TOWSON, Md. – The Towson Tigers and College of Charleston Cougars arrive to this Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) showdown from opposite directions.
 
Towson's marathon odyssey started with three straight conference setbacks followed by seven consecutive victories. Meanwhile, Charleston opened the CAA season with five straight victories, including an 81-69 triumph over Towson on Jan. 2 at TD Arena. That was Towson's last loss.
 
Both squads are 13-9 overall and 7-3 in the rugged CAA. How these teams reached this point is irrelevant. The unified, resilient and poised Tigers are in the position they always expected when they gathered in October for preseason practice -- playing meaningful February games.
 
All that matters is each team along with Hofstra sit a game behind first-place William & Mary with eight conference contests remaining. Hofstra visits William & Mary to conclude "Showdown Saturday" or "Separation Saturday" or whatever you prefer as the top four teams in the conference go against each other.
 
This game is also special for veteran Towson head coach Pat Skerry. This is the Tigers' annual autism awareness game. Today autism affects 1 in 59 children in the U.S. and more than 70 million people worldwide, according to the Coaches Powering Forward website. 
 
The Coaches Powering Forward for Autism initiative was created in 2014 by University of South Florida assistant coach Tom Herrion and Towson head coach Pat Skerry, who's youngest son Owen is also on the autism spectrum.

 

When:	Saturday, February 1, 2020
Where	SECU Arena -- Towson, Md.
Time:	2 p.m.
Records:	Towson (13-9, 7-3); Charleston (13-9, 7-3)
Television/Internet:	FloSports with Brent Harris & John Feinstein
Radio:	CBS Sports Radio 1300AM with Spiro Morekas
Series History:	Charleston, 10-7
Streak/Last Meeting:	CofC W3/ Charleston, 81-69 W, 1/2/20
Social Media Updates:	@Towson_MBB

Starting Five

• In the first meeting on Jan. 2, Towson and Charleston were tied at 50 with 11:43 remaining.
• The College of Charleston has won three straight against the Tigers and five of the last six contests in the series.
• Towson finished January with a 7-1 record, the second best month in program history behind the 1990-91 squad that went 8-1. This was the fifth time in program history Towson has won at least seven games in January (1991, 1993, 1994, 1996 & 2020).
• The Tigers have led by double digits at some point in five consecutive home games.
• Towson leads the CAA in scoring defense (65.9), field goal percentage defense (40.0), rebounding margin (+4.3), offensive rebounds (10.8) and offensive rebounding percentage (31.9).

 
Towson Update

• The Tigers beat UNCW 77-66 Thursday night behind Brian Fobbs (14 points) and Nakye Sanders (13 points, 11 rebounds).
• Towson has won five of its last six games by double digits.
• Towson has won three straight CAA games by double figures for the first time in program history.
• The Tigers have won seven consecutive CAA regular season games for the first time in program history.
• Towson has won four straight home games.
• During its four-game home court winning streak, Towson is shooting 48 percent and limiting opponents to 38.4 percent shooting.
• In its last four home victories, Towson has assisted on 57 percent of its baskets.
• Towson has outscored its opponents 153-95 in the first half of its last four home games.
• Allen Betrand is fourth in the CAA in free-throw percentage (84.8), 11th in 3-point field goal percentage (39.7) and 14th in scoring (13.6).
• Sanders is third in the CAA in offensive rebounds (2.4) and seventh in rebounding (6.9).
• Fobbs is tied for seventh in the CAA in free throw percentage (82.4) and eighth in scoring (16.1).
• Dennis Tunstall is second in the CAA in blocked shots (1.2), sixth in offensive rebounding (2.3) and 12th in rebounding (5.9).
• Jakigh Dottin is 13th in the CAA in assists per game (2.4).

 
A Look At The College of Charleston

• CAA Preseason Player of the Year and leading scorer Grant Riller scored 36 points to lead the Cougars past James Madison, 87-68, Thursday night.
• Riller has scored in double-digits in 50 consecutive games.
• He has scored at least 30 points three times this season and 14 in his career.
• Riller, who averages 22.0 points and 4.0 assists per game, has now tabulated 2,280 career points, which is sixth all-time in CAA history.
• In eight career games against Towson, Riller is averaging 17.1 points on 51.6 percent shooting (47-for-91).
• Brevin Galloway scored in double figures for the 14th time this season with 13 points and a career-high tying five steals at JMU.
• Zep Jasper joined Riller and Galloway in double figures with 12 points including 2-for-2 from long range against the Dukes. It marked his 15th double-figure scoring game of his career and ninth of the season.
• The Cougars recorded their highest-scoring output of the season with 87 points against James Madison. Their previous season high was 85 points versus the Dukes in both teams' first conference meeting of the season on Jan. 4 at TD Arena.
• In CofC's win over Towson earlier this season, Sam Miller scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

 
Next Home Game

• Towson added a home game against Regent University on Wednesday. Feb. 12 at 7p. Located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Regent is a Division I South Region member institution in the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association.

 
Next Game

• Towson travels to Delaware on Thursday, Feb. 6 for a 7 p.m. start. That game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

 
Tigers in the Community
The Towson University athletics department deems community service as one of its highest priorities to give back to the Greater Baltimore area. For the seventh consecutive year, the department exceeded 10,000 hours of community service to the Greater Baltimore region, finishing with 11,162 hours of community service in the 2018-19 academic season. Towson ranked No. 1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition. Towson had a 97% participation rate, attended 118 community service opportunities and volunteered with 19 organizations. Towson won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.
 
NOTES: The game will be broadcast on FloHoops. Seven of the Tigers' remaining nine CAA games will be streamed on FloHoops. A FloHoops subscription is $12.50 per month or $95.88 per year ($7.99 per month) and provides access to 130 CAA men's basketball games, as well as special features.