Bulldogs Return to McAlister Field House for Hardwoods Battle with UVA-Wise

Final	1	2	T
Virginia-Wise (4-7)	40	34	74
The Citadel (3-10)	49	42	91
McAlister Field House; Charleston, S.C.

Virginia-Wise	The Citadel
Pts: Travis Berry - 20	Pts: Ashton Moore - 30
Reb: Travis Berry - 5	Reb: Mike Groselle - 13
Ast: Darius Smith - 3	Ast: 4 Players (#03, #10, #11, #31 - 3)

Team Statistics	Virginia-Wise	The Citadel
Field Goal %	50.9% (27-53 )	52.4% (33-63 )
Rebounds	24	37
Assists	5	15
Turnovers	16	13
Pts off Turnovers	15	17
2nd Chance Pts	4	9
Pts in the Paint	27	38
Fastbreak Pts	13	8
Bench Pts	15	8

full stats

UVA-Wise at The Citadel Game Notes

CHARLESTON, S.C.— The Citadel Basketball team makes a brief return to McAlister Field House on Monday evening when it hosts UVA-Wise at 7 p.m. It is the second installment in the all-time series between the two programs, after the Dogs won decisively, 69-37, during the 2009 CollegeInsider.com Skip Prosser Invitational. The game marks the first home game for the Bulldogs since Dec. 14 against Charleston Southern.

472 AND COUNTING: Among the nine Citadel players to reach the scoring column in Thursday's game with the University of Tennessee was sophomore Will Keistler. Keistler, who hails from Wilmington, N.C., scored the first point of his collegiate career on a free throw with 58 seconds remaining, following a foul by the Vols Tyler Summitt. Keistler's free throw conversion made him the 472nd player in Bulldog history, dating back to 1919-20, to net at least one-point in their playing career.

Coincidentally, Summitt is the son of Lady Vols Head Coach Pat Summitt.

SEEKING WIN #581 AT HOME: The Citadel enters Monday's game with a 580-425 all-time record at home in program history. A victory would move the number of total wins in school history to 918.

HIGH NON-CONFERENCE MARKS: Since The Citadel joined the Southern Conference in 1936, the Bulldogs have won 397 games out of conference. Two head coaches integral in that total were Pat Dennis, who won 86 non-conference games, and Les Robinson who finished with 71 victories against non-SoCon institutes.

THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM: On Monday, The Citadel will meet a team from the Commonwealth of Virginia for the third time in the 2011-12 season and the 252nd time in program history. The Bulldogs enter the match-up with a 109-142 all-time record, including a wins against 11 different institutions that call Virginia home. Among those schools in which the Cadets have earned victories over include: Ferrum, James Madison, Liberty, Lynchburg, Randolph-Macon, Richmond, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Tech, UVA-Wise, Washington & Lee as well as William & Mary.

SHOULD OLD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT...: Since the 1919-20 season The Citadel basketball team is 39-51 (.433 winning pct.) in games opening the month of January. That includes a 19-year stretch (1919-20 to 1937-38) in which the Bulldogs played their season-opener in the first calendar month. The Cadets followed that routine in 1939-41; 1944-45; 1946-47; 1948-49; 1950-51 and most recently 1953-54 for a total of 28 January openers.

Over the course of the last 10 seasons The Citadel is 5-5 in January openers, which includes wins over South Carolina State (2001-02), Army (2003-04), Elon (2006-07), Bethune-Cookman (2008-09) and Savannah State (2009-10).

ECLIPSING THE CENTURY MARK: On Thursday, when Citadel guard Ashton Moore scored four points against the University of Tennessee, he became the 52nd freshman in school history and first of the 2011-12 class to eclipse the 100-point plateau. Moore, who has exactly 100 points to his credit, has converted 19 3-pointers this season.

Classmate Lawrence Miller, who made his first collegiate start against the Vols, has primed himself to become the next first-year player to reach the century mark, scoring 79 points through the first 12 games of the season.

UNPRECEDENTED STRETCH: For the fourth straight season The Citadel has played in front of a visiting crowd of more than 12,000 in attendance, establishing a program-first for such an occurrence. The mark was set on Thursday, when the Dogs took to the floor against the University of Tennessee in front of 16,245 in attendance at Thompson-Boiling Arena.

