Sacred Heart Looks for Season Sweep of Bryant on Saturday
2/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Setting the Scene... Two weeks after Sacred Heart defeated Bryant in Fairfield, 83-66, the two teams meet again in the William H. Pitt Center at 3:30 pm as part of a doubleheader, which starts at 1 pm, with the women.
NEC Standings... Both teams won on Thursday night but only Bryant increased it's standing the conference standings. The Bulldogs are now alone in second with an 8-3 league record, while Sacred Heart remains in eighth, which is the last sport in the conference tournament, at 4-7.
Series History... The two teams first met in Sacred Heart's first ever season as a basketball program in 1965-66, with SHU prevailing 105-85 on January 25. After that meeting, the Bulldogs won five straight between 1966 and 1979, which is tied for the longest ever win streak in the history of the series. After the two teams split the next two meetings from 1979-81, the Pioneers would win 13 of the next 15 matchups from 1985 to 2012, including their own five game win streak from 1998 to 2010. Sacred Heart snapped the Bulldogs' three game winning streak in the last meeting to make the all-time series, 17-12, Sacred Heart. With that edge, Bryant is just one of two teams in the Northeast Conference that Sacred Heart has a winning record against, the other being Fairleigh Dickinson, who SHU now leads, 14-11. Since the Bulldogs became a member of the Northeast Conference in 2008-09, the Pioneers hold an, 8-4, advantage. Sacred Heart won the first four in NEC play and 7 of the first 8. At Sacred Heart, the Pioneers are 10-6 all-time thanks in part to six straight wins spanning between 1985 and 2010. In Smithfield, the series is now tied after SHU's victory in January. The only ever neutral meeting between the two teams came on November 23, 1991 at the Desmont Tip-Off in Albany, NY. SHU was the victor in that game, 95-87.
Last Meeting... The Sacred Heart University did not trail once, as it defeated first place Bryant, 83-66, at the Chace Athletic Center just two weeks ago on January 24. The lone tie of the game occurred in the first half with 11:37 on the clock. After scoring just two points over his previous three games, Tevin Falzon put together a dominating stat line, leading the Pioneers with 19 points on 8-11 shooting, 10 rebounds, and five blocks, all in the second half, for his third double double of the season. Freshman Cane Broome added 18 points on 7-10 from the field and Evan Kelley scored 14. Steve Glowiakwas three rebounds shy of his second straight double double, scoring 11 points. SHU shot 55.9 percent. Dan Garvin led the Bulldogs with a game-high 20 points while Dynami Starks added 15.
Scouting Bryant... After previously losing two straight in conference, including to Sacred Heart, Bryant is a winner of two straight Northeast Conference games to move into solo possession of second place with an 8-3 league mark. After falling by five points, 72-67, to ACC foe Pittsburgh on Monday night, they rebounded to defeat Mount St. Mary's, 55-53, on Thursday evening. The Bulldogs are one of the most efficient defensive teams in the NEC, holding opponents to the third fewest shooting percentage, 43.0, and the fourth fewest points, 66.3. Offensively they are led by a the three point shot and free throw shooting. They lead the conference, making 73.9 percent of their attempts, and from beyond the arch, they rank third making 7.1 triples per game on 34.0 percent shooting. Bryant also the league in turnovers per game, averaging only 11.3 per contest. The Bulldogs are led by preseason All-NEC selection Dyami Starks, who leads the team and ranks second in conference with an average of 17.1 points per game. Starks also leads the league in minutes (37.3), three pointers made (3.0, and free throw percentage (.884). Joe O'Shea and Dan Garvin join Starks in double figures, with averages of 10.8 and 10.4, respectively. Those two also rank in the top twelve of the league in both rebounds and field goal percentage, while Garvin is also fourth in blocks. Shane McLaughlin leads Bryant in assists, tallying 4.2 per contest.
Career Numbers vs. Bryant...
NAME (GP-GS) PPG RPG APG MPG
Phil Gaetano (7-6) 7.0 2.0 6.7 31.0
Kelley (6-6) 7.5 4.2 2.5 29.0
Glowiak (6-2) 9.0 3.0 1.3 22.1
Falzon (4-0) 9.3 6.3 0.8 21.3
De'von Barnett (3-3) 8.0 6.0 1.0 26.0
Broome (1-1) 18.0 4.0 1.0 29.0
Filip Nowicki (1-1) 2.0 5.0 - 12.0
Jordan Allen (1-0) 3.0 3.0 4.0 19.0
-One of Falzon's four double doubles on the year came against Bryant earlier in the season on January 24. He recorded 19 points, on a career-high eight field goals, grabbed 10 rebounds, and added five blocks in 26 minutes.
-Glowiak's past two games against the Bulldogs he has averaged 16 points and five rebounds while averaging 27 minutes.
-Broome's season high in three pointers made (3) came against the Bulldogs in the matchup earlier this year.
-Kelley made a career high 3 three pointers against Bryant on February 19, 2011.
-Barnett tied a career high two blocks at Bryant in January.
-Allen dished out a season high four assists in the win over Bryant.
-Gaetano missed out on a near double double against the Bulldogs on January 24, 2013 when he finished with nine points and 11 assists, which are two shy of his career high.
Working for Baskets... These are two of the three best teams in the NEC in opposing field goal percentage. Sacred Heart leads the way holding foes to just 42.7 percent shooting. The Bulldogs are third, with opponents only making 43.0 percent.
Battle of Tempo... Sacred Heart, which scores the most points and the league and gives up the most points, see its games average 146 points total. The Bulldogs on the other hand, who are in the bottom three in conference in scoring and allow the fourth fewest points, have their games average only 131.
Battle on the Boards.... SHU and the Bulldogs rank third and fourth respectively in rebounding margin. The Pioneers are third, outrebounding rivals by 0.8 per game, while Bryant is right behind them getting outrebounded by just 1.2.
Three Point Disparity... As mentioned, Bryant is one of the better shooting teams from beyond the arch in the NEC, ranking third in both makes per game and percentage. The Pioneers however rank tenth in percentage (.307) and ninth in makes (4.7).
Advantage at the Line... Bryant is the best free throw shooting team in the conference, converting 73.9 attempts form the charity stripe. Sacred Heart on the other hand is the worst, making just 63.8 percent of its foul shots.
Doubling Up... With the win over the Wagner on Thursday, Sacred Heart, who finished 5-26 and 2-14 in NEC play last season, has doubled both its overall and conference win total after improving to 10-14 and 4-7 in the league.
Surpassing February Win Total... A win in any of the seven remaining February games for Sacred Heart would mean surpassing the one win the Pioneers had in February of 2014 and tying the two February wins the team has had in the past two seasons. SHU was 2-14 combined in February in 2013-14.
Conference Sweep... Sacred Heart will be going for its first sweep of a conference opponent since the 2011-12 season, when it swept three opponents, including Bryant.
Happy to be in the Pitt... The Pioneers, who play their third straight in the William H. Pitt Center, have had much more success at home this season as opposed to on the road. The76-5 home record in 2014-15 surpasses the home win total from the past two seasons combined. After the loss to Wagner, SHU is now 2-8 in road contests.
In the Midst of a Tough Stretch... Starting with the game at Bryant two Saturdays ago, Sacred Heart is playing eight straight games against teams in the top six of the Northeast Conference. Its next four are against four of the current top five teams. They have began the first half of the stretch 2-2 after defeating Wagner on Thursday night.
Winning Comfortably... Three of Sacred Heart's four conference wins have been by at least nine points. Of SHU's ten overall wins, eight of them have been by at least seven points.
