Pioneers Head to FDU Thursday for Final Regular Season Road Contest
2/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Game 30: Sacred Heart (13-16, 7-9 NEC) at Fairleigh Dickinson (7-20, 2-14 NEC)
February 26, 2015 7:00 pm - Rothman Center - Teaneck, N.J.
Setting the Scene... The Sacred Heart University men's basketball team travels to Fairleigh Dickinson for a 7 pm tip on Thursday night, looking to improve on its seeding for the upcoming NEC tournament that will begin next Wednesday, March 4.
NEC Standings... After its loss last Saturday at Central Connecticut, the Pioneers are currently in eighth place at 7-9, one game back of a three-way tie for the fifth spot. The Knights are now alone in the tenth sport with a 2-14 league mark.
Series History... Fairleigh Dickinson is one of two Northeast Conference teams that Sacred Heart has a winning record against, the other being Bryant. After the win earlier this season on January 22, SHU leads the all-time series 14-11, including winning four of the past five. The two teams first met in in Sacred Heart's first season as a Division I school in 2000, with all meeting being as members of the NEC. The Pioneers hold the edge both at home and on the road against the Knights. At the William H. Pitt Center, the Pioneers are 8-6 all-time, including having won five of seven and three straight. In Teaneck, SHU has also had the upper hand as of late, having won four of the past six, although FDU did win last season. Both teams have won four unanswered in the series. SHU did so from 2001-03 and the Knights accomplished it from 2005-07.
Last Meeting...In a game that was not decided until minutes after the final buzzer, the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team survived to defeat Fairleigh Dickinson, 78-77, in overtime on January 22 at the William H. Pitt Center. A lengthy video review determined Darian Anderson was still in possession of the ball before he got off the potential game-winning shot that would end up falling. De'von Barnett led the Pioneers with a team-high 18 points, including going 8-9 from the line for his sixth straight game in double figures, and Steve Glowiak registered the first double double of his career with 13 points and 10 rebounds. SHU, who let a nine point lead slip away in the final 1:33 of regulation, snapped a four game losing streak. Mustafaa Jones scored a game-high 22 points, while Anderson added 21 in the loss for FDU. Evan Kelley scored the eventual game deciding point, going 1-2 from the foul line with just 1:23 remaining in the overtime period. Kelley's free throw came 1:01 after Barnett had broken a 75-75 tie with his layup. A layup by Marques Townes with 1:04 on the clock to cut the deficit to one turned out to be the last point of the game.
Scouting Fairleigh Dickinson... After starting the season 7-6, including 2-0 in the Northeast Conference, the Knights have lost 14 consecutive games, and are coming off a, 75-64, defeat at Mount St. Mary's last Saturday. FDU is led by Mustafaa Jones, who scores 13.6 points on 2.6 made three pointers per contest, which ranks second in the conference. He also ranks in the top seven of the NEC in free throw percentage, steals, and three-point field goal percentage. Darian Anderson is the team's second leading scorer, averaging 11.0 per game, and is also leading the team in assists with an average of 2.7. Anderson is third in the league in steals, averaging 1.7 each time out. Marques Townes and Matt MacDonald average 9.2 and 9.0 points respectively, while Xavier Harris leads Fairleigh Dickinson with an average of 5.3 rebounds.
Career Numbers vs. Fairleigh Dickinson...
NAME (GP-GS) PPG RPG APG MPG
Phil Gaetano (5-5) 5.6 2.8 6.0 33.2
Steve Glowiak (5-4) 10.0 3.2 1.4 28.6
Evan Kelley (5-3) 10.6 3.6 0.8 30.2
Tevin Falzon (4-0) 4.0 4.5 1.3 13.0
De'von Barnett (3-3) 15.3 75.0 0.7 34.0
Cane Broome (1-1) 13.0 6.0 3.0 34.0
Filip Nowicki (1-1) 2.0 6.0 - 19.0
Jordan Allen (1-0) 2.0 6.0 2.0 28.0
Chris Robinson (1-0) 7.0 2.0 1.0 9.0
-Steve Glowiak registered his first career double double against the Knights on January 22, scoring 13 points to go along with a career high 10 rebounds. Glowiak has averaged 12.5 points in his last 4 meetings with FDU.
-Barnett made career high 8 free throws against Fairleigh Dickinson earlier this year. He has scored 18 points in each of the last two meetings.
-Chris Robinson had his best stat line of the season on January 22, scoring a career high seven points, to go along with two rebounds and an assist in just nine minutes.
-Gaetano has at least five assists in each meeting.
-Kelley has scored at least eight points in each matchup.
-Nowicki's conference high in minutes, 19, as well as rebounds, 6, came on January 22.
-Falzon played a season low eight minutes on in the first meeting.
Working For Stops...Thursday's matchup will feature two of the three bottom three teams in the Northeast Conference in opponent's points per game, as Sacred Heart ranks eighth allowing 73.0, and FDU is last, allowing 73.1.
Edge on the Glass... The Pioneers are in the top three in the league in both rebounds (37.9) and rebounding margin (+ 0.9). They will look to control the glass against FDU, who is last in the league in both rebounding (30.2) and rebounding margin (-8.6).
Assist Factor... This game features the top assist team in the Northeast Conference against the bottom assist team. Sacred Heart leads the way with an average of 14.4, while the Knights are only averaging 10.9 per game.
Turnover Disparity.... The Knights are atop of the NEC in steals (8.7), leading to a turnover margin of + 2.5, which is best in the conference. They will look to exploit that against SHU, who is eighth in the league with a turnover margin of - 0.3.
Welcome Back... With the win over Robert Morris last Thursday, SHU clinched its first postseason playoff birth since 2012. The Pioneers had missed three of the previous four NEC tournaments. Sacred Heart will travel to a top four seed for the Quarterfinals next Wednesday.
Top Five... Thursday will be the second straight game against a team below the Pioneers in the conference standings. Prior to Saturday at CCSU, Sacred Heart had played eighth straight games against teams in the top five of the league at the time of the game. After winning against Robert Morris last Thursday, the Pioneers finished that stretch 5-3.
Going for the Sweep... Sacred Heart will be going for the two game sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson for the first time since 2008. SHU has swept Bryant this season but prior to that, it had not completed the sweep of a conference opponent since the 2011-12 season, when it swept three opponents.
Road Struggles... After the loss to Central Connecticut last Saturday, Sacred Heart is now 3-11 on the road in 2014-15.
-With the home win last Thursday, the Pioneers are 9-5 in the William H. Pitt Center. The nine wins are the most for the program since a 9-4 home campaign in the 2009-10 season.
Double Digit Threes... Sacred Heart made ten three pointers on Saturday for the first time in 51 games. The last time SHU made at least ten was on December 4, 2013, when it made 12 at Hofstra.
One Possession Games... After the three point to loss to Central on Saturday, the Pioneers are now 2-6 in games decided by three points or less this season. One of those wins came against Fairleigh Dickinson on January 22.
Starters Scoring... SHU starters scored 62 of the team's 73 points on Saturday. That percentage, 84.9, is the second highest total this season behind the 88.9 percent they scored at Brown on December 28.
-Sacred Heart is now 0-4 when starters score at least 78 percent of the team's points.
Quite Some February... With one more win, Sacred Heart would clinch its first winning month since January of 2013, when it went 6-3. The Pioneers have started the month 4-2, doubling its win total from the past two Februarys combined. The Pioneers won one game each in the month the past two campaigns.
