GAMEDAY CENTRAL
No. 2 Embry-Riddle (15-0, 3-0) at St. Thomas (7-6, 2-2)
DATE: Wednesday, January 14, 2015
CITY: Miami Gardens, Fla.
SITE: Fernandez Family Center
TIP-OFF: 7 p.m. (ET)
LIVE STATS: ERAU Gameday Network
LIVE VIDEO: STU's Livestream
SERIES: ERAU leads 21-20
LAST MEETING: STU, 60-58 • Feb. 12, 2014

THE OPENING TIP
• Embry-Riddle heads back on the road to take on St. Thomas in Miami Gardens.
• The Eagles are off to their best start (15-0) in program history.
• The Eagles are the last undefeated team in NAIA II and the only team without a loss in Sun Conference play.
• Dalton Barnes leads the Blue and Gold offensively, averaging 15.2 ppg overall and 18.2 ppg in TSC action.
• DeForest Carter currently ranks first in the NAIA in steals per game at 4.0 and third in the NAIA in assists per game at 7.1.
• Cesar Pastrana ranks fourth in the country with a 66.1 field goal percentage.
• Wednesday's contest marks ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder's 850th career game.

EMBRY-RIDDLE
The second-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles enter Wedensday's game with an unblemished 15-0 overall record to go along with their 3-0 Sun Conference mark. The Blue and Gold, off to the best start in program history, got past Ave Maria on Saturday, holding off the Gyrenes thanks to a big night from sophomore Dalton Barnes. ERAU is the lone undefeated team in NAIA II and last unbeaten team in Sun Conference play.

ERAU is scoring 80 points per game with a trio players averaging in double-figures: Barnes (15.2), Pastrana (14.0) and Carter (11.6). The Eagles' field goal percentage of 51.6 ranks as the best in The Sun Conference and third-best in the entire country. Embry-Riddle has gotten it done from long range, connecting on nearly 10 threes per game at a 40 percent clip.

Defensively, the Blue and Gold is holding opponents to a 40 percent shooting clip from the floor and 61.4 points per game. The Eagles have been outscored in just four halves of basketball in 2014-15, outrebounding teams by an average of 7.5 per contest.

ST. THOMAS BOBCATS
The Bobcats, last season's Sun Conference regular season champion, got their biggest win of this season on Saturday, downing 13th-ranked Northwood in the Fernandez Family Center. STU (7-7, 2-2) has won two straight and four of its last six, dropping overtime decisions to Edward Waters and Bethel (Ind.).

As a team, the Bobcats are scoring 76.7 points per game, and allowing 69.5. St. Thomas is shooting 44.3 percent from the field, but allowing a conference-worst 44.7 percent to opposing teams. STU forces teams into nearly 20 turnovers per game while dishing out just over 12 assists per outing.

Michael Walker leads four players in double-figures for STU with 13.8 ppg to go along with 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals each game. Lorel Beckford (11.8 ppg, 8.4 rpg) is the team's leading rebounder while Mikon Hewitt averaged 5.4 assists per game.

THE SERIES
No team has defeated Embry-Riddle as many times as St. Thomas in 26 seasons of Eagle basketball. ERAU holds a slim, 21-20 all-time lead in the series, but has dropped two straight and five of the last six contests with STU.

BY THE NUMBERS
1,476 - Points scored by DeForest Carter, No. 14 on the all-time scoring list
1,067 - Points scored by Cesar Pastrana in his career, No. 23 on the all-time scoring list
712 - Career rebounds pulled down by Cesar Pastrana, ranked No. 6 in ERAU career history
680 - Career assists dished out by Carter, most all-time
648 - Career Points scored by Dalton Barnes, just his second season as an Eagle
620 - Wins by Head Coach Steve Ridder now in his 26th season with ERAU men's basketball
.616 - Career Field Goal Percentage by Cesar Pastrana, rnaking third all-time
605 - Career rebounds grabbed by Carter
291 - Career steals recorded by Carter, most all-time
227 - Conference wins in program history
90.9% - Production returning from 2013-14 to this year's squad
26 - Seasons under the guidance of Head Coach Steve Ridder
14 - NAIA National Tournament appearances
10 - Sun Conference Tournament titles
8 - Regular season conference championships
2 - The Eagles' current national ranking
1 - NAIA National Championship (2000)

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Heading into his 26th season at the helm of the ERAU men's basketball program, Head Coach Steve Ridder ranks fifth on the NAIA Division II men's basketball winningest active coaches listing. Ridder has 620 wins in 26 seasons as the Eagles' head coach.