Monmouth Hawks (0-0) vs. Bucknell Bison (0-0)
Friday, November 10, 2017 | 8:30pm ET
OceanFirst Bank Center, West Long Branch, NJ
 
MEDIA INFORMATION
TV
ESPN3/Watch ESPN
Play-by-Play: Eddy Occhipinti
Analyst: Steve Bazaz
Sideline: Suzi Mellano
 
RADIO
WMCX 88.9 FM
Play-by-Play: Matt DeLuca
Analyst: Glen DeNigris

LIVE STATS
Monmouth.StatBroadcast.com

SCOUTING THE BISON
Bucknell returns its top nine scorers from a season ago, when the Bison won the Patriot League and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. BU is led by Zach Thomas at 15.9 points per game, while Nana Foulland went for 15.8 points and 7.8 rebounds a night last year.

ALL-TIME SERIES
These teams have met just once in men's basketball competition, squaring off in the opening round of the 2016 NIT in West Long Branch. #1 Monmouth topped #8 Bucknell, 90-80 behind 23 points from Justin Robinson and double digit efforts from Deon Jones and Collin Stewart. Chris Hass led the Bison with 18 points on 6-13 shooting.

MU AGAINST THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
-Against current members of the Patriot League, Monmouth has posted an all-time record of 21-18.
-Monmouth is 1-0 all time against Bucknell, topping the Bison in the 2016 NIT by a 90-80 count.
-The most wins for MU against a Patriot member is seven over Army West Point.
-The Hawks only have a losing record against two Patriot League schools, Colgate (1-2) and Lehigh (2-5).
-MU has played all members of the PL in its history with the exception of Boston University.
-Monmouth will play two Patriot members this season, taking on Bucknell (11/10) and Lehigh on the road (11/14).

MAAC PRESEASON
Micah Seaborn was Monmouth's lone Preseason All-MAAC selection, and was one of two unanimous choices to the MAAC Preseason First Team. Seaborn was a Preseason Second Team choice last year before ending his redshirt sophomore campaign on the First Team. Monmouth was chosen third in the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll. The Hawks have never finished lower than projected in the preseason poll, with 2016-17 coming as the only year MU did not finish higher as the Blue and White were selected first in the poll and ended up winning the regular season crown.

WHAT THE HAWKS LOST
Monmouth graduated 61.9 percent of its scoring from last season with the loss of five seniors. Justin Robinson completed a famed career as the two-time MAAC Player of the Year and finished up as the school's all-time leading Division I scorer, netting 2,003 points. Je'lon Hornbeak graduated after two strong seasons, and Chris Brady closed atop MU's charts in blocks and rebounding. Josh James, a two-year captain and 500+ point scorer, joined Collin Stewart, a 700+ point career scorer, in closing out their time in the Blue and White.

WHAT THE HAWKS BRING BACK
Monmouth returns 1,050 of the 2,761 points the team scored last season, meaning that Monmouth brings back 38.1% of its scoring from 2016-17. The Hawks graduated four of their top six leading scorers from a season ago, and their top four rebounders. Micah Seaborn's 13.2 points per game is the highest returning, while Austin Tilghman's 3.2 rebounds per contest are the top coming back.

INCREASING CONFERENCE WINS
Monmouth is one of just three teams in the nation to equal or improve its conference win total in five straight seasons.
The Hawks won five games two seasons in a row before improving by eight games to 13, and won 17 and 18 MAAC games respectively the last two seasons. Navy has increased in five straight seasons (0-2-4-8-9-10), as has South
Carolina (2-4-5-6-11-12). With the MAAC moving to 18 league games this season, it will be impossible for MU to top last year's 18-win total.

HAWKS AGAINST TOP COMPETITION
MU will see two teams in the non-conference that were ranked in the USA Today Coaches Polls preseason, with Kentucky ranking as the preseason #4 team in the nation and Seton Hall listed at #23. Additionally, five of Monmouth's non-league opponents are ranked inside the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25, including opening night opponent Bucknell (6). Also listed are Albany (18), Yale (19), Princeton (21) and UNC Asheville (24). Monmouth received 71 votes in the poll, joining  five opponents in receiving votes (Iona, Siena, Fairfield, Hofstra, Saint Peter's).

NEWCOMERS
The Hawks have several newcomers, bringing in four freshmen and a transfer student over the offseason. Deion
Hammond joins the Hawks from Riverdale Baptist, where he was one of nine Maryland players nominated for the
McDonald's All-American Game. Marcus McClary comes to the Hawks from The Patrick School, where he was the third Monmouth player to ever win the Tournament of Champions (Jhamar Youngblood, Pierre Sarr). George Papas comes to West Long Branch after a career at Union Catholic and a prep year at Gould Academy, while Melik Martin is added from York, PA and played in the same AAU program as ex-Hawk sharpshooter Andrew Nicholas. Nick Rutherford transferred to Monmouth from Florida Atlantic, where he saw significant action the last two seasons. Rutherford will have to sit out this season due to NCAA transfer regulations. Also set to see action for the first time in the Blue and White is redshirt freshman Ray Salnave, who picked up a redshirt as a true freshman last season.

STAFF CHANGES
King Rice had a few changes on his coaching staff during the offseason, with former assistant coach Sam Ferry moving on to the University of Pittsburgh. Jamal Meeks was moved from Director of Basketball Operations to assistant coach, while Anthony Molisso went from graduate assistant to Director of Operations. Another former graduate assistant, Brian Stafman, took on the role of Special Assistant to the Head Coach.

Follow the game on Twitter @MonmouthBBall.