Men's Basketball | February 22, 2019

Game Notes

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman University men's basketball completes its final road game of 2019 and last of three consecutive with a Saturday showdown at rival Florida A&M. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. and can be heard on WELE 1380 The Cat with Nolan Alexander and Willie Love on the call. 

Records

Bethune-Cookman: 12-15, 7-6 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Florida A&M: 11-17, 8-5 MEAC

Starting Five

1 BCU plays its last road contest of the season at rival Florida A&M. It marks the latest date in the schedule that the teams meet for the first time since Feb. 22, 2014, which happened to be the last time BCU lost in the series

2 The longest streak for either squad is an 11-game streak from 1989-1993 won by the Rattlers. Combined with the Wildcat football team's eight-game streak, the last time BCU lost both a basketball and football game in the same athletic year to its rival was 2006

3 Cletrell Pope paces the MEAC and leads the nation with an average of 4.41 offensive rebounds. He is second nationally with his 12.1 rebounding average, and with 326 total boards. The redshirt-junior's 18 double-doubles ranks second in the NCAA, and his 7.7 defensive rebound average is good for 15th. Pope is second in the MEAC in total blocks (36) and third in average (1.33)

4 Pope has posted three 20-rebound games and four 20-point games. He is 8th in BCU single-season records for rebounds (next- Warren Baker's 331 in 1970), and owns the BCU D1 record, currently with 326 boards. Last year's MEAC Defensive Player of the Year, Soufi Diakite, led the conference with 313

5 The 'Cats lead the MEAC in defensive rebounding average (27.70), offensive boards (13.78), rebounding average (41.48), FG defense (40.5%), and 3pt defense (29.9%)

Previously

A valiant comeback effort came up short as Bethune-Cookman dropped a road Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference decision, 79-70, at Savannah State Monday night at the Tiger Arena.
 
BCU (12-14, 7-5) cut a 15-point second half deficit down to just six points, 76-70, with 46 seconds remaining. However, poor three-point shooting in the latter period doomed the visitors as BCU went just 1-16 from three.

Last Time vs. FAMU 3/1/18

Soufiyane Diakite never missed from the field en route to a career-best 27 points and pulled in 14 rebounds to lead Bethune-Cookman to its second Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title with an 89-77 triumph at rival Florida A&M Thursday night at the Al Lawson Center. The junior's 13-13 field goal shooting set a new school record and was the best performance in the NCAA this season, as the Wildcats (18-13, 12-4) finished with their second-most wins overall and in MEAC play under first year Head Coach Ryan Ridder.

Coming Soon

The Wildcats return home to host South Carolina State on Saturday, Mar. 2, for Senior Day.

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