Wednesday
Norfolk State vs. Bethune-Cookman, 6 p.m., Norfolk Scope Arena
Radio: WNSB Hot 91.1 (Ross Gordon, Play-by-Play; Maguell Davis & Marian Brooks, Color) | Listen Live
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - After a 16-0 regular season in the MEAC, the Norfolk State basketball team will now gun for the league's NCAA tournament bid beginning Wednesday against Bethune-Cookman at 6 p.m. at Scope Arena in downtown Norfolk.

The quarterfinal round game of the MEAC tournament will pit the Spartans against the team that arguably gave NSU its toughest test during conference play.

The Spartans also enter the contest riding a 15-game win streak with a 21-10 overall record. Bethune-Cookman finished eighth in the conference at 7-9 and also owns a current 13-19 overall mark.

Media Coverage: The game can be heard live on WNSB Hot 91.1, with Ross Gordon, Maguell Davis and Marian Brooks on the call. Live stats and a live video feed will be available as well.

Last Time Out: On Senior Night, the Spartans finished the season perfect in conference play with a 55-48 victory over North Carolina A&T last Thursday at Joseph Echols Hall. The Aggies jumped out to an early lead, and after NSU went into the half up by three, A&T cut the deficit to one on three occasions in the second half. NSU eventually went up by 15 late in the game and did not let the Aggies get any closer than the final margin.

Rob Johnson and Pendarvis Williams carried the Spartans, totaling 18 and 16 points, respectively. NSU shot 20-of-45 (44.4 percent) and limited A&T to 18-of-57 (31.6 percent). Bruce Beckford (16 points, nine rebounds) and Jean Louisme (13 points, five rebounds) led the Aggies.

Series History: NSU leads the series with Bethune-Cookman, 16-10, and has won the last three games against the Wildcats.

About Bethune-Cookman: The Wildcats defeated Coppin State 89-78 on Tuesday in the first round of the tournament, led by Adrien Coleman's 28 points. An All-MEAC first-team performer, Coleman leads the Wildcats with 17.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Kevin Dukes (10.8) is the only other player in double figures and also has a team-leading 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals. Opponents shoot better than 45 percent from the floor, although the Wildcats have turned the ball over 100 fewer times on the year.

Last Time vs. Bethune-Cookman: Jamel Fuentes had a put-back layup with less than a minute left to break a 59-59 tie, and NSU held on to win by a 62-61 margin over the Wildcats on March 2 at Echols Hall. There were 12 lead changes in the second half as NSU held on for its closest win of the year. B-CU was unable to get a last-second shot off after NSU went just 1-of-4 from the free throw line in the last 10 seconds of play.

NSU in the Tourney: The Spartans own a 14-11 all-time record in the MEAC tournament, including a 2-1 mark against Bethune-Cookman. NSU defeated the Wildcats by a 73-70 score in last year's championship game. See Page 7 of the game notes for NSU's year-by-year results in the tournament. This year marks the first time the Spartans came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed.

Sweeping the MEAC Awards: Pendarvis Williams and Anthony Evans earned the top post-season awards in the MEAC this year, with Williams named the MEAC Player of the Year and Evans tabbed the MEAC Coach of the Year. It marks the fifth time NSU won the player of the year award and the second straight year after Kyle O'Quinn earned the distinction in 2012. Evans became the first Spartan coach to ever be named coach of the year.

In addition, Rob Johnson was tabbed to the all-conference third team, while Rashid Gaston garnered a spot on the all-rookie team. See page 7 of the game notes for the complete list of NSU's all-MEAC awards throughout the years.

Winning: NSU's 16-0 record in the MEAC marked the fifth-time ever NSU had a perfect conference record and the first time since going 19-0 in the CIAA 1986-87. NSU also had perfect conference records in the EIAC in 1955-56 and 1957-58 (both 10-0) and in 1960-61 (12-0).

The team's current 15-game win streak is the longest in the D-I era and the best since winning 19 straight during the 1989-90 season. The current 15-game streak also ranks second in the nation behind Davidson's 17-game win streak.

NSU secured a winning record this year, marking just the fourth time overall since moving to Division I in 1997 NSU has had a winning record and the first time doing it in back-to-back years. NSU also secured back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons.

Conference Title: Last year NSU won its first-ever MEAC tournament title, and this year the Spartans clinched their first outright MEAC regular season title. Prior to this year, the highest the Spartans had ever finished in the MEAC was second in 2012. NSU had not won a regular season conference title since finishing in a tie for first with Virginia Union in the CIAA Northern Division in 1989. The Spartans had not won a regular season title outright since 1987.

