HARROGATE, Tenn. – Owning the nation's longest winning streak in NCAA Division II men's basketball, Lincoln Memorial University returns to game action Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena. The Railsplitters begin a three-game homestand by hosting UVA Wise, seeking their 14th consecutive victory and looking to remain perfect both at home and in South Atlantic Conference Play.
 
Presented by Powell Valley National Bank, Wednesday night's affair will mark the first-ever SAC meeting between the two schools who are separated by approximately 80 miles. UVA Wise became fully-fledged members of the SAC over the summer.
 
How to Follow
Wednesday night's contest will be streamed live via SAC Live on Stretch Internet, while live statistics of the game can be followed by visiting LMURailsplitters.com. As usual, in-game updates will be available on LMU Railsplitter athletics' official Twitter account, @LMURailsplitter.
 
Opening Tip
- Currently at 13 games after dropping its season opener to fifth-ranked West Texas A&M in the fourth annual Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Saint Joseph, Missouri, LMU owns the longest win streak in all of Division II basketball. The 13-game winning streak is the Railsplitters' longest since the 2017-18 season.
- LMU is ranked in the top five of both national polls for the first time since ending the 2017-18 season as the top team in the nation. Holding steady at No. 3 in the latest National Association Basketball Coaches (NABC) Top 25 poll released Tuesday afternoon, the Railsplitters climbed two spots to No. 4 in this week's D2SIDA Media Poll. It marks the fourth-straight week LMU has been ranked among the top five teams in the country and 45th week in program history.
- Since Nov. 25, 2019, the Railsplitters have been ranked at the top of the D2SIDA Southeast Region Poll and continue to lead the regional rankings after receiving five first-place votes in Monday's first poll of the new year.
- LMU leads the country in field-goal percentage defense (37.1%) and is one of only two teams among all levels of NCAA basketball to be shooting 80 percent at the free-throw line, 40 percent from beyond the arc and 50 percent from the field. Second-ranked Northwest Missouri State, who is either first or second nationally in all three shooting categories, is the other.
- Outscoring their opponents by an average of 25.7 points, the Railsplitters own the third-highest scoring margin in the land.
- With the ninth-highest scoring average in the nation (93.2 PPG), LMU is holding its adversaries to 67.5 points a game, which is the 30th-lowest scoring defense nationally.
- Owning a 23-9 all-time record versus UVA Wise, who was formerly known as Clinch Valley College, the Railsplitters will be going for their seventh-straight victory against the Cavaliers Wednesday. LMU is 15-1 at home in the series with its lone loss to UVA Wise in Harrogate coming in November of 1996.
- During their six-game winning streak over the Cavaliers, the Railsplitters have won by an average margin of 34.5 points.
 
Fifth Road Win of Season, 13th-Straight Victory
Led by redshirt junior guard Devin Whitfield's season-best 32 points, LMU buried 12 three pointers and shot 48.5 percent from the floor to claim an 87-61 league road win at Newberry Saturday afternoon. Despite being short-handed, the Railsplitters led for all but the opening 1:48 of play and limited the Wolves to 37.3 percent (22-of-59) shooting inside Eleazer Arena for their fifth road triumph of 2019-20.
 
Others Not so Close
Nine of LMU's 13 victories thus far this season have come in dominant fashion. Owning an astounding seven wins by at least 31 points and nine by 20 or more, the Railsplitters have outscored their competition by 360 points through just 14 games. On Dec. 15, LMU defeated visiting NAIA member Tennessee Wesleyan by 60 points (122-62) for its largest margin of victory since pummeling Mars Hill by 87 (156-69) in December of 2017. The Railsplitters have notched wins of 60, 50, 47, 40, 37, 32, 31, 26 and 20 points this season. During its 13-game win streak, LMU has defeated its opponents by an impressive average of 26.9 points.
 
