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JOHNSON CITY – The ETSU men’s basketball team opens its 2022-23 season Monday night when the Buccaneers take on Emory & Henry. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Freedom Hall.

 

LAST TIME OUT

ETSU made its final tune-up before tonight’s season opener last Friday when the Bucs defeated Limestone, 71-56 inside Freedom Hall … ETSU led 47-22 at the half and by as many as 31 in the second half (67-36) before Limestone closed the game on a 20-4 run to make it a 15-point result … Three Bucs scored in double figures with DeAnthony Tipler leading the way with 14 points, while Jalen Haynes added 10 points and seven boards and Jaden Seymour netted 11 points and pulled down five rebounds … All 11 Buccaneers who logged minutes on Friday reached the scoring and rebounding column as ETSU shot 50 percent (29-58) for the contest and held Limestone to a 34 percent clip (20-59) … The Bucs assisted on 14 of their 29 made field goals and doubled up the Saints in the paint, 40-20 … Both teams scored 18 points off turnovers with ETSU committing five of its 17 miscues in the final seven minutes.

 

SEASON OPENERS

Monday marks the 104th season opener of ETSU men’s basketball … Overall, the Bucs are 60-41 in the previous openers (please note, results are missing for the 1920- 21 and 1932-33 seasons) … The Bucs have reached the century mark in six of those openers, including five since the 1988-89 season – three of those times the Blue and Gold reached the NCAA Tournament … This marks the first time since at least 1993-94, the Bucs are opening the season on a Monday.

 

HOME OPENERS

Since 1981-82, ETSU has won 37 of its 41 home openers … The Bucs have won 32 of their last 35 home openers, including seven of the last eight … ETSU won its home opener last year 56-43 over USC Upstate, marking Coach Oliver’s first career win as a head coach.

 

HOME SWEET HOME

ETSU has gone 85-22 (.794) inside Freedom Hall since the start of the 2015-16 season … The Bucs finished 8-6 last season with wins over USC Upstate, Lees-McRae, Lenoir-Rhyne, Morehead State, VMI, Western Carolina, Mercer and Furman, while falling to North Carolina A&T, Wofford, The Citadel, UNCG, Samford and Chattanooga … In 2019-20, 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 that year 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).

 

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

Head Coach Desmond Oliver named Jordan King, Josh Taylor and Brock Jancek the Bucs’ captains for the 2022-23 season.

 

KING ZEROING IN ON 1,000

Jordan King is zeroing in on the 1,000-point milestone for his career … After netting 466 points in his first season with the Bucs a year ago, King now has 814 career points in three seasons … Prior to ETSU, King played two seasons at Siena where he totaled 348 points in 47 career games … King needs just 186 points to reach the 1,000-point milestone and 534 points to reach the 1,000-point club as a Buccaneer.

 

BUCS CONTINUE 3-POINT STREAK

Since Feb. 16, 1987 in a game against Davidson, the Bucs have made at least one 3-pointer in 1,092 consecutive games … ETSU was 0-for-8 in that 1987 game … The Bucs currently rank as the fourth-longest streak in the NCAA, with UNLV topping the list with 1,161 games.

 

ABOUT EMORY AND HENRY

Emory & Henry went 16-10 last season in its transition into Division II

 

The Wasps return 11 players from last year’s squad and brought in four freshmen

 

Sophomore guard/forward Gabe Brown earned preseason third team all-South Atlantic Conference honors … Last year, Brown led the team in scoring (15.3), field goals made (143) and three-point field goals made (57)

 

As a team, Emory & Henry averaged 88.1 points per game last season, while owning a +5.9 rebound margin

 

The Wasps return their top six scorers from last season, including Cade Looney who posted 14.3 points and a team-leading 6.8 rebounds in 26 starts

 

The Wasps averaged 8.5 made three-pointers a game in 2021-22, while shooting 48 percent from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc

 

Emory & Henry played UNC Wilmington in an exhibition last Wednesday where UNCW won, 88-47 … Brown led the Wasps in scoring with 13 points.

 

SERIES HISTORY

The Bucs have won six straight and eight of the last 10 against Emory & Henry, but the Wasps lead the all-time series, 25-23 … The last meeting came on Nov. 25, 1997 when ETSU won 98-66 in Johnson City … The 1997 meeting was the first game played between the two schools since 1953-54 … The teams met at least once from 1945-46-1953-54 … The first-ever meeting between the two schools was played in 1921-22 when Emory & Henry won 16-11 … The Wasps won the first nine games in the series with ETSU’s first win coming in 1928-29.

 

HOW TO FOLLOW THE BUCS

Fans can watch Monday’s game on ESPN+ with Keith Brake and Bruce Tranbarger on the call

 

Monday’s game will also be broadcast on WXSM-AM 640 and 104.9 NASH ICON with Voice of the Bucs Jay Sandos on the call, starting with the Atmos Energy Pregame show at 6:30 p.m.

 

Live stats will also be available via StatBroadcast

 

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

DATE: Monday, Nov. 7, 2022

TIME: 7 p.m.

LOCATION: Freedom Hall (Johnson City, Tenn.)

TEAMS: ETSU (0-0) vs. Emory & Henry (0-0)

LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+

BROADCAST TEAM: Keith Brake (play-by-play), Bruce Tranbarger (analyst)

RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 | 104.9 NASH ICON

RADIO TEAM: Voice of the Bucs Jay Sandos

LIVE STATS: ETSUBucs.com (StatBroadcast)

TWITTER: @ETSU_MBB

GAME SPONSOR: Atmos Energy

 

TICKETS

Fans can purchase season tickets by calling the ETSU ticket office at 423-439-3878 or by visiting ETSUTickets.com

 

Single-game tickets for men’s basketball start for as low as $10 and can be purchased online at ETSUTickets.com or by calling 423-439-3878

 

UP NEXT

ETSU heads to Asheville for the 2022 Asheville Championship, which gets underway Friday when the Bucs take on Elon at 8:30 p.m. inside Harrah’s Cherokee Center … The other matchup in the tournament features Harvard vs. Louisiana.

 

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