The streak began in 2008-09 when the Bulldogs played at Michigan State, who drew 14,759. The following season (2009-10), when the Cadets and West Virginia squared off in Charleston, W.Va., a crowd of 12,348 was on-hand. In head coach Chuck Driesell's first season on the bench, The Citadel played at the University of New Mexico at The Pit in front of 14,640.

GROSELLE SCORES GAME-HIGH 21 IN BULLDOGS 86-55 DOWNING AT TENNESSEE: Mike Groselle netted a game-high 21 points to go along with eight rebounds, but it was the University of Tennessee that came away with a 86-55 victory in front of 16,245 in attendance at Thompson-Boiling Arena on Thursday evening. Groselle, who reach the 20-point plateau for the fifth time in his Bulldog career, became just the fifth player this season to score 20 points or more against the Volunteers.

The Citadel was successful on 22-of-56 (39.3%) field goal attempts, including four from beyond the arc, led by Groselle who finished 8-of-15 from the field. The Dogs grabbed 27 rebounds, including 12 on the offensive glass, accounting for eight second chance points. Joining Groselle among individual leaders were DeVontae Wright (8 points), C.J. Bray (7 points) and Cosmo Morabbi (7 points). The loss drops the Cadets to 2-10 on the season as they complete a three-game road stretch.

Tennessee, which shot better than 50-percent in each period, closed 33-of-59 (55.9%) from the floor and knocked down 9-of-22 (40.9%) from 3-point range. Yemi Makanjuola led four Vols in double figures with a career-high 18 points. Teammates Skylar McBee (12 points), Trae Golden (10 points) and Renaldo Woolridge (10 points) joined Makanjuola among double-digit performers. Makanjuola completed his double-double performance with 11 rebounds, giving the Vols a 40-27 edge on the boards as UT outscored the Dogs 42-22 in the paint. The Volunteers improved to 6-6 overall and earned their fifth win at home.

PREVIEWING THE OPPOSITION: UVA-Wise (4-6 Overall)

EAST CAROLINA TURNS BACK UVA-WISE, 91-56:  Maurice Kemp posted his third-straight double-double and Paris Roberts-Campbell scored a career-high 17 points to lead East Carolina to a 91-56 victory over NAIA member Virginia-Wise inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. It was the Pirates' fifth consecutive win.

Kemp poured in a career-high 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead a trio of Pirates in double figures as Darrius Morrow also added 15 points in the victory.

ECU (9-4) used its height advantage to dominate play on their interior, outscoring the under-manned Cavaliers (3-7) 56-22 in the paint. It also used its superior size to win the rebounding battle by a margin of 28, 55-27.

The Pirates used a decisive 23-8 run over an eight-minute stretch of the first half to seize control of the game. Paul's coast-to-coast layup was the first of nine unanswered points by the Pirates, capped by a 3-pointer from Roberts-Campbell to give them their first double-digit lead of the game, 18-8.

The Cavaliers pulled within four, 18-14, with 12:08 left in the first stanza but didn't get closer as ECU rolled off 14 straight points with eight of those courtesy of Kemp. Petar Torlak also added four points during the spurt. The Pirates led by 24 at the break, 45-21, as Gaines' coast-to-coast bank shot beat the halftime buzzer.

ECU shot 52.8 percent (19-of-36) from the field in the first half and bettered that after halftime, connecting of 65.5 percent (19-of-29) of its shots in the second stanza, finishing the game with a season-high 58.5 shooting clip.

The Pirates pushed their lead out to 30, 59-29, for the first time on a 3-pointer from Roberts-Campbell in the opening five minutes of the second half. He then went on a personal 12-5 run, which included a pair of 3s and dunk, propelling the Pirates to a 68-35 advantage.

Their lead ballooned to 34, 75-41, points on a jumper by Gaines with 6:55 remaining. Darius Smith led the Cavaliers with 17 points, while Travis Berry added 13 and Josh Jordan scored 11.

For more information on Bulldog Basketball, visit the official website of The Citadel Athletics at www.CitadelSports.com.