Nov 28, 2008

AU Men's Basketball Concludes Four-Game Road Trip Saturday at Fairfield


Game Notes

Nov. 28, 2008

Washington - The American University men's basketball team concludes a four-game road trip on Saturday, Nov. 29, as it takes on the Fairfield Stags at Alumni Hall in Fairfield, Conn., at 7:30 p.m. The Eagles enter the contest riding a four-game winning streak and at 4-1 have matched their best start to a season since 1999-2000.

News and Notes

  • Senior guard Garrison Carr currently ranks 21st in the country with 102 points scored and is 51st in the nation with an average of 20.4 ppg. He also ranks fifth in the NCAA in three-point field goals (21) and 27th in field goals (36). Carr has led the Eagles in scoring three times this season, recording 24 points at Jacksonville (W 75-67, 11/22/09), 29 points at Howard (W 65-63, 11/19/08) and 28 against St. Francis (W 67-46, 11/19/08). Carr set a career-high with 11 field goals made at Howard and matched a career-high with seven three-pointers made.
  • American has matched its best start to a season since 1999-2000 with a 4-1 record to begin the year. With a win today against Fairfield, the Eagles will be one win shy of the 1989-90 team which began the year 6-1. AU's best-ever start to a season came during the 1944-45 season when the Eagles began 10-0.
  • AU enters Tuesday's contest against Stony Brook riding a four-game winning streak (Nov. 17 - Nov. 25). American's longest winning streak last season was six games (Feb. 2 - Feb. 20). The longest winning streak in program history is 12 games set by the 1980-81 team (Dec. 6 - Jan. 26).
  • During the first three games of American's current winning streak, the Eagles shot better than 50 percent from the field. At Jacksonville (W 75-67, 11/22/08), AU was 24-of-43 (55.8%) from the field and 11-of-18 (61.1%) from three. At Howard (W 67-64, 11/19/08), the Eagles shot 26-of-49 (53.1%) from the field and were 9-of-22 (40.9%) from three-point range. Against St. Francis (W 67-46, 11/17/08), American made 24-of-44 (54.5%) shots from the field and was 6-of-17 (35.3%) from behind the arc. Over these three games, the Eagles shot 74-of-136 (54.4%) from the field and 26-of-57 (45.6%) from three.
  • Senior forward Brian Gilmore is averaging 11.2 ppg for AU this season after averaging 4.6 ppg in his first three years. Gilmore scored a season-high 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting at Jacksonville (W 75-67, 11/22/08) and was 3-of-3 from three. He led the Eagles in scoring against No. 12/14 Oklahoma (L 83-54, 11/14/08), recording 16 points, including 12 in the second half, on 6-of-11 shooting while playing a career-high 36 minutes. Last season, Gilmore led AU in scoring twice including scoring 16 points against Navy (L 77-66, 1/30/08) and a career-high 26 against Lehigh (W 82-74, 2/10/08).
  • Sophomore Nick Hendra recorded a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 2-of-2 shooting from three at Stony Brook (W 56-53, 11/25/08). Hendra led all scorers in the game and also recorded career-highs in field goals (6), rebounds (6), three-point field goals (2), assists (2) and blocks (1).
  • Senior Frane Markusovic scored a career-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting at Stony Brook (11/25/08). Markusovic scored AU's first nine points in the game, surpassing his previous career best of six points less than four minutes into the game.

Milestone Watch

  • Garrison Carr (941 pts.) and Derrick Mercer (949 pts.) are on pace to become just the 27th and 28th players in AU history to record 1,000 career points this season. The last player to reach 1,000 points was Andre Ingram, `07. Ingram finished his career as AU's fifth all-time leading scorer with 1,655 points.
  • Garrison Carr set new AU and PL records last season with 135 made three-point baskets and scored 606 total points, the seventh highest total in school history. Carr is currently ranked first in the PL in career three-point percentage (42.9 %, 209-487), third at AU in career three-pointers (209), and second at AU in career free-throw percentage (86.9%, 126-145).
  • With 402 career assists, Derrick Mercer ranks fifth all-time at AU and ninth all-time in the PL. Mercer has also played in 97 career games, including 95 starts, and is on pace to set a new AU record in both categories.
  • Jordan Nichols has recorded 74 career blocks and ranks sixth all-time at AU.

Inside the Series - Fairfield Stags
All-Time Record: American Leads, 8-5
Last Meeting: L 60-52, 11/15/07

 

  • American holds an 8-5 advantage over Fairfield in the all-time series. Fairfield however won the last meeting between the teams just last season, 60-52, in Washington, D.C. The Eagles took a nine point lead, 30-21, into the locker room at half but the Stags used a 14-0 run to open the second half to take the lead. AU regained the lead, 40-39, on a Derrick Mercer jumper with just under 10 minutes to play but were outscored 19-9 in the final eight minutes.
  • Today's meeting with Fairfield marks the 14th ever meeting between the two teams and the fifth meeting under the guidance of Head Coach Jeff Jones. The Eagles are 2-2 against the Stags under Coach Jones.
  • The first meeting between American and Fairfield took place during the second round of the 1960 NCAA College Division Tournament. AU won that meeting, 75-74, to advance.