Sacred Heart
Columbia University
Men's Basketball To Meet At Columbia On Monday
12/12/2021 2:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Pioneers endure sixth-straight road game at Columbia on Monday
The Sacred Heart University men's basketball team looks to even the all-time series record with Columbia on Monday night at 8 p.m. Fans can catch all the action on ESPN+.
OPENING TIP
- Both teams look to snap a two-game losing streak as they enter Monday's matchup. The Pioneers and the Lions also seek out their fourth win of the season.
- In common opponents, Columbia fell to Lafayette, 73-50, on its home court but topped Binghamton, 85-77, in overtime.
- The two teams haven't met since 2009 when SHU grabbed its first win against the Lions, 60-55. Columbia and Sacred Heart met twice before as the Lions took both games, 76-71, in 2006 and, 61-59, in 2005. The Lions lead the series, 2-1.
- Junior Tyler Thomas is the first and only NEC player to contribute 30 points in a single game this season. At Rhode Island, Thomas shot 10-of-18 from the field and a season-best 7-of-14 from behind the arc.
TYLER T, MVP?
Tyler Thomas has posted double-digit scoring performances in all but one game so far this season after being held to just nine at Stony Brook. The junior guard continues to lead the NEC in points per game at 20.4. It's no question that he's SHU's go-to as he ranks third in the country in FG attempts with 177. Make no mistake, the high number of attempts has led to a high number of makes as he ranks third with 79 made FGs. Most recently, Thomas posted a season-high 30 points at URI off 10-of-18 shooting from the field. It marked his second 30-point performance of his career as he netted a career-high 36 at Merrimack last season.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
When Aaron Clarke goes absent, junior Joey Reilly steps up to the plate. Reilly started in all games when Clarke wasn't suiting up, including most recently at URI when Reilly dished out a career-best seven assists. The Holy Cross transfer is the team leader in assists and posts an impressive 2.55 assist to turnover ratio.
FIFTH-YEAR, BEST YEAR
Graduate student Alex Watson has emerged as one of SHU's top scorers as he tallied double-digit scoring in the first four games to kick off the year and posted a career-high 17 points off 7-of-8 shooting from the field at Lafayette. Watson is crucial in the team's success. In all three wins this year, Watson posted double-figure scoring.Prior to this season, Watson only accumulated nine double-digit scoring performances during his career. This season, the Mariette, Georgia product has posted six in ten games.
