NEC Front Row Broadcast | Live Stats | SHU Game Notes

The highly anticipated crosstown rivalry matchup between the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team and Fairfield is set for this Saturday, November 20 at 8 p.m. The Pioneers welcome the Stags to the William H. Pitt Center for the first time in program history. For fans viewing from home, the game will be available on both SNY and NEC Front Row. 
 
OPENING TIP

• Fairfield visits the William H. Pitt Center for the first time in program history on Saturday night.
• The two teams have met seven times in history and the Pioneers have yet to grab a victory over the Stags. Fairfield took the last meeting, 85-63, in 2016. 
• SHU enters Saturday's game after posting its largest margin of victory since 1998 on Tuesday against Fisher, 109-49. The 60-point victory also marked the first time since 2019 the team posted 100+ points. 
• The Pioneers are among the top-10 in the country in three-point FG attempts at 117 for an average of 29.25 a night. Junior Tyler Thomas leads the Pios and ranks third nationally with 77. 
• The team also ranks highly in rebounds at number 21 with 176 (44 rpg). Sophomore Nico Galette has emerged as SHU's top rebounder averaging 9.3 a game. The 6-6 forward also ranks 25th in the country with 37 total on the year.  

 
TYLER T, MVP?
In three of the last four games, Tyler Thomas posted 20+ points performances, highlighted by a season-high 26 against Fisher in just 28 minutes of play. It's no question that he's SHU's go-to as he ranks fourth nationally in FG attempts (77) and fifth in three-point FG attempts (38). Make no mistake, the high number of attempts has led to a high number of makes as he is 11th with 33 made FGs and is 27th with 21.5 ppg.
 
OKAY NICO
Sophomore Nico Galette has seen a well-deserved increase in minutes since his rookie season. Galette has started in every game so far this season and continuously sets new career-highs. Most recently, the Rahway, N.J. product posted a career-best 18 points, 18 rebounds against Fisher for his first double-double. Galette is averaging just under a double-double at 11.0 points per game and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game.
 
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A CLARKE MAKES
Win or lose Tyler Thomas has been able to get his points, but the biggest factors to Sacred Heart's success has been the play of senior guard Aaron Clarke. In games that Sacred Heart won in 2020-21, Clarke averaged 17.6 ppg., while in losses the Parsippany, NJ, native was only scoring 10.1 ppg. Not to mention Clarke's buzzer-beating three after to send SHU into overtime at La Salle. Since being absent in the last three games, the team has yet to break 65 points against a D1 opponent.
 
CRASHING THE BOARDS
Sacred Heart is among the top rebounding teams in the country at 21 with 176, and 40th with 44.0 per game. Rebounding has showed a direct impact on the team's outcome as they are 2-0 when outrebounding their opponent. The Pioneers show a +11.2 rebound margin which is second in the NEC. 
 
GONE FISHING
In its first meeting with a non-Division I opponent since 2019, SHU made history in its 60-point victory over NAIA Fisher College. The Pioneers posted 109 points for its first 100+ points performance since its last non-D1 matchup against Pine Manor. The margin of victory was most notable as it was the largest in SHU's D1 era. Its last 50+ point victory was in 1998 at NY Tech, 122-57. The Pioneers also played almost its entire bench as Tommaso Ferraresi posted his first career bucket. Other career-highs in scoring were set by Nico Galette (18) and Kasparas Jonauskas (5).