Bucs to honor four players and one manager on Senior Night

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 26, 2021) – Despite the ups and downs faced during the pandemic-played season, the ETSU men’s basketball team will cap off regular season play when the Buccaneers host UNCG Saturday inside Freedom Hall.  Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. 

HOW TO FOLLOW THE BUCS

Fans can follow all of the action live on WXSM-AM 640 The Extreme Sports Monster as “Voice of the Bucs” Jay Sandos will provide the radio call, beginning with the Atmos Energy Pregame Show at 3:30 p.m. on the Buccaneer Sports Network. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE AUDIO 

Saturday’s game will be video streamed live on ESPN+ as Mike Gallagher and Bruce Tranbarger will be on the call; CLICK HERE FOR LIVE VIDEO  

Live stats will also be provided via StatBroadcast… Fans can access live stats on their computers or mobile devices by clicking here 

Follow Buccaneer basketball on Twitter @ETSU_MBB and on Instagram @etsubasketball 

REDUCED CAPACITY INSIDE FREEDOM HALL

The East Tennessee State University Department of Athletics, in consultation with ETSU leadership, is having reduced capacity within Freedom Hall and Brooks Gym for ETSU Basketball games. All qualifying season ticket holders are reminded to download their digital tickets for entry into basketball games this season. With the coronavirus limiting seating capacity inside both basketball venues, there will not be any single-game tickets available on gamedays.  

ABOUT THE BUCS

• The Bucs are playing their first game since last Wednesday and enter Saturday’s contest at 12-10 overall and 8-6 in SoCon play. 
• ETSU ranks 39th nationally in total steals (168), while Ledarrius Brewer ranks 47th in 3-point field goal percentage (39.6). 
• Brewer leads the Bucs in scoring at 16.6 points per game, Damari Monsanto is the team’s leading rebounder (7.1) and David Sloan is the top assist man with 92.  

THANK YOU, SENIORS!

Saturday marks the final regular season home game for five Buccaneer members – student manager Jackson Miller, along with graduate senior Silas Adheke and seniors Vonnie Patterson, Jordan Coffin and David Sloan … Patterson and Coffin were part of the Bucs’ historic season a year ago where ETSU won a program-record 30 games en route to sweeping both the SoCon regular season and tournament championships … Adheke, who transferred in from Northern Kentucky, has started all 22 games this season, averaging 6.0 points and 6.0 rebounds, while posting two double-doubles … Sloan, a Kansas State transfer, has totaled 255 points, 92 assists and 46 rebounds in 21 games (12 starts) this season … Sloan’s 4.5 assists in league play, tops all SoCon players … Patterson, a two-year letterwinner, has played in 55 games with 31 starts over the last two seasons … The Buccaneer leader played in 33 of the 34 games a year ago, registering 98 points and 105 rebounds, along with posting a career-high 14 rebounds in his fist ETSU start in the 78-69 win over Appalachian State last year … This season, he has started all 22 games and has scored a career-high 13 points twice (at Furman and at The Citadel) … Coffin originally started off on the ETSU football team before spending the last two seasons with Buccaneer basketball … He made his ETSU debut in last year’s season-opening win over Newberry and scored his first collegiate points in the 98-66 win over Delaware State on Nov. 23, 2019. 

BUCS IN HOME REGULAR SEASON FINALES

Saturday marks the final home regular season game for the Buccaneers … ETSU has recently thrived in home regular season finales as the Blue and Gold have won six of their last seven and 12 of the last 14, including last season’s memorable 68-67 comeback win over Western Carolina. 

SOCON WINS LEADER SINCE 2015-16

Since the start of the 2015-16 campaign, ETSU and UNCG have won the most games in the Southern Conference with 79 victories … Furman (76) and Wofford (69) are the other top win leaders in league play during this span … Overall, ETSU is 79-24 (.767) in the league since the start of the 2015-16.  

