Matchup Preview: Coastal Carolina at Longwood

Who: Coastal Carolina at Longwood

Where: Willett Hall, Farmville, Va.

When: 2 p.m. Saturday

About the Chanticleers (8-7, 2-3 Big South): Just when it looked like Coastal Carolina was really hitting its stride, the Chants were humbled with a 62-61 loss Wednesday night to a Liberty team that had yet to defeat a Division I opponent and that had lost 12 straight games before pulling off that upset. That game could loom large in the scope of the Big South race by the end of the season, and it only puts more emphasis on the Chants’ need to pick up a win Saturday against a Longwood team sitting at the bottom of the conference standings. Coastal Carolina has won all four meetings with the Lancers since they joined the league, including a 72-59 win in its visit to Farmville, Va., last year. ... Junior guard Elijah Wilson continues to lead the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game while senior forward Badou Diagne (11.9), junior point guard Shivaughn Wiggins (11.6) and sophomore guard Jaylen Shaw (11.4) are right behind him. ... Coastal Carolina leads the Big South in scoring defense, holding teams to an average of 66.8 points per game.

About the Lancers (4-13, 0-4): Longwood’s only victory over a Division I opponent this season was a 70-69 win at Ivy League foe Columbia back in November. The Lancers’ only close game in Big South play, meanwhile, was a one-point loss at Gardner-Webb, while they’ve lost their other three league games by nine or more points. It hasn’t helped that senior guard Leron Fisher (9.6 points per game) has missed three of the last four games for an unspecified reason (after also missing the season’s first four games due to a violation of team rules) or that fellow senior guard Shaquille Johnson (11.3 points per game) missed the first half of the season. The Lancers also boast 6-foot-8 senior center Lotanna Nwogbo, who leads the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game while averaging 7.0 rebounds. Overall, the Lancers rank 10th in the league in scoring at 70.4 points per game while giving up 75.1 per contest.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Matchup Preview: Coastal Carolina at Longwood."