CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Men's Basketball is set to end its season-opening homestand with the 40th Battle for the Hornets' Nest, sponsored by OrthoCarolina, against Davidson at Halton Arena on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The 49ers are 31-20 in the cross-county rivalry, with a 22-10 mark at home against the Wildcats in 51 overall meetings.
GAME DAY DETAILS
Charlotte (2-0) vs. Davidson (2-0)
Tuesday, Nov. 11 – 7:00 p.m.
Halton Arena – Charlotte, N.C.
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Scouting the Wildcats
A Rivalry Renewed
The Battle for the Hornets' Nest continues into its 40th edition on Tuesday between cross-county foes Charlotte and Davidson. The 51 overall matchups date back to the two programs' first meeting on Feb. 19, 1979. The 49ers and Wildcats have split their last six meetings, a span that includes the former's overtime buzzer-beater from Jackson Threadgill to capture a 68-66 win at Davidson.
Continuing a Legacy
Matt McKillop, a former Davidson standout and longtime assistant, became the program's 19th head coach on June 17, 2022, succeeding his father, Bob McKillop. During his 16 seasons on the staff, the Wildcats have averaged nearly 21 wins per year, captured six regular-season conference titles, three tournament championships, advanced to postseason play 11 times, and produced multiple All-America and conference Players of the Year, including Peyton Aldridge and Jack Gibbs.
A Host of New 'Cats
Davidson added eight newcomers to its 2025-26 roster, including four transfers and four freshmen. The transfer class features Josh Scovens (Army), the 2023 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and 2024 Second Team All-Patriot League pick; Sam Brown (Penn), a 2023 Second Team All-Ivy League honoree who led the conference in scoring at 19.3 points per game; and former four-star recruits Parker Friedrichsen (Wake Forest) and JaQualon "JQ" Roberts (Vanderbilt). The freshmen include RJ Greer, son of Dayton associate head coach Ricardo Greer; Ian Platteeuw, MVP of Spain's gold medal run at the U18 EuroBasket Championships; and Devin Brown, a state champion and Ohio Division I Player of the Year from Olentangy Orange High School. Former student manager John Nowland rounds out the group.
Block Party
Sean Logan has made his impact felt in Davidson's frontcourt through its undefeated start. The 6-foot-10 New Jersey native has a team-high seven blocks, tied for the 10th-most in the country. The forward played a large part in the Wildcats' latest win over Washington State, collecting five swatted shots alongside his eight points in just 18 minutes.
Deep Threats
Davidson has a 53.7% mark from the field so far, including a 43.4% tally from outside the arc. The Wildcats made 12-of-24 attempts from deep against Washington State and are averaging 11.5 three-point makes per game.
Full Rotations
En route to a 2-0 start, Davidson has used several players regularly. Nine Wildcats have played at least 30 minutes this season, and 11 have logged double-digit minutes this year. Davidson has sent 14 players onto the floor in all, led by Scovens and Nick Coval's 46 minutes apiece. The team's latest win over Washington State saw five scorers reach double figures after four did so in its opening win over DeSales.
Game Notes
An Undefeated Clash
The OrthoCarolina Battle for the Hornets' Nest will end the undefeated start for one of the teams competing, as both enter with unblemished records for the first time in series history. The teams last met on Nov. 29, 2022, when they combined for three losses (Charlotte 5-2, Davidson 5-1), but had never faced each other with perfect records entering the game.
A Fast Start
Charlotte has opened the season with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2022-23, when it captured the College Basketball Invitational title over Eastern Kentucky. The 49ers won at least three consecutive games to begin both that season and the one prior.
A Fresh Debut
Freshman Jarne Elouna Eyenga made an immediate impact in Charlotte's opener. In more than 23 minutes of action, the Keerbergen, Belgium, native scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds. He became the first freshman to start for the 49ers since Jackson Threadgill against UAB on Jan. 16, 2021. The American Conference named him its first Freshman of the Week on Monday after he averaged 6.5 points and seven rebounds across his first two games.
So Much For Sophomore Slumps
Ben Bradford's career-high performance set his sophomore season on an early upward track. He scored 31 points, including a personal-best four three-pointers, to lead Charlotte over Indiana State. It was the highest output by a second-year player since Jon Davis scored 35 against Old Dominion on Jan. 21, 2017. Bradford is averaging a team-high 20.5 points per game after posting double figures in each of the team's first two contests. He was named an American Conference weekly honorable mention on Monday.
Spreading the Wealth
Charlotte has opened the season with back-to-back games featuring at least five double-digit scorers. The 49ers accomplished that feat multiple times last year, but not in consecutive games. Major Freeman, Dezayne Mingo, Ben Bradford, and Anton Bonke reached double figures in both contests, while Kylan Blackmon and Jarne Elouna Eyenga each did so once.
Bonke Bonke
Anton Bonke recorded the first double-double of his collegiate career with 10 points and 14 rebounds in Charlotte's season opener. The effort included his first career three-pointer and featured personal bests in both scoring and rebounding. His plus-minus of +22 led all 49ers in the 92-76 win. Bonke followed that performance with a career-best four-block outing against Tennessee Tech while shooting 9-of-10 from the field. It was Charlotte's first points-and-rebounds double-double since Giancarlo Rosado at North Texas on March 6, 2025.
The New Niners
Charlotte's makeup is much different after losing six players to graduation and another five in the NCAA Transfer Portal. In their stead, head coach Aaron Fearne added 12 new Niners to the fold, including eight from the portal and four freshmen. Between the eight transfers, two have experience at power conferences — Ethan Butler's two years at Oregon and ArdenConyers' two at South Carolina. The group combines for 21 seasons of collegiate basketball experience.
Going International
Charlotte's roster consists of eight international players spread across six different countries. Both Dezayne Mingo and Butler hail from Canada, while both David Gomez and Raul Villar come to the Queen City from Spain. Frank Oguche (Australia), Andrew Bailey (Germany), Jarne Elouna Eyenga (Belgium) and Anton Bonke (Vanuatu) round out the 49ers' global roots.
Abundant Opportunity
Charlotte will look to replace each of its top four scorers by total points from last year's roster. Kylan Blackmon's 7.4 points per game represent the greatest average from a returner, while Damoni Harrison's 15.1 points per game with Southern Indiana last season top the list of transfers into the program. Major Freeman (13 PPG) and Dezayne Mingo (12.6 PPG) roundout the top-three, per-game scorers from last year.