FAIRFIELD, Conn.— The Sacred Heart University men's basketball team plays its first home game on Thursday, November 21, capping off a Pitt Center Opening Night doubleheader. The Pioneers will take on Central Connecticut State at 8 pm in the newly renovated William H. Pitt Center.
LIVE STATS |
ESPN+ |
GAME NOTES
Opening Tip:
- This will be the 65th meeting between the two teams, dating back to both programs' Division II days in 1971. The former Northeast Conference rivals had two meetings last season, during which the Blue Devils broke a 15-game losing streak to SHU.
- The Pioneers are coming off a three-game tournament at the College Hill Classic at Brown last weekend, where they went 1-2. They lost to Holy Cross and Brown and won over New Hampshire. Amiri Stewart was named to the All-Tournament team.
- Four Pioneers are averaging double figures: Anquan Hill (14.5 through two games), Stewart (11.0), Aidan Carpenter (10.4), and Tanner Thomas (10.8).
- Bryce Johnson leads the team in rebounds with 6.3 per game, followed by Hill (5.0), and Raymond Espinal-Guzman (4.5).
- Sacred Heart returns three active members from last year's team: Thomas, who made nine appearances before missing the remainder of the season with an injury. Espinal-Guzman, a redshirt junior forward who appeared in 24 games last season, and Carpenter, a redshirt junior guard who made 30 appearances with 16 starts.
- Thomas was named to the All-MAAC preseason third team.
- Johnson returns to Sacred Heart after a year at Northeastern.
- This year is Sacred Heart's first season as a full-time member of the MAAC.
- The Pioneers have 10 new players on the team.
- Head Coach Anthony Latina begins his 12th season as head coach and 20th year overall with the Pioneers.
Last time out:
- Sacred Heart went 1-2 at the College Hill Classic last weekend at Brown.
- The Pioneers had a strong showing from Espinal-Guzman in the 80-63 victory over New Hampshire, tallying his first career double-double while racking up career highs in points (16) and rebounds (11).
- Stewart was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 11.6 points per game through the three games.
- Nyle Ralph-Beyer had a breakout game against Holy Cross, scoring a season-high 12 points shooting 4-for-7 from the field and 4-for-6 from three-point range. He also averaged 4.3 rebounds per game in the College Hill Classic.
