation.
Quotable
"This is the second game that was not particularly pretty, but the guys found a way to win. That's what special teams do. That's what really good teams do. We shot 34 percent today. But the reality is, we had 19 more shots than they did. We had 15 offensive rebounds, and we forced them into 16 turnovers, and we only had seven. And that's the difference in the game.""
— Longwood head coach
Griff Aldrich following Gardner-Webb
Series History
• Longwood and Campbell meet for the first of two matchups, the seventh straight season the two sides will play twice.
• The two teams have split four of the five previous five season series. Campbell swept the series in the 2018-19 season.
• The past three meetings have been decided by single digits, and of the 22 meetings, 13 have been decided by single digits.
#HorsePower
