Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Boiling Springs, N.C. • Paul Porter Arena
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BOILING SPRINGS – Fresh off its fourth-straight win its last time out to improve to 2-0 in Big South play, Gardner-Webb (8-7, 2-0) returns to the hardwood seeking its first ever 3-0 start to the league slate when the Runnin' Bulldogs welcome Presbyterian (8-9, 0-2) to Paul Porter Arena on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
All students can enter the game for free with a student ID. For the general public, tickets can be purchased on
www.gwusports.com or at the door for $10. All spectators are asked to please wear a mask while in attendance until further notice.
Live video coverage can be watched on
ESPN3 with
Phil Constantino on play-by-play and former Penn State Head Men's Basketball Coach Jerry Dunn on color commentary. Radio coverage will also be available on the
Runnin' Bulldogs Sports Network (RBSN) and locally on WGNC FM 101.1/AM 1450 with Jim "Mojo" Morrison on the call.
Wednesday's matchup will be the 53
rd all-time between Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian, as GWU will look to extend its 30-23 edge in the head-to-head series. The Runnin' Bulldogs have won two in a row over the Blue Hose, a pair of wins last season in Boiling Springs by a combined 33 points.
Anthony Selden scored a career-high 20 points to lead Gardner-Webb over Hampton its last time out, 78-69. The Runnin' Bulldogs shot over 50.0% for the fourth consecutive game and held the opponent to below 40.0% from the field for the fifth time in six games to snatch their second four-game winning streak of the season.
Presbyterian enters Wednesday coming off back-to-back losses to open Big South play, most recently an 82-72 home defeat to USC Upstate this past Saturday. Rayshon Harrison led all scorers with 24 points while connecting on 11 of his 12 free throw attempts. He also dished out six assists. Owen McCormack and Brandon Younger scored 10 points apiece.
BULLDOG BITES
NATIONAL RANKS (TOP 100)
*as of Tuesday, Jan. 11
17th – Total blocks (82)
18th – Defensive 3P% (27.6%)
24th – Blocked shots per game (5.5)
29th – Defensive FG%
74th – Defensive rebounds per game (27.4)
79th – FG% (46.4)
80th – Total steals (114)
80th – Total rebounds (568)
85th – Total assists (221)
95th – Total rebounds per game (37.9)
96th – Scoring margin (8.4)
98th – 3P FG attempts (361)
HISTORIC BIG SOUTH OPPORTUNITY: Gardner-Webb is one of 3 remaining unbeaten teams in the Big South Conference, joining UNC Asheville (2-0) and North Carolina A&T (2-0). While GWU has started 2-0 in Big South play once before, the Runnin' Bulldogs have never started 3-0 to start league play in its first 13 seasons in the Big South.
STREAKIN' BULLDOGS: GWU has now strung together a winning streak of 4 games for the second time this season with wins over Converse (79-46), Georgia (77-60), Charleston Southern (88-63) and Hampton (78-69). The 'Dogs have now outscored opponents 322-238 during the winning streak while holding opponents to an average of 34.9% shooting from the field.
GOING FOR 5: With a win over PC, Gardner-Webb will notch a 5-game winning streak for the first time since its run to the NCAA Tournament in 2019. That season, GWU knocked off Presbyterian and Longwood to end the regular season, and then knocked off High Point, Campbell and ultimately Radford to claim the Big South Championship. Under Coach Craft, GWU has won 5-straight games on 4 different occasions.
BACK-TO-BACK POTW: After averaging 18.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 2 games last week, including setting a career-high with 20 points versus Hampton, sophomore
Anthony Selden was named Big South Player of the Week for the first time in his career. Gardner-Webb has now won back-to-back Big South Player of the Week awards after
Zion Williams earned the honor on Jan. 3 following Gardner-Webb's 77-60 victory over Georgia.
WINNING IN FASHION: Gardner-Webb's average margin of victory in 8 wins this season is 26.4 points, with the closest victory being a 9-point win over Hampton the last time out. Five wins have come by 25 points or more with the largest margin of victory coming by 62 points versus Carver (100-38).
BIG SOUTH SUCCESS: Under Coach Craft, the Runnin' Bulldogs have not endured a losing season in Big South Conference play in his eight full seasons. Craft is 83-61 (.576) in the Big South, reaching at least 10 wins in 7 of his 8 seasons.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS: Through 15 games, Gardner-Webb has held opponents to a 39.1% field-goal percentage, the top mark in the Big South and the 29th best average in the nation. GWU has kept opponents below 40.0% shooting in its last 5 of the last 6 games and 10 times overall this season.
DEFENDING THE PERIMETER: GWU also currently ranks 18
th in the country in opponent 3-point percentage at 27.6%. Outside of its 2 games against nationally ranked opponents, Gardner-Webb has been excellent defending the perimeter this season. In 13 games not against ranked teams, GWU has held opponents to just 23.0% (74-of-322) shooting from deep. GWU opponents have gone just 35-for-138 (25.4%) on triples in the last 6 games combined.
BLOCK PARTY: Gardner-Webb's 82 total blocks this season are 17
th most in Division I, while its 5.5 BPG average ranks 24th in the nation and 3
rd in the Big South.
Ludovic Dufeal leads the way averaging 2.0 BPG, followed by
Kareem Reid (1.7 BPG) and
Anthony Selden (1.3 BPG).
DOUBLE-DIGIT D'MAURIAN: D'Maurian Williams continues to get it done on offense for GWU. The 2nd-year guard has finished in double figures 11 times this season, including in 6 of the last 7 games. He has finished with 20+ points in 4 games, the 4
th-most of any player in the Big South trailing only John-Michael Wright (HPU – 7), Rayshon Harrison (Presbyterian – 6) and D.J. Burns (Winthrop – 5). The Phoenix, Arizona native currently leads the Runnin' Bulldogs averaging 14.3 PPG.
