Game Notes    Watch LiveStats

The Sacred Heart University men's basketball team begins a regular-season ending two-game home stand on Thursday, when it hosts Saint Francis Brooklyn at 7:00 pm. The Pioneers have secured a home quarterfinal game, while the Terriers are tied for seventh and are looking to secure a postseason berth. The game will air on SNY and NEC Front Row, with Randy Brochu on the play-by-play, Joe DeSantis as the analyst and Geno Gonnello on the sideline.

Quick Hitters (Rankings through 2/23)

• The Pioneers are assured of a winning season for the first time since the 2009-10 team captured a 15-14 record
• A win by the Pioneers would equal the 2007-07 and 2007-08 teams for the most wins in a Division I season (18)
• The Pioneers are 9th in the nation at 40.71 rebounds per game and fifth with 1,140 total rebounds
• E.J. Anosike is 9th in the NCAA at 11.3 RPG and 5th with 329 boards
• Jare'l Spellman ranks 8th in the nation with 74 blocks
• The Pioneers have hit 76.9% from the stripe the last five games (83-108) after shooting 66.7 percent in the first 11 NEC games

Within NEC Play

• SHU ranks fourth, in NEC play, in both scoring offense, 70.1 points a game, and scoring defense, 66.2 ppg
• The Pioneers are tied for second in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 41.5 percent from the field
• The Pioneers are a league-best +6.9 in rebounding margin
• E.J. Anosike (15.2) and Koreem Ozier (13.4) rank 6th and 12th in scoring against NEC foes
• Anosike leads the league at 11.9 rebounds per game in conference action
• Jare'l Spellman has a league-best 40 blocked shots and 2.5 a game in league play
• The Pioneers are shooting 42.8 percent from the field 35.2 percent from behind the arc and 69.8 percent from the line against league foes
• The Pioneers hold seeding tiebreakers over Bryant, Mount, CCSU and Wagner, while SFU and RMU hold tiebreakers over the Pioneers

Notable Numbers (rankings through 2/23)

• The Pioneers starting five all have 500 or more career points and enter play today with 3,625 combined points and 1,866 rebounds
• The Pioneers are 15-0 when scoring 73 or more points; winning with 58 against Mount and 66 at versus CCSU
• The Pioneers finished the road portion of their schedule at 10-7, fourth in the NCAA and one of only 11 teams with 10 or more road wins
• Jare'l Spellman is second all-time in career blocked shots at SHU, with 170 and owns the top two single-season block totals in SHU Division I history, 96 and 74
• Aaron Clarke's next assist will be his 125 and he needs nine rebounds for 100
• Three Pioneers: E.J. Anosike (15), Jare'l Spellman (6) and Cameron Parker (4) are in the top nine in the league in double-doubles, with Anosike ranking 8th in the nation
• The Pioneers have four or more blocked shots in eight straight games