ETSU (3-5) vs. Virginia Tech (3-4)

December 18, 2000 - 7 p.m.

Blacksburg, Va. - Cassell Coliseum (10,052)

Streaks ... The Bucs have dished more assists than their opponent in the last five games ... ETSU has outrebounded its opponent in each of the last four games (170-133/42.5-33.3) ... Junior Dimeco Childress is the only ETSU player to make at least one three-pointer in each game this season ... Childress has made a trey in 13 consecutive games, dating back to last season ... Childress has scored in double figures in three straight contests and six of the last seven.

Plant One for Potter ... Sophomore forward Isaac Potter enjoyed a career night in the Bucs 68-66 loss at Radford (Dec. 8) ... Potter reached career highs in points (10) and field goals (5) ... He tied career highs in rebounds (5) and blocks (1) ... Potter missed the first four games of the season.

Success from Behind the Arc ... In the past three games, ETSU is shooting 50.0 percent from three-point range (27-54) ... Dimeco Childress has made 11 of the teams 27 treys ... The Bucs have made at least four three pointers in each game this season ... ETSUs season high was 13 treys against Warren Wilson (Dec. 5).

Against the Big East ... ETSU is 4-15 all-time against current Big East conference members ... The Bucs are 3-12 vs. Virginia Tech, 1-1 vs. Syracuse and 0-2 vs. West Virginia.

Scoring By Class ... Led by guard Dimeco Childress team-high 130 points, the junior class has outscored its counterparts after eight games this winter ... Joining Childress is classmate Cliff Decoster (41) ... The following is a scoring breakdown by class: juniors (two players) - 185, seniors (four players) - 171, freshmen (six players) - 149, sophomores (two players) - 76.

Starting Lineups ... The Bucs used the same starting lineup in the first five games and have used the same lineup in each of the last two contests ... Records of starting lineup: (Decoster, Childress, McDuffie, Meeks, Johnson - 1-4 / Games 1-5); (Decoster, Childress, Carson, Johnson, Seels - 1-0 / Game 6): (Decoster, Childress, Lawson, Meeks, Johnson - 1-1 / Games 7-8).

Away from Home ... Since Coach Ed DeChellis arrived in 1996-97, the Bucs are 15-42 away from Johnson City ... They are 1-3 this year and 5-9 last season, 6-6 in 1998-99, 2-12 in 1997-98 and 1-12 in 1996-97.

Margin of Victory ... ETSU captured its biggest victory in program history (68 points), 109-41, against Warren Wilson on Dec. 5 ... ETSU led 59-17 at halftime at opened to a 72-point advantage, 101-29, with 4:38 remaining in the second half ... Dimeco Childress netted a team-high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting ... point guard Cliff Decoster dished five assists and thieved five steals ... Jerald Fields (13) and Ryan Carson (11) also scored in double figures ... freshman Zakee Wadood grabbed a season-high seven rebounds ... ETSU shot well (57.1 percent) from the field while holding Warren Wilson to 28.8 percent.

Two Career Nights Back-to-Back ... In the loss at Vanderbilt on Nov. 24, junior shooting guard Dimeco Childress enjoyed a career night ... The Columbia, Tenn. native, set career marks in points (30) and three-point field goals made (7) ... His seven treys set an ETSU single-game record ... He tied a career record with eight field goals, set the game before against VCU ... In the game against the Rams, Childress set a career record with seven rebounds and tied his career mark with two steals.

The Double-Double Club ... Senior center Renaldo Johnson became the first member of ETSUs double-double club for the 2000-01 season ... Johnson netted 12 points and grabbed 10 boards in the 87-76 loss at Vanderbilt (Nov. 24) ... During the 1999-2000 season, Leo Murray led the team with six double-doubles while Adrian Meeks notched the teams other three double-doubles.

On His Way to 1,000 ... Senior D.J. McDuffie needs 215 points to become the 21st player in ETSU history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark ... With 19 regular season and at least one Southern Conference Tournament game remaining, McDuffie has to average 12.2 points/game to reach 1,000 ... The Greensboro, N.C. native, has netted 785 career points (124 as a freshman, 298 as a sophomore, 313 as a junior and 50 as a senior) ... Trazel Silvers is the most recent entrant to the 1,000 point club, tallying 1,257 career points fom 1991-94.

Non-Conference Opponents ... The Bucs are 27-30 against non-conference opponents since head coach Ed DeChellis took over in 1996-97 ... ETSU is 3-5 this season and was 6-7 against out-of-conference foes last season ... The Bucs open the 2000-01 campaign with 11 non-conferece games before entering Southern Conference action.

On Television ...The Bucs have two scheduled appearances on television during the 2000-01 season ... Their TV debut is at 8 p.m. on January 2, 2001 at Chattanooga ... ETSU will also be televised when it hosts College of Charleston at 7:30 p.m. on February 6 ... Both games will be carried by Comcast/Charters Sports Southeast (CSS).

Dominating the Glass ... This season ETSU is outrebouding its opponents 326-281 (40.8 rpg-35.1 rpg) ... ETSUs largest margin this season was +20 in the season-opening win against Lynchburg (Nov. 17) ... The Bucs outrebounded their opponents by 4.0 boards per game last winter ... ETSU led the Southern Conference in rebounding margin ... The Bucs 36.9 rebounds/game ranked second in the Southern Conference ... Leo Murray ranked fourth (8.1) while Adrian Meeks (6.9) ranked 11th in the SoCon.

The Head Coach ... Fifth-year head coach Ed DeChellis has compiled a 52-67 (.437) record at ETSU ... He is the sixth winningest coach in Buccaneer basketball history and trails fifth-place Jim Halihan by five victories ... Madison Brooks won 370 games from 1948-73 ... DeChellis came to Johnson City after 10 years as an assistant at Penn State University.

On the Bench ... Joining head coach Ed DeChellis and second-year assistant Hilliary Scott are two new assistant coaches for the 2000-01 season ... Tom Conrad comes to ETSU after serving the past four years as head coach at Charleston Southern ... Conrad led the Buccaneers to their first-ever NCAA Tournament bid in 1997 ... Scott Wagers also joins the staff, after serving as a high school head coach for the past nine years ... Wagers compiled a 120-24 record at Robinson High School in Tampa, Florida in his five-year tenure.

The Buccaneer Radio Network ... WJCW-AM is the flagship station of the Buccaneer Radio Network. The network will broadcast every mens basketball game and the coaches show. Chip Kessler will serve as the Voice of the Bucs.

Medical Report ... The Bucs are operating at full strength thanks to second-year athletic trainer Jose Fonseca.