Pioneers Look to Bounce Back at Brown on Sunday
12/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Setting the Scene... Coming off a 25-point loss to Rutgers on Tuesday, Sacred Heart will look to bounce back against Ivy League foe Brown on Tuesday at 2 pm.
Series History... The Pioneers and Bears faced off in each of the past five seasons, with Brown holding a 3-2 edge in the series after an, 85-73, win at Sacred Heart last season on November 16. It was the first time that an away team has won in the history of the series.
December 30, 2009 at Sacred Heart: SHU, 83-78
November 20, 2010 at Brown: Brown, 81-67
November 27, 2011 at Sacred Heart: SHU, 77-64
November 29, 2012 at Brown: Brown, 69-56
November 16, 2013 at Sacred Heart: Brown, 85-73
Last Meeting... Louis Montes (Brockton, Mass.) scored a season-high 24 points Saturday as the Sacred Heart men's basketball team dropped its 2013-14 home opener to the Brown, 85-73. Montes went 8-for-13 from the field and made five three-pointers. He also added five rebounds. Chris Evans (Stamford, Conn.) scored 23 points and added four rebounds and three steals. Evan Kelley (Norwalk, Conn.) added 14 points. Brown shot 55.9% in the game to Sacred Heart's 48.1% and outrebounded the Pioneers 32-22. The Pioneers did force 18 Brown turnovers and turned them into 25 points. McGonagill led all players with 23 points as five Brown players scored in double-figures Saturday.
All-Time vs. Ivy League... Sacred Heart has faced five of the eight Ivy League schools and does not have a winning record against any of them. All time, the Pioneers are 15-20 against foes from the Ivy League, including a current three-game losing streak.
Harvard - 3-5
Yale - 5-7
Columbia - 4-4
Cornell - 1-1
-SHU has not faced Dartmouth, Princeton, or Penn.
Scouting Brown... After starting the season losing five of their first six games, the Bears have bounced back to win five of their last six games, including a, 67-55, win over Northeast Conference foe Central Connecticut last Monday. Brown has also defeated fellow NEC member Bryant, 69-62, earlier in December on the sixth. The Bears are scoring 66.8 points per game on 43.1 percent shooting, while giving up 69.9 points and holding opponents to 42.1 percent from the floor. They are outrebounding opponents by 2.6 per contest, but average 17.2 turnovers for a turnover margin of - 5.2. Brown's two leading scorers are also its second and third leading rebounders. Leland King is first in scoring and second in rebounding, averaging 14.8 points and 7.2 rebounds. Cedric Kuakumensah is second on the team in scoring and third in rebounding, scoring 12.1 points per game and grabbing 6.8 rebounds. Steven Spieth joins the two in averaging double digits with 10.7 points per contest. Leading the Bears in rebounds per game is Rafael Maia, who averages 7.5, to go along with 7.8 points. Tavon Blackmon is the leading assist man at 3 per game, and also contributes nine points per contest. JR Hobbie averages 2.2 three-pointers each time out.
Common Opponent... Both Sacred Heart and Brown have played against Holy Cross this season. SHU defeated the Crusaders, 81-68, on December 6, while the Bears fell, 80-65, on November 19.
Career Numbers vs. Brown...
NAME (GP-GS) PPG RPG APG MPG
Phil Gaetano (3-2) 3.3 3.7 5.3 30
Kelley (3-2) 9.7 0.7 1 27.3
Steve Glowiak (2-0) 7.5 3 - 18
Tevin Falzon (2-0) 3 3 0.5 17
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.
Ten Games In... The 6-4 start through ten games was 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.
-The last time SHU won seven games before the turn of the new year was 2011, when it won seven.
A Winning Month.... A win in over either Brown or Yale would clinch a winning month, which is something Sacred Heart has not had since going 6-3 in January of 2013.
Winning in the Afternoon and on the Weekend... The Pioneers are 5-1 on the weekend this season, as opposed to 1-4 during the week. SHU is also 4-1 in games played before 6 PM local time, while it is 2-4 when the games start after.
Road Worries... The Pioneers have lost 11 of their last 13 on the road, including a 1-4 start this season.
Enjoying December... After only averaging 63.2 points on 40.1 percent shooting while going 2-3 in November, Sacred Heart is averaging 77.3 points on 49.6 percent shooting en route to a 4-2 December record.
Top Two Offense... SHU ranks in the top two of the NEC in both scoring offense (70.9) and FG percentage (.452).
-In wins, the offense is averaging 78.5 points on 53.3 percent shooting, while in losses the offense has only managed 61.8 points per game on 36.1 percent shooting from the floor.
-At the William H. Pitt Center, the Pioneers average 76.6 points on 50.2 percent shooting, as opposed to 61.8 points per contest on 38.4 percent shooting away from home.
Spreading the Scoring... Sacred Heart is the only team in the NEC with four players in the top 20 of the league in scoring:
Cane Broome 6th 14.4 ppg
Evan Kelley 12th 12.6 ppg
De'von Barnett 17th 10.5 ppg
Jordan Allen 20th 9.7 ppg
Stingy Defense... The Pioneer defense ranks second in the NEC in FG percentage defense, holding opponents to 42.5 percent shooting.
-Sacred heart has held five out of eleven 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 (71.3).
-In the nine games where opponents are shooting under 50 percent, the Pioneers are 6-3.
