Dec 5, 2008

AU Men's Basketball Renews Cross Town Rivalry with No. 20/18 Georgetown Saturday at 1 p.m. Live on MASN


Dec. 5, 2008

Media Information:
TV: MASN - Jason Knapp (play-by-play), Mark Tillmon (analyst)
Web: Eagle Vision All*Access - Dan Laing (play-by-play), Jeremy Huber (analyst)
Game Notes

WASHINGTON - The American University men's basketball team faces local foe No. 20/18 Georgetown on Saturday, Dec. 6, live on MASN at the Verizon Center at 1 p.m. AU is looking to bounce back after dropping its last two games and end its current five-game losing streak to the Hoyas.

News and Notes

  • After spending the first three weeks of the season ranked among the nation's top-50 in scoring, senior guard Garrison Carr has slipped to 52nd with 133 points scored and 74th with an average of 18.7 ppg. He also ranks 20th in the NCAA in three-point field goals (24) and 52nd in field goals (47). Carr has led the Eagles in scoring four times this season, including most recently netting 17 points at Fairfield (L 82-73, 11/29/08). The senior also scored 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) to lead the team. Carr set a career-high with 11 field goals made at Howard and matched a career-high with seven three-pointers made.
  • Senior Brian Gilmore recorded a double-double against Mount St. Mary's (L 57-52, 12/1/08) with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Gilmore is the first Eagle to record a double-double since Travis Lay accomplished the feat last season with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Navy on Feb. 27. His 16 rebounds mark a career-high and is the highest total for an Eagle since Jason Thomas pulled down 16 boards at Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 29, 2003.
  • American has outrebounded its last two opponents by an average of 7.0 boards per game after being outdone on the glass in each of its first five games. Despite being outrebounded through the first five games, AU held a 4-1 record. In the two games in which AU has been the aggressor under the boards the team is 0-2.
  • American matched its best start to a season since the 1999-2000 season with a 4-1 record to begin the year. In the program's 83 year history, AU has started 4-1 or better only 21 times.

Milestone Watch

  • Garrison Carr (972 pts.) and Derrick Mercer (970 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 second in the PL in career three-point percentage (42.0, 212-505), third at AU in career three-pointers (212), and second at AU in career free-throw percentage (86.1, 130-151).
  • With 406 career assists, Derrick Mercer ranks fifth all-time at AU and ninth all-time in the PL. Mercer has also played in 99 career games, including 97 starts, and is on pace to set a new AU record in both categories.
  • Jordan Nichols has recorded 75 career blocks and ranks sixth all-time at AU.

Inside the Series - Georgetown
All-Time Record: Georgetown Leads, 39-10
Last Meeting: L 78-51, 12/29/07

  • American trails in the all-time series with Georgetown, 39-10. The teams rekindled their neighborhood rivalry last season as the Hoyas defeated AU, 78-51, in the first meeting between the two in 10 seasons. The Eagles led early in the game and were ahead by as many as six points, 19-13, with 12:53 to play in the first. Georgetown would take the lead with just under nine minutes remaining in the half though and built a 10 point halftime lead. The Hoyas extended their lead to as many as 29 in the second half before the final buzzer sounded Georgetown's victory, 78-51.
  • The Eagles last victory over Georgetown came on Dec. 15, 1982, as AU upset the then fifth-ranked Hoyas, 62-61, in the Capital Center. Last year's meeting between the team's marked the 25th anniversary of American's win.
  • Saturday's contest will mark the 50th meeting all-time between American and Georgetown.