Sacred Heart Ready for Home Opener on Saturday
12/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sacred Heart (1-6, 0-0 NEC) vs. Lafayette (2-7, 0-0 Patriot)
Saturday, December 12, 2015 - 3:30 pm - William H. Pitt Center (2,067) - Fairfield, Conn.
Tickets | Video | Live Stats | Game Notes
Nearly a month into the season, the Sacred Heart men's basketball team will finally play its home-opener when Lafayette visits the William H. Pitt Center on Saturday at 3:30 pm. The game will follow the conclusion of the Pioneer women's game, which begins at 1 pm.
Welcome Home... SHU is one of just eight programs in Division I basketball yet to play a home game, joining Monmouth, Central Arkansas, Arkansas Pine Bluff, Texas Southern, Alcorn State, Prairie View A&M and Mississippi Valley State.
-This will be the latest home opener in the Division I era for SHU, and the first in December since 2002.
-It is the latest home opener for the Pioneers since 1998, which also came on December 12.
Home Cookin... Returning to the William H. Pitt Center will be a welcomed felling for the Pioneers. After going 1-10 at the William H. Pitt Center in 2013-14, Sacred Heart went 10-5 at home last year. It was the first time the Pioneers won ten games at home since the 2008-09 season, when it went 10-4 for the year.
Home-Openers... Sacred Heart is 33-17 all-time in home openersincluding winning 21 of their first 22. Since moving to Division I in 1999, SHU has gone 7-9 in home-openers, inclduing three in a row after a 57-54 loss against UMass Lowell in 2014.
-As a Division II team, the Pioneers were 26-8 in thier first home game of the season
Scouting Lafayette... The Leopards enter Saturday's game losers of three straight after a two point, 91-89, overtime lost to Northeast Conference member Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday. They are now 0-2 against NEC opponents this season, also falling to St. Francis Brooklyn, 69-62, on December 2. Lafayette has been plagued on the defensive end, as it is last in the Patriot League allowing 85.4 points per game with opponents shooting 47.1 percent. The Leopards are also last in the league, getting outrebounded by an average off 11.1 per game. They are much more efficient on the offensive ends, leading the conference with a 74.6 percent free throw percentage and ranking in the top five of the conference in points per game, field goal percentage, assists per game, turnovers per game and assists to turnover margin. Individually, Preseason All-Patriot preseason selection leads the team with and ranks in the top four of the Patriot League with averages of 17.7 points and 5.2 assists, while Matt Kilnewski is in the top six scoring 15.2 points and grabbing a team-high 6.4 rebounds, as well as shooting 53.8 percent from the field and 82.6 percent from the line.
Series History... Sacred Heart and Lafayette have met every year since 2009, with each game except the first being decided by seven points or less. After SHU won two of the first three meetings, the Leopards have now won three in a row, including an 82-81 thriller last season, to take a 4-2 lead in the all-time series. The Pioneers have had success in the William H. Pitt Center, winning two of three, but are 0-3 in Easton.
11/15/09 - W, 81-70 (Home)
12/6/10 - L, 76-71 (Away)
12/11/11 - W, 84-79 (Home)
12/9/12 - L, 72-70 (Away)
12/7/13 - L, 86-79 (Home)
12/8/14 - L, 82-81 (Away)
Last Meeting... With the game tied at 81-81 and time winding down, Lafayette's Dan Trist rebounded an air ball and got fouled on the put back attempt with 0.4 seconds remaining. After missing the first foul shot, Trist nailed the second to put the Leopards up 82-81. On the ensuing inbound, Steve Glowiak's half court effort missed off the rim, sealing the one-point victory on December 8 of last year. The Pioneers shot 52.5 percent shooting and had four players score in double figures, led by a double double of 18 points and 11 rebounds from De'von Barnett.
All-Time vs. Patriot League... Following its loss to Holy Cross on November 25, SHU is 14-18 all-time vs. teams currently in the Patriot League, having never played American, Boston University, Bucknell, or Navy.
Army 3-3 Lehigh 2-4
Holy Cross 5-7 Loyola 1-0
Lafayette 2-4 Colgate 1-0
Pioneer Points...
- After scoring at least 18 points in each of the first five games, Cane Broome has averaged just 8.5 points in the previous two games. Despite this, he is still second in the Northeast Conference scoring an average of 18.0 points per game.
- Quincy McKnight has won three of the first four Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week awards to begin the season. Including Broome winning the final two of 2014-15, SHU has now won five of the previous six dating back to last season.
- With 18 points at UConn and 16 at Towson, Jordan Allen is coming off his two highest scoring outputs of the season and currently ranks second on the team and 13th in the NEC with an average of 13.1 points per game.
- Sophomore Filip Nowicki is coming off a season-high eight points last Saturday at Towson.
- Cavan LaRose and Travis Berry appeared in their first career game last Saturday at Towson.