DOWNTOWN D'MAURIAN: Much of
D'Maurian Williams' offensive success this season has come from distance. Williams has gone 17 for 31 from distance over the last 5 games (54.8%) and is currently 4
th the Big South in 3P% at 38.9%. Additionally, Williams has hit on 2 or more 3-pointers in 11-of-15 games this season and has hit 3 or more in 8-of-15 games.
BACKCOURT BROS: The duo of
D'Maurian Williams and Lancy Terry has been one of the best 1-2 punches on offense in the Big South this season. Williams (14.3 PPG) and Terry (14.1 PPG) rank 5
th and 7
th in the Big South in scoring, respectively, as Gardner-Webb is the only Big South school to feature two players in the top 7 in scoring. Only 5 Big South teams (High Point, Winthrop, Presbyterian, Hampton and Upstate) have a single player averaging more PPG than either Williams and Terry.
DUFEAL DIMES: While not a major scoring threat (19 points on 16 shots in the last 4 games),
Ludovic Dufeal has still made a major impact on offense, combining for 14 assists during the current 4-game winning streak. Dufeal, who averages 0.75 APG for his career, tied a career high with 5 assists versus Converse on Dec. 19 before setting a new career high with 6 assists last game on Dec. 29 versus Georgia. This season, Dufeal has averaged 2.2 APG in 10 games since returning from injury and already has 22 assists after not registering more than 21 in any season prior (21 total as a junior, 20 as a sophomore, 3 as a freshman).
MORE LUDOVIC: Ludovic Dufeal has also been crashing the boards, grabbing double-digit rebounds in 3 of the last 6 games. He set a new career high with 15 boards at VMI and currently averages a team-high 6.4 boards overall this season after averaging 4.4 last season and 5.2 as a sophomore. His 15-rebound performance was also the most by a GWU player since Tyrell Nelson grabbed 16 boards on Jan. 6, 2016.
MASTER OF EFFICIENCY: Kareem Reid, who has finished perfect from the field in 4 games this season, ranks 10th in NCAA Division I with a FG% of 62.9% (73-of-116). He remains GWU's 3rd-leading scorer at 11.2 PPG trailing only
D'Maurian Williams (14.1 PPG) and
Lance Terry (14.1 PPG). Reid, who entered the season with a single-game career-high of 13 points, has already eclipsed that total in 5 games this season while finishing in double figures 7 times.
GWU BLOCK KING: With 3 blocks versus Converse on Dec. 19, senior
Ludovic Dufeal became Gardner-Webb's all-time career blocks leader with 145 (Division I era) eclipsing the previous record of 144 set by Simon Conn (02'-03 to '05-'06).
SUCCESSFUL BIG SOUTH OPENER: Gardner-Webb cruised to an 88-63 victory in its Big South opener on Wednesday night.
D'Maurian Williams scored 20,
Lance Terry added 19 and
Anthony Selden matched a career high with 16 points as the Runnin' Bulldogs shot 54.0% from the field in a 25-point rout of the Buccaneers to boost Coach Craft to 5-4 in Big South openers in his GWU tenure.
DOWN GO THE (UGA) BULLDOGS: Gardner-Webb pulled off an upset over Georgia its last time out, a 17-point win over the Bulldogs on Dec. 29 in Athens. GWU led for all but 1:24 of play early in the opening half, and it took only 7:17 for the Runnin' Bulldogs to open a double-digit lead.
Zion Williams,
Lance Terry and
Jordan Sears all finished with 14 points on a combined 15-31 shooting,
Ludovic Dufeal recorded 11 rebounds and a career-high six assists and Georgia never came any closer than 7 points.
A WIN LIKE NO OTHER: The 17-point margin of victory over Georgia was the largest ever for Gardner-Webb over a Power 5 opponent. Prior to that, the largest margin of victory stood at 16 points when GWU upset #20 Kentucky, 84-66, on Nov. 7, 2007.
POWER 5 WIN: The win over Georgia was Gardner-Webb's first over a Power 5 program since taking down Wake Forest (12/29/18) exactly 3 years to the date. It was the 13
th Power 5 win in team history and the sixth for Coach Craft in his 9-year tenure at the helm.
SEC TERRITORY: GWU's victory in Athens was its second win all-time against an SEC opponent. The other win came back on Nov. 7, 2007, a 16-point win over #20 Kentucky, 84-66.
LOCKDOWN D: GWU held Converse to 27.0% shooting, the lowest shooting percentage of any opponent since Brevard shot 18.0% against the 'Dogs on December 19, 2018, nearly 3 full years ago.
THREE-FOR-ALL: The 'Dogs knocked down 16 3-pointers on Dec. 19 against Converse, the most in a contest since February 10, 2020 against High Point.
100 BLOCK CLUB: With 4 blocks vs. North Carolina Central on Nov. 29,
Kareem Reid became sixth Runnin' Bulldog to eclipse 100 career blocks since Gardner-Webb's move to Division I in 2002-03. Reid also became the 46th player in Big South Conference history to eclipse 100 career blocks.
100 WINS: Coach Craft is the third coach in Gardner-Webb history to reach 100 career wins in six seasons. The Tallahassee, Florida native joined Hall of Famers Eddie Holbrook (141) and Jim Wiles (103) on that list on Jan. 19, 2019. Craft currently ranks third all-time in career wins at GWU trailing Holbrook (212) and Rick Scruggs (199).