HOME SWEET HOME

ETSU has gone 77-15 (.837) inside Freedom Hall since the start of the 2015-16 season, including an 8-3 mark this year and a 16-1 record last year … Last season, the Bucs won their first 12 games inside Freedom Hall to start the season, matching the best open since the 2003-04 Bucs went 12-0 … ETSU’s 16 wins were tied for the ninth-most in the country last season as Rutgers led all teams with 18 and a group of seven schools (Gonzaga, Wichita State, Creighton, Oregon, Liberty and Louisville) were tied with 17 … The 16 home wins by the Bucs were also the most in program history in the modern era (since 1960). 

COMEBACK BUCS

In its 12 wins this season, ETSU has faced a second-half deficit eight times, including a pair of eight-point deficits at Western Carolina and at Mercer … The only times the Bucs didn’t trail in the second half were against Columbia International, at UNCG, vs. The Citadel and vs. Wofford.

BUCS CONTINUE 3-POINT STREAK

Since Feb. 16, 1987 in a game against Davidson, the Bucs have made at least one 3-pointer in 1,057 consecutive games ... ETSU was 0-for-8 in that 1987 game ... The Bucs currently rank as the fifth-longest streak in the NCAA, with UNLV topping the list with 1,124 games.

ABOUT UNCG 

• The Spartans had a chance to lock up the regular season SoCon title Wednesday night but UNCG fell at home to Western Carolina, 81-80. UNCG, who enters the regular season finale at  17-8 overall and 12-5 in league play, needs to win Saturday and have Furman lose at Wofford to clinch the regular season crown. 
• The Spartans have won 11 of their last 14 contests. 
• UNCG has gone 9-3 in true road games this season. 
• The Spartans are led by SoCon Preseason Player of the Year Isaiah Miller as he’s averaging 18.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.6 steals in 30.0 minutes of play … Miller leads the country in field goal attempts (420), ranks second in total steals (62), third in field goals made (190), ninth in steals per game and 13th in total points (441). 
• As a team, UNCG leads the country in total rebounds (1,001), while ranking 12th in offensive rebounds per game (13.48), 14th in three-point attempts (637), 17th in total steals (186) and 28th in turnover margin (3.4). 
• UNCG ranks second behind ETSU in scoring defense among SoCon teams at 67.4 points game, while they are ninth right ahead of the Bucs in scoring offense at 73.0 points per game. 

SERIES HISTORY

Saturday marks the 35th all-time meeting, with ETSU holding an 19-15 lead … Only 65 total points separate both teams in the 34 games played – ETSU scoring 2,495 points and UNCG scoring 2,430 … The Bucs are eyeing their second straight series sweep as ETSU defeated the Spartans 71-61 back on Jan. 2 in Greensboro … Last season was ETSU’s first series sweep over the Spartans since 2015-16 … ETSU leads the series in Johnson City, 11-6 … The teams also met in back-to-back SoCon Championship games in 2017 and 2018 with ETSU winning the first, 79-74 and UNCG taking the 2018 title, 62-47. 

MORE SERIES NOTES 

The series has been tightly contested with 14 games being decided by three points or less (Bucs are 8-6); 14 by five or less (Bucs are 8-6); and 19 by nine or less (ETSU leads, 10-9). 

The two teams have also been the SoCon powers over the last six seasons with ETSU winning a league-best 142 games during this span, while UNCG’s 136 victories rank second … Since the  start of the 2015-16 season, both ETSU and UNCG have won 79 SoCon games – the most among all 10 league teams during this run.  

WHAT'S NEXT?

ETSU begins play in the Southern Conference Tournament next Saturday as the Bucs face Chattanooga in the 4/5 game at 2:30 p.m. inside Harrah’s Cherokee Center … If ETSU beats UNCG on Saturday the Bucs will be the No. 4 seed, if the Bucs lose, Chattanooga will be the No. 4 seed. 

For more information on Buccaneer men’s basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s basketball tab.