Men's Basketball Continues Road Trip At St. Francis Brooklyn Thursday
1/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Game Notes | NEC Front Row | Live Stats
Sacred Heart (6-11, 1-3 NEC) at St. Francis Brooklyn (4-13, 2-2 NEC)
Thursday, Jan. 12 - 7 PM
Pope Physical Education Center - Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.
Setting the Scene... Sacred Heart opens another road NEC weekend Thursday night at St. Francis Brooklyn.
Last Time Out... SHU moved to 1-3 in the NEC last Saturday with a 75-64 loss at Wagner. The Pioneers trailed by 12 early in the second half but closed the gap to three, 63-60, with 3:27 to play. The Seahawks closed the game on a 12-4 run. Matej Buovac made five three-pointers to lead SHU with 15 points. De'von Barnett added 14 points, going 7-for-11 from the field. Wagner's Corey Henson led all players with 24 points and seven assists.
All-Time vs. St. Francis Brooklyn... The Terriers lead the all-time series with Sacred Heart 20-10. The two teams split last season's series with the home side winning each matchup. SHU last won in Brooklyn Heights on Feb. 26, 2009.
Last Meeting... Led by 28 points from Cane Broome, Sacred Heart earned a 74-70 win over St. Francis Brooklyn at the Pitt Center on Feb. 4, 2016. SHU shot 50% from the field in the first half to take a 39-31 lead. Tevin Falzon had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Allen added 12 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. Tyreek Jewell led St. Francis Brooklyn with 29 points. The Pioneers' win snapped a six-game losing streak against the Terriers.
Sharing the Basketball... Sacred Heart leads the NEC in assists, averaging 14.76 per game. SHU had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio for the third consecutive game last Saturday with 16 assists to 15 turnovers at Wagner. The Pioneers have had at least 15 assists in each of the last seven games, averaging 16.1 per game during that stretch. In NEC play, SHU has assisted on 67% of its made field goals.
Paint It Red And White... Sacred Heart has scored at least 30 points in the paint in six of the last seven games. SHU scored 40 of its 64 points in the Jan. 5 win at Central Connecticut in the lane. The Pioneers had a season-high 46 points in the paint at Santa Clara on Nov. 21. SHU has scored at least half of its points in the paint in eight games this season. Sacred Heart is fifth in the NEC in field goal percentage (.433) and scoring offense (70.2 points per game), as well as third in free throw percentage (.704).
Buovac Off The Bench... Senior Matej Buovac led SHU with 15 points at Wagner last Saturday. He made a career-high five three-pointers in the game. Over the last five games, Buovac has averaged 9.6 points per game while shooting 40.7% from the three-point arc.
Scouting the Terriers... Picked to finish seventh in the NEC Preseason Poll, one spot ahead of the Pioneers, St. Francis Brooklyn is 2-2 in the league after a 62-58 loss at Robert Morris Saturday. Glenn Sanabria led the Terriers with 20 points as Rasheem Dunn added 13 off the bench. Sanabria leads St. Francis Brooklyn in scoring at 14.5 points per game with Dunn second at 13.2. Keon Williams leads the Terriers with 5.8 rebounds per game.
