Elon University’s Alumni Memorial Gymnasium, commonly known as Alumni Gym, opened in 1950.
The building’s tenant, the Elon men’s basketball team, joined NCAA Division I full-time in 1999.
Despite all that history, what will happen Saturday night, Jan. 18, is a first. Elon entertains the No. 15/16 University of Massachusetts Minutemen inside of Alumni Gym, the first time ever that a nationally ranked team will play in Elon, N.C. It is only fitting that the historic opponent is the Minutemen, who check in at No. 15 in the USA TODAY/Coaches poll and No. 16 in the Associated Press poll. After all, 12 percent of Elon’s class of 2017 hails from the Bay State, where UMass is the state’s flagship university.
When Elon announced its move to the Colonial Athletic Association in May of 2013, a major point of discussion was that Elon’s student body could not identify with Elon’s opponents. Nothing could be further from the truth for this game – bringing in the state university of Elon’s top-drawing state outside of its home of North Carolina.
Sure, Elon has faced Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and many other top-level basketball programs. But, Elon’s closest loss to a ranked team on the road was a 17-point setback at the University of Colorado this past December.
And oh yeah, Elon just knocked off Davidson College on Thursday night, Jan.16, on the road, Elon’s first win at the venerable Wildcats in the Division I era. Now, Elon can pick up two straight statement wins.
So what does Elon have to do to get the win?
For one, the Phoenix will need to have a much better than average performance on the boards. UMass ranks 49th in the nation in rebounds per game at 39.0, while Elon sits at 252nd with 33.9. In a similar situation, the Phoenix was outrebounded 54-27 at Colorado on Dec. 13 and Elon was unable to hang in the game. But, the Phoenix did outrebound Davidson 46-32 in Thursday’s matchup.
Elon’s hopes and dreams of a Massachusetts upset will rest on shooting. In games in which the Phoenix has shot over 50 percent, such as Davidson and Appalachian State University, Elon has earned the win. Opponents only shoot 42.2 percent against UMass, though, so a big shooting night is easier said than done. Either way, the Phoenix could be in for a high-scoring affair. Elon averages 77.5 points per game, while UMass averages 78.9. The Minutemen scored 88 points in a one-point victory at George Mason University on Wednesday evening, Jan. 16, and have put up 105 points on Brigham Young University and 92 points on Louisiana State University.
The Minutemen have used the exact same starting five for all 16 of their games, and have four players who average double figures in scoring. Senior guard Chaz Williams leads the way with 16.1 points per game, posing a major threat for the Phoenix defense to handle.
So which Elon team will show up on Saturday? The one that just knocked off Davidson or the one that lost by 38 to Duke on national television? If it’s the former, then the season is more than saved.
The Phoenix and Minutemen will tip off at 7 p.m. inside of Alumni Gym on Saturday night. The game is sold out to the general public.