The Game: Towson Tigers (9-8, 2-2 CAA) vs. Charleston Cougars (13-4, 4-0 CAA)
When: Thursday, January 18 – 7:00 p.m.
Where: TD Arena – Charleston, S.C.
Broadcast: Broadcast on FloHoops, Audio broadcast on TowsonTigers.com (Spiro Morekas)
Series: Charleston leads 16-9
TOWSON, Md. – Towson men's basketball continues with CAA play on the road at Charleston on Thursday night at TD Arena. The Tigers are coming off a 67-59 loss at Northeastern on Saturday.
Nendah Tarke led the Tigers with 17 points adding three steals in the loss.
The game against the Cougars will air on FloHoops with the audio broadcast will be on TowsonTigers.com with Spiro Morekas on the call.
This will be the 26
th meeting all-time with Charleston with the Cougars leading the series 16-9 and have won the last three meetings.
LEADER OF THE PACK:
The reigning Skip Prosser Man of the Year,
Pat Skerry enters his 13
th season on the sidelines leading the Tigers. Skerry and the Tigers are coming off another 20-win season that saw Towson reach the Coast Athletic Association (CAA) Semifinals, finishing third in the standings during the regular season.
The Massachusetts native has rebuilt the Tiger program, which has the highest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the CAA. Over the last ten seasons, Towson has won 18+ games seven times. He currently has 199 wins at Towson and can become just the third head coach to win 200 games at Towson.
Skerry has used his platform as a head coach to start Autism Awareness in college basketball. What started as two guys with an idea has turned into a national event where hundreds of coaches wear the prominent blue puzzle piece pin. The effort put forth by Skerry was recognized as he was honored with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Guardians of the Game Service Award.
CHARLES IN CHARGE:
The big man in the middle for the Tigers,
Charles Thompson, is back for his fifth season at Towson and is looking to cap his prolific career by leading the Tigers to a CAA championship. Thompson is coming off another strong campaign that saw him earn CAA All-Defensive Team and All-CAA Second Team honors last season after averaging 12.2 ppg and 8.0 rpg shooting 56.5 percent from the floor.
Thompson ranks in the top 10 in program history in six different categories. He is the all-time leader in games played and is currently third in field goal percentage (.551), fourth in blocked shots (176), fourth in rebounds (867), sixth in minutes played (3,409), tied for fifth in starts (100) and is 19th in scoring (1,188).
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE:
Towson has had a major home court advantage over the last nine years at TU Arena. Since moving into the arena from the Towson Center in 2013, the Tigers have gone 99-41, including a 27-4 record in the last two plus years. Towson has had a winning record in home games in seven of the nine seasons, including winning the 2022 CAA regular season title against Delaware at home.
The Tigers broke the school record for consecutive home wins against Stony Brook on January 11 when Towson won their 15
th straight home game dating back back to the 2022-23 season. The last Towson loss at TU Arena was on December 31, 2022 in a 76-74 overtime loss against Charleston.
NATIONAL EXPOSURE:
The Tigers will play eight total regular season games in front of a national television audience including four Coastal Athletic Association games in January and February. The Tigers will play Elon (February 12, 9 p.m.) and Charleston (February 24, 12 p.m.) on CBS Sports Network at TU Arena and will be on the road on CBS Sports Network against Delaware (January 27, 2 p.m.) and Hofstra (February 3, 6 p.m.).
In addition to the CBS Sports Network games, Towson will open the season on Pac 12 Network against Colorado and will have all three games at the Charleston Classic air on the ESPN family of networks.
The Tigers will also air on local linear television with seven home games on Monumental Sports Network (formerly NBC Sports Washington) as well as their game against UMBC on MASN. Towson also announced on December 14 that three games (Jan. 25 vs. Drexel, Feb. 8 vs. Delaware, Feb. 22 vs. Monmouth) will also air on MeTV, a digital subchannel of WBAL.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
Charleston comes into the contest on a nine-game win streak and are 13-4, 4-0 CAA on the year after most recently defeating Monmouth last Saturday. The Cougars are unbeaten at home this year compared to 5-4 away from TD Arena. Three Cougars are averaging double figures led by Ben Burnham at 12.9 ppg. Ante Brzovic and Reyne Smith are also in double figures at 11.6 and 11.4 ppg with Brzovic leading the team with 6.4 rpg.
UP NEXT:
Towson will return home to take on CAA newcomer Campbell on Saturday, Jan. 20. Tipoff against the Camels is set for 4 p.m. and will air on FloHoops and Monumental Sports Network with Spiro Morekas and Jimmy Patsos on the call.