Among Statistical Leaders
In addition to leading the country defensive field-goal percentage and ranking near the top in scoring margin, scoring and scoring defense, the Railsplitters are among the elite teams in the nation in several other offensive and defensive statistical categories. LMU is second nationally in defensive rebounds per game (32.4), third in assists (284), fourth in shooting (52.1%), sixth in assists per game (20.3), eighth in free-throw shooting (80.9%), 10th in three pointers (157), 17th in both three pointers per game (11.2) and assist/turnover ratio (1.51), 20th in three-point shooting (40.1%), 21st in three-point field goal defense (30.1%), 26th in three-point field goal attempts (392), 28th in steals (126) and 31 in both steals per game (9.0) and total rebounds (561).
 
McCauley as Player of the Week
Prior to the Christmas break, sophomore standout guard Courvoisier McCauley became the second Railsplitter to be named SAC AstroTurf Player of the Week on Monday, Dec. 23. The 6-foot-5 swingman had his most impressive outing of his collegiate career Wednesday, Dec. 18 by scoring a career-high 44 points in the 97-77 home win over Lenoir-Rhyne. Going 17-for-25 from the field and 8-for-10 from beyond the arc, McCauley's 44 points were the most scored by an LMU player in a single game in the program's NCAA era and the most since Nick Sanford also scored 44 against Saint Michael's in 1987. Furthermore, his 44 points tied for the seventh-most in a single game in Railsplitter history. McCauley pulled down a season-high 11 rebounds and dished out four assists to help LMU defeat the Bears, before notching 14 points and making a steal in the thrilling 77-75 win at Kentucky Wesleyan. The Indianapolis native averaged 29 points on 61.1 percent (22-of-36) shooting, including 66.7 percent (10-of-15) from three-point distance, 7.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists for the week. There has been no sophomore slump for the guard who ranks among national leaders in several offensive statistical categories, including ninth in three pointers made (50), 20th in three pointers per game (3.6), 23rd in points scored (291), 24th in three-point attempts (109), 27th in made field goals (109), 31st in both three-point percentage (45.9%) and field goal attempts (209), and 37th in scoring (20.8 PPG). Whitfield was also tabbed SAC AstroTurf Player of the Week on Nov. 25.  
 
Whitfield a 1,000-Point Scorer
It took redshirt junior guard Whitfield just five games to get acclimated into head coach Josh Schertz' offensive system after transferring to Harrogate from fellow Division II member Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville and sitting out the 2018-19 season. The 6-foot-5 wingman has reached double-figure scoring in eight of his last 10 games and is coming off his best performance donning the Blue and Gray. Going 11-for-18 from the floor and 5-for-10 from beyond the arc, Whitfield scored 10 points during a 12-3 Railsplitter run late in the first half at Newberry Saturday and racked up 20 with four three pointers during a 7:37 stretch of play spanning across both halves. The Lipscomb, Alabama, native finished with a season-high 32 points in the road win over the Wolves and now owns two 30-point outings this season after totaling 31 points in LMU's 37-point road rout of Wingate on Nov. 23. He has has scored 20 points or more on seven different occasions. Whitfield currently ranks seventh in the nation and leads the SAC in free-throw percentage (92.7%) among those who meet NCAA minimums, while ranking 37th nationally in three-point shooting (45.3%). After scoring a remarkable 907 points in two seasons at Trevecca Nazarene, Whitfield scored his 1,000th career point during the win at Wingate. Whitfield has amassed an astonishing 1,156 points in only 65 collegiate games played.
 
Decade of Excellence
Closing the books on one of the best decades of basketball among all NCAA levels, LMU achieved unheralded success from 2010 until the start of 2020 last week. Below are some of the Railsplitters' biggest accomplishments.

