Pioneers Begin Road Trip at Yale on Monday
11/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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After opening the season with a 76-64 win over Quinnipiac at the Connecticut 6 on Friday, the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team begins a six-game road trip at in-state foe Yale on Monday at 7:00 pm.
Scouting Yale... In addition to being selected as the Connecticut 6 preseason favorites, the defending Ivy League co-champions were also chosen preseason favorites of their league, edging out Columbia for first place by just three points despite receiving one less first place vote. The Bulldogs opened the season in similar fashion to SHU, defeating Fairfield 70-57 in the opening game of the Connecticut 6 behind by a team-high 23 points and four assists from Makai Mason. Brandon Sherrod added 20 while leading the team with seven rebounds. They needed only six points from reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, Justin Sears, as they outrebounded the Stags 47-24 en route to a 16-2 advantage in second chance points. A two-time First Team All-Ivy selection and Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention, Sears the team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots in 2014-15, ranking in the top four of the Ivy in each category. Yale's only other returning starter, Jack Montague, scored 13 points on Friday, and averaged 8.3 on a team-leading 2.1 three pointers per game last year. He is also the leading returner with an average of two assists per game. Other than Sears and Montague, Mason was the only returner to average more than 11 minutes per game a season ago.
Series History... Sacred Heart and Yale have met once every season since 2001-02, with the Bulldogs holding a 9-5 edge in the all-time series after their 70-64 victory at the William H. Pitt Center on December 30 of last season. Yale won the first five meetings before the Pioneers were finally victorious in 2006, but the two teams have now split their last ten meetings. SHU's best stretch was from 2008-10, when it three straight. The Bulldogs have only lost once on their home court, going 5-1, and are now 4-2 on the road after last year's win. Sacred Heart has the 2-0 edge in neutral games, with both victories coming at the Connecticut 6 in 2009 and 2012.
Last Meeting... Trailing by as many as 15 in the second half, the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team cut the deficit to one with 3:58 to play, but could never take the lead and ultimately fell to Yale, 70-64, at the William H. Pitt Center on December 30, 2014. The Pioneers shot 51 percent (25-49) from the floor and forced 20 Bulldog turnovers, leading to 23 points, but got outrebounded 38-19.
Career Numbers vs. Yale...
NAME (GP-GS) PPG RPG APG MPG
Tevin Falzon (3-1) 5.7 4.7 0.3 22.0
Cane Broome (1-1) 2.0 3.0 4.0 28.0
Cole Walton (1-1) - 2.0 1.0 9.0
Jordan Allen (1-0) 10.0 2.0 - 21.0
Filip Nowicki (1-0) 2.0 1.0 - 10.0
-Falzon's three points and three rebounds last year were both series lows against the Bulldogs.
-Broome's two points last season were a season-low. His next lowest output was five points.
-Walton's only appearance came in the 2013 meeting.
-Allen shot 5-7 en route to his ten points last year.
Pack the Bags... The six-game road trip will be the longest of the Division I era, and the longest since a seven game stretch to begin the 1998 season, Sacred Heart's last as a Division II program
-With 18 scheduled away games total, SHU is scheduled to tie a program record for road contests in a season. The Pioneers also played 18 in that 1998 season.
-After starting 2014-15 going 1-8 on the road, the Pioneers went an even 3-3 away from home in its last six regular season road contests before its NEC quarterfinal loss at Bryant.
2-0... Sacred Heart last started 2-0 in the 2011-12 season. The Pioneers have only accomplished the feat twice in the Division I era, also doing it 2009-10.
Connecticut 6 Preseason Poll... Sacred Heart was tabbed fourth in the Preseason Connecticut 6 Coaches' Poll released last Tuesday, while Yale was the unanimous preseason favorite, receiving all six first place votes. The Pioneers already defeated the second ranked team in the poll with their victory over the Bobcats on Friday.
1. Yale
2. Quinnipiac
3. Fairfield
4. Hartford
5. Sacred Heart
6. Central Connecticut
All-Time vs. Ivy League... SHU 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 15-23 against foes from the Ivy League, including a current five-game losing streak.
Yale - 5-9
Harvard - 3-5
Brown - 2-4
Columbia - 4-4
Cornell - 1-1
-SHU has not faced Dartmouth, Princeton,
or Penn.