Moving On Up: NSU moved up to 21st from 24th in the latest CollegeInsider.com mid-major top-25 poll released on March 11 (See Page 6 of game notes).

Looking for Win No. 100: Head coach Anthony Evans needs one more win to reach 100 for his NSU coaching career. He would join the ranks of Charles Christian (319), Ernie Fears (147), John Turpin (136) and Mike Bernard (141) as coaches who got to 100 career wins at NSU and the only one to do it solely during the Division I era.

MEAC Standings: NSU finished the year 16-0 in the conference ahead of North Carolina Central (15-1). The Spartans secured just the fourth-ever undefeated season in the history of the MEAC, and the first since Coppin State did it in back-to-back years in 1992-93 and 1993-94 (16-0 both times). North Carolina A&T (16-0, 1987-88) is the only other school to accomplish the feat.

NSU is one of three schools in the country - Memphis and Gonzaga being the others - that did not lose a conference game this season.

NSU set a team record for most MEAC wins in a season and had the most conference wins since going 16-3 in the CIAA in 1994-95. The Spartans have won 30 of their past 33 conference games dating back to the last game of the 2010-11 season.

Catching Fire: Pendarvis Williams has scored in double figures in 17 of the last 18 games, and in the last 11 games alone he is averaging 16.4 points, 5.0 boards and 1.9 assists while shooting 54.1 percent (59-of-109) from the field and 53.8 percent (28-of-52) from 3-point range.

Halftime Lead: The Spartans carry a 16-0 record when either leading or tied at the half. NSU has overcome halftime deficits of seven points (UMES and Hampton), five points (Rhode Island), three points (Savannah State) and one point (St. Francis Brooklyn) this year in their other victories.

Stepping Up: Brandon Goode has averaged 10.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.3 blocks while shooting 33-of-56 (58.9 percent) in the last eight games. He's had at least two blocks in each of the last 11 games and ranks 57th in the nation in blocks. NSU is averaging 5.5 blocks per game over the last 11 games as well.

Solid 3-Point Defense: The Spartans have held 13 of their last 14 opponents to 33.3 percent shooting or worse from 3-point range. Collectively, opponents are hitting 58-of-230 (25.2 percent) during that time. On the season, NSU rankes 17th in the nation in 3-point field goal defense.

NSU also ranks in the top 100 in blocks (49), field goal percentage defense (55) and steals (92) in the latest national rankings released Monday afternoon.

Making It Interesting: NSU has had a double-digit lead in the second half of 19 of the team's 21 wins this season, with the March 2 B-CU and the Feb. 4 Morgan State games the exception. The final margin in 15 of those 21 wins was 10 points or less.

NSU's 18-point win over Delaware State on Feb. 9 marked the first time in 14 conference games dating back to last season that the Spartans won by more than 10 points. NSU is 15-4 in games decided by 10 points or less this season.

In fact, aside from NSU's wins over Delaware State (18 points) and UMES (22) at home, NSU won its 14 other conference games by an average of just 5.9 points despite having an average high second half lead of 13.5 points.

Taking Care of the Ball: Just five times in the last 19 games has NSU committed more turnovers than its opponent.

Better in the 2nd: NSU is averaging 30.6 points per game in the first half but bumps that up to 35.9 points in the second half. Opponents are the same, averaging 29.2 in the first stanza but 36.2 in the second.

The MEAC, NCAA Leaderboard: Several players stand in the top 5 in the MEAC statistics, including Brandon Goode and Pendarvis Williams. Goode ranks second in field goal percentage (59.6), while Williams sits third in 3-point field goal percentage (40.7) and 3-point field goals per game (2.1), fourth in free throw percentage (81.4) and fifth in scoring (14.1).

Jamel Fuentes ranks third in assists (5.2), fourth in assist-turnover ratio (1.7) and fifth in steals (1.8). Fuentes also sits 51st in the nation in assists per game. Rashid Gaston ranks third in field goal percentage (57.0) and fourth in offensive rebounds (2.8).

As a team, the Spartans rank second in 3-point field goal percentage (32.3) and third in scoring offense (66.6), scoring margin (+1.3), field goal percentage (42.3), defensive rebounds (23.8), and assist-turnover ratio (0.8).

Evans Named Finalist for Ben Jobe Award: Anthony Evans was named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, presented by CollegeInsider.com to the top minority coach in Division I basketball.