• 254-50 (.836) overall record
• 148-13 (.919) record inside Tex Turner Arena
• 174-28 (.861) SAC record
• 11 SAC titles, including seven regular season championships (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) and four SAC Tournament titles (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018)
• Eight-straight NCAA Tournament appearances (2011-18)
• Two Elite Eight appearances (2016 and 2017)
• Two national semifinal appearances (2016 and 2017)
• One NCAA title game appearance (2016)
• Eight All-Americans (Emanuel Terry, 2018; Dorian Pinson, 2018; Chris Perry, 2017; Luquon Choice, 2017; Gerel Simmons, 2016; Lorenza Ross, 2015; Vincent Bailey, 2014; Desmond Johnson, 2011)
• 37 All-SAC selections with 18 first-team picks

Railsplitters at Home
Inside Tex Turner Arena, the Railsplitters have registered a .928 (142-11) winning percentage over the past 10 seasons. Entering the 2019-20 season, LMU ranked sixth nationally at home in all of college basketball since 2010-11 with a .925 (135-11) winning percentage. Only West Liberty (.953), Bellarmine (.949), Kansas (.947), Kentucky (.942) and Duke (.929) owned a higher home court winning percentage than the Railsplitters during that span. Since coach Schertz took over the reins of the program prior to the 2008-09 campaign, LMU has gone 165-16 (.911) in home affairs.
 
Standard of Success
The Railsplitters have finished within the top two of the final SAC standings each of the last nine years, spent 95-straight weeks in the national rankings from December 2010 to December 2016 and completed the season as the top team in the country in two of the last four seasons. LMU is one of only four Division II programs to have posted 20 wins or more for 10 consecutive years. Only West Liberty (15), Bellarmine (11) and Indiana Pa. (11) can say the same. The Railsplitters have also reached the NCAA Tournament eight of the last nine seasons.
 
Coach Schertz Among the Elite
Since taking over the LMU men's basketball program in March of 2008, head coach Josh Schertz has amassed a remarkable 299-65 (.821) record over 12 seasons. Entering the 2019-20 season, Schertz' career winning percentage (.817) was the fifth-highest of all head coaches in college basketball history at any NCAA level. Furthermore, Schertz ranks third among active head coaches with at least 10 years at the helm - Jim Crutchfield, Nova Southeastern (.845) and Mark Few, Gonzaga (.826) - and owns the second-highest winning percentage among Division II leaders.
 
UVA Wise | 2019-20 Record: 5-7, 1-5 SAC

• Picked to finish 11th in the 12-team conference according to the SAC's preseason poll, the Cavaliers are in their first season competing in the league after being members of the Mountain East Conference. UVA Wise went 9-20 overall a year ago and tied for ninth in the 12-team MEC with a 6-16 conference mark.
• The Cavaliers enter Wednesday with SAC losses at Queens University of Charlotte (90-66), at Tusculum (86-84), versus Newberry (73-67), at Catawba (109-87) and versus Mars Hill (92-87). UVA Wise's lone league win came at home, a 90-75 victory over Anderson (Nov. 30).
• Led by seventh-year head coach Blake Mellinger, the Cavaliers feature three double-figure scorers in 6-foot-4 sophomore guard Cameron Whiteside (17.8 PPG), redshirt sophomore 6-foot-4 guard Briggs Parris (16.8 PPG) and sophomore 6-foot-5 forward Kaeleb Carter (12.0 PPG).
• Parris was a preseason All-SAC Second Team selection, while senior 6-foot-7 forward Eric Okenchi leads the team in rebounding (5.8 RPG). Senior 6-foot-4 guard Chance Sheffey is UVA Wise's top assist man (5.8 APG).

 
Looking Ahead
The Railsplitters continue their three-game homestand Saturday afternoon when 22nd-ranked Catawba visits Tex Turner Arena for a 4 p.m. tip-off. Next Wednesday, Jan. 15, LMU hosts Mars Hill before hitting the road for a pair of games.
 
LMU L-Club
All LMU L-Club members receive basketball season tickets with premium seating available through silver and platinum memberships. Additional membership benefits include discounts at community partner locations, exclusive e-mail communications, VIP basketball parking and Tex Turner Arena hospitality room access. Become an LMU L-Club member today by visiting LMURailsplitters.com.  
 
On Social
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Railsplitter basketball throughout the 2019-20 season.