SHU Travels to Rutgers Tuesday for 7 PM Tip on Big Ten Network
12/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sacred Heart (6-4, 0-0 NEC) at Rutgers (6-5, 0-0 Big Ten)
December 23, 2014 7:00 pm - The Rutgers Athletic Center (8,000) - Piscataway, N.J
Setting the Scene... After matching its win total from all of 2013-14 with a win on Saturday over New Hampshire, the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team travels to Rutgers for a 7 pm tip on Tuesday looking for its first ever win over a Big Ten opponent. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Series History... The Pioneers have Scarlet Knights have faced each other twice, happening in back-to-back seasons in 2011 and 2012. Both contests have been played at the Rutgers Athletic Center. The first meeting was a 91-75 victory for the Scarlet Knights on November 17, 2011. The following year, the Scarlet Knights were victorious 88-62 on November 12.
Last Meeting... The Rutgers Scarlet Knights shot 54.4 percent and had five players in double figures, led by sophomore Eli Carter's 18, on their way to dealing Sacred Heart an 88-62 loss November 12, 2012. The Pioneers got outscored 56-24 in the paint. Freshman Tevin Falzon (Newton, MA) hit for 10 points, his first career double digit outing.
All-Time vs. Big Ten... This will only be the Pioneers' sixth ever matchup with a Big Ten Opponent, including the second this season. SHU fell to Ohio State earlier in the year:
January 4, 2003: Lost at Minnesota, 79-46
November 27, 2004: Lost at Penn State, 69-61
December 23, 2008: Lost at Penn State, 73-65
November 25, 2009: Lost at Penn State, 87-75
November 23, 2014: Lost at Ohio State, 104-48
Scouting Rutgers... The Scarlet Knights are coming off a, 73-68, loss to fellow Northeast Conference member Saint Francis U on Saturday. The loss dropped them to 6-5 to start the year. Defensively, Rutgers holds opponents to just 40.7 percent shooting from the floor and an average of 63.1 points per game, but are only shooting 38.1 percent as a team and scoring 58.9 points per contest. Individually, the Scarlet Knights have three that average double digit points, led by Kadeem Jack and Myles Mack at 13.8 and 13.2 points per game, respectively. Jack is also the leading rebounder at 7.4 per contest, while Mack leads the team in assists, averaging just under five each time out. Mack is also the leading three-point shooter with 19 made 3-point FG on the year. Junior Etou is teams third leading scorer and second leading rebounder, averaging 10.5 points and 6.8 rebounds.
Common Opponent... Both Sacred Heart and Rutgers have defeated New Hampshire this year. The Scarlet Knights beat the Wildcats, 60-56, on December 9, while SHU was victorious, 73-60, on Saturday.
Career Numbers vs. Rutgers...
NAME (GP-GS) PPG RPG APG MPG
Phil Gaetano (2-2) 3.5 1.5 5 30
Steve Glowiak (2-0) 9.5 2 2 17.5
Evan Kelley (1-1) 16 2 4 28
Falzon (1-0) 10 3 1 11
Matching Last Year's Win Total... With the win over New Hampshire, Sacred Heart surpassed its win total from the entire 2013-14 season with six, in just the tenth game of the season.
Winning Five of Six... After going 1-3 to start the season, the Pioneers are 5-1 in their past six games. It is the first time the program has won five of six games since winning six of seven from December 8, 2010 - January 8, 2011.
-That stretch was also the last time that SHU has had two three-game winning streaks in one season.
Ten Games In... The 6-4 start through ten games is the best ten game start for Sacred Heart since the 2009-10 season, when the Pioneers also started 6-4 through ten games. That season, the team won eight of its first twelve games to begin the campaign.
Hot Shooting in Four Straight.. SHU has shot at least 52.5 percent in each of the last four games. The Pioneers only shot 50 percent three times all of last year. The previous time that they have shot a percentage that well in four straight was a stretch from February 19-28, 2012.
-Sacred Heart boasts three of the top four qualified NEC leaders in FG percentage (Min 3 FG/game): Jordan Allen (1st, .679), De'von Barnett (3rd, .550), and Cane Broome (4th, .509).
Enjoying December... After only averaging 63.2 points on 40.1 percent shooting while going 2-3 in November, Sacred Heart is averaging 82 points on 53.8 percent shooting in en route to a 4-1 December record.
First Rated Offense... SHU ranks first in the NEC in both scoring offense (72.6) and FG percentage (.470).
-In wins, the offense is averaging 78.5 points on 53.3 percent shooting, while in losses the offense has only managed 63.8 points per game on 38.1 percent shooting from the floor.
Spreading the Scoring... Sacred Heart is the only team in the NEC with four players averaging at least 10 points per game (Cane Broome - 14.6, Evan Kelley - 13.4, De'von Barnett - 10.4, Jordan Allen - 10.2).
Stingy Defense... The Pioneer defense ranks first in the NEC in FG percentage defense, holding opponents to 41.8 percent shooting.
-Sacred heart has held five out of ten opponents to under 40 percent shooting, a feat it only accomplished seven times all of last season. In those games, SHU is 4-1, with the only loss coming against UMass Lowell.
-Despite being first in FG percentage defense, they still rank 8th in ppg allowed (70.5).
-In games where opponents are shooting under 50 percent, the Pioneers are 6-2.
600 Career Assists... With seven assists on Saturday, Gaetano became the fourth player in the history of the Northeast Conference to surpass 600 career assists. With two more assists, he will move into third place all time in the NEC for assists. Gaetano started the season in tenth place on the list with 545 for his career. Through just ten games he has already passed six players. He is currently the active leader in the NEC in assists.
Rookie of the Week... Broome picked up his second NEC Rookie of the Week honor in three weeks on Monday, after his near perfect shooting performance en route to a career-high 25 points on Saturday against New Hampshire. For the game, he went 10-11 from the floor, 2-3 from three-point range, and 3-4 from the line. Broome was at his best in the second half, scoring 14 of his 25 on 5-5 shooting from the field, and 3-4 from the charity stripe. For the game, he added four rebounds, two steals, and one assists in 34 minutes of action. The ten made field goals were also a career-best, and were the first 10 FG performance by a Sacred Heart player since Evan Kelley made 12 against Holy Cross on November 14, 2013.
