The Opening Tip
• Longwood has won nine straight while posting a 16-5 overall record, one shy of the 17 wins the program had in the '08-09 season.
• The nine straight wins are the most since the 1993-4 squad won 11 straight.
• The Lancers are the lone remaining unbeaten team in the Big South, and one of 10 unbeaten teams in conference play nationally, joining Vermont, Houston, Wagner, Murray State, Auburn, New Orleans, South Dakota State, Iona and Gonzaga.
• Longwood boasts the league's top scoring outfit and third-best defensive unit by points allowed per game.
• The Lancers have won four straight against Charleston Southern, including back-to-back games last season.
• The men's and women's teams are both at the top of the Big South standings halfway through conference play, the first time since joining the league.
• The Lancers are 12-1 in Willett Hall, the most home wins since the '08-09 team went 13-2.
Last Time Out
• Longwood ground out a 56-48 win over UNC Asheville on the road on Wednesday night.
• The Lancers put together a dominant defensive performance in the first half, holding a potent UNC Asheville offense to 15 total points.
• That defensive effort was enough for Longwood to fend off a furious rally by UNC Asheville after halftime, as the Bulldogs held Longwood to five made shots in the final 20 minutes.
•
DeShaun Wade and
Zac Watson both finished in double figures and made huge plays late in the game.
• Wade hit four of Longwood's five threes while also converting a pressure-packed one-and-one at the free throw line late in the contest on the way to a game-high 17 points. Watson added 12 points and six rebounds with two huge free throws late to help seal the game.
• Coty Jude led UNC Asheville with 14 points.
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 14.9 assists per game. Point guard
Justin Hill ranks second in the league in assists per game (4.1).
• Longwood has totaled more assists than turnovers in 14 of 21 games this season. The team has had less than 10 turnovers in a game six times.
• Against N.C. A&T, Longwood had four turnovers, the the lowest in a game since Jan. 25, 2011 against Campbell that saw four Lancer turnovers.
• The team's 12.5 turnovers per game rank as the second-fewest in the Big South, and the team leads the Big South in turnover margin (+2.4).
• Longwood's bench is contributing 30.4 points per game, with 10.4 of those coming from
Leslie Nkereuwem. Nkereuwem leads the Big South in scoring off the bench.
• The Lancers lead the Big South in scoring offense (77.9 points per game) and rank third in scoring defense (64.2 points allowed per game). Longwood is one of two Big South schools ranked among the league's top five in both categories. Longwood leads the conference in scoring margin with an average of +13.7 points per game.
• Longwood has excelled on its home court under fourth-year head coach
Griff Aldrich, amassing a 38-17 record in Willett Hall during his tenure. That includes an 12-1 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 eight teams have scored more than 65 points  against Longwood. The Lancers have held seven teams to 55 points or fewer.
• The Lancers' +8.1 rebounding margin ranks 12th nationally, while their 13.0 offensive rebounds per game lead the league and are 25th in the nation.
Quotables
"Winning on the road in conference, that's great. I don't care who you play, what conference, these are significant battles. This is the completion of the first half of the conference season. To be 8-0 is an incredible accomplishment of the guys and testament to their hard work and belief in themselves. Now we get to start over."
— Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich after a road win at UNC Asheville
Series History
• Longwood swept the season series in 2021, winning back-to-back games 70-62 and 64-58 at Charleston Southern.
Juan Munoz had 31 points in the two games, and
DeShaun Wade added 19 points.
Jesper Granlund had 12 in the series finale.
• The matchup with Charleston Southern is being played at CSU for the fourth time in the last five meetings. The two sides played a home-and-home in the 2019-20 season, with Longwood winning both.
• Charleston Southern had won six straight meetings between 2017-19 prior to Longwood winning at Charleston Southern 74-56 in the 2020-21 season on January 8.
#HorsePower
