The Opening Tip
•   Longwood will host the JK 54 Classic, presented by North Street Press Club, from November 18-20. It marks the second straight season the Lancers have had a multi-team event in Farmville.
•   The JK 54 Classic features six games over three days, with Longwood, VMI, Fairleigh Dickinson and SIUE squaring off in a round robin format.
•  Â
Isaiah Wilkins leads Longwood in scoring at 13.0 points per game and has scored in double figures in back-to-back games.
•   Wilkins and fellow graduate student
DeShaun Wade were selected to the Big South Preseason All-Conference Teams. Wilkins earned a spot on the first team, and Wade garnered a second team spot.
•   The Lancers have proven tough to beat in Willett Hall in the past four seasons, going 43-17 under head coach
Griff Aldrich.
By The Numbers
•   The Lancers are averaging 10.3 offensive rebounds per game, the second straight season that the team has averaged at least 10 per game. Longwood ranked 27th in the nation last season by pulling down 12.2 offensive rebounds per game.
•   Longwood has attacked the paint relentlessly through three games this season, and the team averages 40.0 points in the paint through three games. The team posted a season-best 56 points in the paint against Pfeiffer.
•   The Lancer defense has been tough from beyond the arc, holding opponents to a .286 (24-84) shooting percentage from three. That mark is tied for third best in the Big South.
•   Longwood was picked to repeat as the Big South Champions in the preseason poll, with the Lancers garnering 16 of 20 first place votes. It marked the highest spot in the preseason poll in team history.
•   The Lancers are also ranked No. 172 in the KenPom rankings, one of their highest rankings ever. this early in the season. The team is second among Big South members. The team finished last season at No. 145, the best mark to end a season in program history.
•   Longwood had a pair of preseason all-conference selections heading into the 2022-23 season. It was the first time the team has had two players selected for preseason all-conference honors since joining the Big South in 2012.
•   Thanks to the team's Big South Championship and subsequent trip to the NCAA Tournament, the Lancers have now made a trip to the national tournament in all three NCAA divisions. The first came in the 1979-80 season with a team that went to the NCAA Division III Final Four. It was the tem's first trip at the Division I level.
•   Longwood set multiple records last season: 26 wins, going 16-1 at home and winning 11 straight.
Quotables
"We have to be consistent. All we talked about at halftime is maintaining our urgency, and we immediately dipped at the beginning of the second half. Pfeiffer came out and scored a layup, a three, and knocked the ball out of bounds on us. We weren't urgent. We have a saying: Every possession matters. That's a mindset. That's uncommon, to have that mindset, when you're up 20-something, to say, 'I'm still going to go at you,' but that's something that we are fighting for. We will get there, but we're not there yet."
Â
—Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich after the game against Pfeiffer
Â
Series History
• Of the three teams, Longwood has most recently played VMI. The Lancers are 1-1 against the Keydets under Coach Aldrich.
• The Lancers last played FDU in 2012, when the two teams split a season series. The two sides split a series in 2010.
• Longwood lost to SIUE in 2010 in the only meeting between the teams.
Â
#HorsePower