JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 1, 2009) - Needing to regroup after falling to Jacksonville in overtime on Friday night, the ETSU men's basketball team will face off with Atlantic Sun Conference foe North Florida Sunday afternoon inside the UNF Arena at 2 p.m.

The Buccaneers (15-6 overall, 9-2 A-Sun) now find themselves one game back of JU and in second place in the league standings. ETSU remains in the race for a league title, and still has nine conference games left before the A-Sun Tournament in early March at Lipscomb.

Fans unable to attend the game can watch live via ASun.TV or listen to the game broadcast by clicking on the audio link located at ETSUBucs.com.

For more on the game, click on the game notes link above, or read the game notes below:

The series against North Florida

ETSU and North Florida have met only six times ... Both schools joined the Atlantic Sun Conference for the 2005-06 season and the Bucs are 6-0 all-time against the Ospreys, including an 88-57 win back on Jan. 5, 2009 earlier this year.

Last time against North Florida

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 5, 2009) - Shooting 61 percent from the field in the first half and holding North Florida to just 17 points before the intermission, the ETSU men's basketball team raced out of the gate and pulled away to an 88-57 win over the Ospreys in Atlantic Sun Conference action Monday evening inside Memorial Center ... With the win, ETSU improves to 10-4 overall, 4-0 in A-Sun play and maintain sole possession of first place in the league. Meawhile, the Ospreys fall to 2-12, 0-4 ... Following a career best 39-point effort Saturday against Jacksonville, senior guard Courtney Pigram (Memphis) once again led the way offensively with a game-high 24 points. Meanwhile, sophomore guard Micah Williams (Manchester) pitched in a career high 15 points, senior forward Kevin Tiggs (Flint, Mich.) netted 13, and true freshman post Seth Coy (Montgomery, Ind.) added 12. In addition, senior forward Greg Hamlin (Flint, Mich.) matched a historic mark for the Bucs, tying the school record with six blocks on the night while scoring nine points ... In the first half, the Buccaneers wasted little time setting the tempo, pulling ahead 10-0 in the first three minutes and pushing the advantage to 25-11 with just over five minutes left before the break. ETSU then went on to truly put the Ospreys away, outscoring them 18-2 to close out the half and hold a decisive 43-17 advantage at halftime ... ETSU shot 17-of-28 (61 percent) from the floor and 6-of-12 (50 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half, while outrebounding the Ospreys 23-13. Meanwhile UNF shot just 28 percent from the field and 17 percent from outside the arc in the first 20 minutes ... In the second half, the Bucs backed off the defensive pressure and ultimately outscored UNF just 45-40, but at that point the game was well in hand. For the contest, ETSU shot 52 percent from the floor and 44 percent from beyond the arc, while hitting the boards to a 45-31 advantage over the Ospreys ... For North Florida, Kyle Groothuis was the only player in double figures, posting 11 points.

Last time out

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 30, 2009) - Jacksonville guard Ben Smith sank a game-tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in regulation, and the Dolphins outscored the ETSU men's basketball 14-4 in the overtime to take an 82-72 win over the Buccaneers Friday evening inside the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena ... With the win, Jacksonville (12-8, 10-1) moves into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Sun Conference, while the Bucs (15-6, 9-2) fall into a tie for second place with Belmont ... The Buccaneers took the lead at 9-8 with 13:55 left in the first half, and the Bucs enjoyed an advantage of as many as 15 points in the first 20 minutes. The second half was much of the same for ETSU, but holding a 65-59 lead with just over three minutes left, the Bucs looked on as the Dolphins outside shooting ultimately tied the game. A 3-pointer by senior guard Evan Jefferson with 3:15 left and another by Smith two minutes later tied the game at 65-65, but a layup and foul shot by ETSU freshman Adam Sollazzo (Tampa) pushed the advantage back to 68-65 with 14 seconds left ... Smith then shot from 26 feet away from the basket and hit to tie the game at 68 with 10 seconds left. ETSU quickly inbounded the ball and raced to the other end, where senior forward Kevin Tiggs (Flint, Mich.) had a good opportunity to score but his shot rimmed out ... In the overtime, Jacksonville carried on its momentum, with senior forward Marcus Allen giving JU its first lead since early in the first half with a layup to open the scoring and make it 70-68. From there, Smith scored six more points to finish with 26 and outscore the Bucs 14-4 in the overtime ... For the game, junior guard Mike Smith (Vandalia, Mo.) finished with a double-double on 18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, while sophomore guard Micah Williams (Manchester) added 14 on a career best four 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Sollazzo finished with a personal best 12 points, while seniors Tiggs and guard Courtney Pigram (Memphis) each posted 10 points apiece ... For Jacksonville, Smith netted a game-high 26, while Allen finished with 17, forward Lehmon Colbert had 16, and sophomore Ayron Hardy had 10. Colbert had a double-double with 11 rebounds ... ETSU committed 19 turnovers and was outrebounded 46-34, giving up 20 offensive rebounds to Jacksonville while grabbing just eight offensive boards ... The Bucs will return to action Sunday at 2 p.m. against North Florida.

Three 1,000-point scoreres on the same team?

While it is not rare to have multiple players on the same team that "eventually" become 1,000-point scorers, having multiple players on the same team that have already eclipsed 1,000-points is rare ... This season, the Bucs have a possibility of having three players that have all reached 1,000 points in their careers ... Those players include Courtney Pigram (Memphis), Kevin Tiggs (Flint, Mich.) and Mike Smith (Vandalia,  Mo.) ... Currently, Pigram has already reached that mark and stands at 1,839 points for his career, while Tiggs has 897 points and Smith has posted 894 for his career ... With a guaranteed 10 games left, Tiggs would have to average 10.5 points a game and Smith would need 11.0 a contest to reach 1,000 points ... The only two times in ETSU history that the Bucs have had three or more 1,000 point scorers on the floor at the same time was in 1990-91 and 2003-04 ... In 1990-91, four 1,000-point scorers were on the floor together at the same time, Keith "Mister" Jennings, Calvin Talford, Major Geer and Alvin West were on the floor together ... The other season this occurred was in 2003-04, when Jerald Fields, Zakee Wadood and Tim Smith all reached 1,000 points.

Pigram remarkable in 39-point effort against JU

He had "that" look, and ETSU fans were treated to one of the most impressive individual performances in Buccaneer basketball history ... Senior guard Courtney Pigram's  39-point effort in ETSU's 84-82 victory over Jacksonville in Jan. 3 tied for 9th on the program's all-time single game scoring list, while coming up just three points shy of the Memorial Center's all-time single game scoring mark of 42 points, which was set by Dimeco Childress against Western Carolina back in 2002.

ETSU the "only" A-Sun team picked among nation's best "Prestige" programs

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (July 22, 2008) - Since the beginning of the modern era for NCAA Division I-A basketball - marked by the expansion of the NCAA Tournament field to 64 teams in 1984-85 - the ETSU men's basketball program ranks in the Top 30 percent of the 300 programs that were eligible for the postseason at that time, this according to a new "Prestige" ranking released by ESPN.com ... The Buccaneers, who have enjoyed six NCAA Tournament trips, one NIT berth, seven 20-win seasons, and a slew of conference regular season and tournament championships since 1984-85, ranked tied for 82nd out of 300 teams, meaning they were in the Top 27 percent of schools making the list. ETSU was ranked ahead of every current Atlantic Sun Conference team, as well as former Southern Conference rivals Appalachian State, Western Carolina, Georgia Southern and UNC Greensboro. The Bucs also were placed ahead of every current member of the Colonial Athletic Association with the exception of Old Dominion ... In addition, the Bucs ranked ahead of SEC schools such as Tennessee, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Georgia, Mississippi and Auburn, as well as other major programs such as Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, DePaul, Bradley, Clemson, California and Florida State.

Pigram, Tiggs impressive on offensive end in 2008-09

Seniors Courtney Pigram (Memphis) and Kevin Tiggs (Flint, Mich.) have enjoyed impressive offensive performances this season, and the two rank among the nation's best when it comes to offensive production ... As of Jan. 25, Tiggs leads the Atlantic Sun Conference and ranks 18th nationally with a 21.1 points per game average, while Pigram ranks second in the A-Sun and 40th nationally with 19.1 points a game ... In addition, Pigram has moved to 5th on the ETSU all-time scoring list with 1,839 points in his career, passing former ETSU great Tom Chilton ... He ranks 10th on the A-Sun all-time scoring list ... Additionally, Pigram is one of just four active players nationally with more than 1,500 points, 350 assists and 200 steals in their careers ... That list includes:

Player, School......................................................Asts   Stls    Pts

David Holston, Chicago State....................... 419   204   1959 

Courtney Pigram,   ETSU.................................. 368   211   1839 

Dominic James, Marquette............................. 576   208   1631 

Jerel McNeal, Marquette................................. 375   245   1606 

15-6 start ranks as one of best ever for Bucs

The Bucs 15-6 mark matches is the best start for ETSU since the 2003-04 season, when that team opened the year at 17-4 through 20 games ... The Bucs' three non-conference road wins this season (Tn. Tech, Marshall and Appalachian), also fall just one win shy of the 2003-04 season in which the Bucs won four non-conference road games (Houston, UNC-A, Tn. Tech and Fresno State) ... That 2003-04 squad ultimately finished with 27 wins, a SoCon regular season and tournament title, and a trip to the NCAAs.

Bartow reaches 100th victory at ETSU;

recently eclipsed 200 career wins with Wingate victory

ETSU head coach Murry Bartow reached 100 wins at ETSU with the Buccaneers 81-61 win over Mercer (12/5), a milestone which comes after just having reached 200 career coaching wins as the Buccaneers defeated Wingate (11/20) ... Bartow is now 213-150 for his career, a 58 percent winning percentage ... Bartow, the son of legendary coach Gene Bartow, is also 111-67 (.624) at ETSU, which gives him the best winning percentage in school history ... In his previous five seasons at ETSU, Bartow has averaged 19 wins a year.

Pigram makes history with triple-double

With his 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Wingate (11/20), senior guard Courtney Pigram (Memphis) became just the second ETSU player to record a triple-double and the first to reach that special feat in NCAA Division I play this season ... He joins former Buc Tim Smith (Newport News, Va.) on that exclusive list at ETSU ... In Atlantic Sun Conference play, Pigram is just the sixth player to accomplish that feat since 1996-97, and he is the first to post a triple-double against a non-conference opponent.

Home Sweet Dome

Since the 1996-97 season, the Buccaneers are an amazing 126-39 inside Memorial Center, good for a winning percentage of 76 percent ... The Bucs had won five straight at Memorial Center during the 2006-07 season before a loss to Belmont (1/2) ... The Bucs then rattled off 10 straight at home to stand at 15-1 on the Memorial Center floor that season, but fell to Belmont in the championship of the A-Sun Tourney... In 2007-08, the Bucs were 11-2 at Memorial Center ... This season the Bucs are 8-1 at home.