Monmouth Hawks (3-6) vs. #8/7 Kentucky Wildcats (6-2)
Saturday, December 9, 2017 | 12:00pm ET
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

MEDIA INFORMATION
TV: ESPNU/WatchESPN
Play-by-Play: Doug Sherman
Analyst: LaPhonso Ellis
Sideline: Jill Montgomery
 
RADIO
Shore Sports Network 1160/1310am
Play-by-Play: Eddy Occhipinti
Analyst: Steve Bazaz

MONMOUTH AT MSG
Monmouth is playing its third ever game at Madison Square Garden. The first came in a win over Marist on February 5, 1991 by a 61-53 count. MU played at MSG again in 1997, falling to Mount St. Mary's 59-53 on January 29th of that year. On the coaching staff, there is history at The Garden. Head Coach King Rice played there against current assistant coach Jamal Meeks in the 1988 Preseason NIT, a game that North Carolina won over Indiana 106-92. Rice added five points for the Tar Heels. Assistant Coach Rick Callahan has coached at MSG with multiple coaching staffs in his career, including winning the 1990 NIT with Vanderbilt and being a part of Jim Boeheim's staff at Syracuse in the 1980's. Finally, New York City native and current assistant Duane Woodward was named to the All-Tournament team with Boston College as he helped the Eagles win the 1997 Big East Tournament at MSG.

HAWKS AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Monmouth's lone win in program history over a ranked opponent came over #17 Notre Dame on Thanksgiving 2015 at the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, FL. Overall, Monmouth is 1-13 all time against ranked opponents, and 0-6 against top-10 schools all time. This is the second ranked team Monmouth will play this season after taking on #23 Seton Hall on 11/12 at the Prudential Center. King Rice has played a ranked opponent in five of his seven seasons, including playing three in his first season of 2011-12 (#6 North Carolina, #22 Vanderbilt, #25 Harvard).

MU VS. TOP-10 OPPONENTS ALL TIME
3/15/01 #1 Duke 95, Monmouth 52 (NCAA Tournament)
3/19/04 #4 Mississippi State 85, Monmouth 52 (NCAA Tournament)
3/17/06 #4 Villanova 58, Monmouth 45 (NCAA Tournament)
1/1/12    #6 North Carolina 102, Monmouth 65
12/8/12 #4 Syracuse 108, Monmouth 56
12/28/16 #9 North Carolina 102, Monmouth 74

ONE OF THE FASTEST TO 1,000
Micah Seaborn became the 23rd player at the Division I level in Monmouth history to reach the 1,000 point milestone against Hofstra. In doing so, he became the fourth fastest player in program history to reach the mark, doing so in his 75th career game. Overall, King Rice has seen five players reach the 1,000-point milestone in their Monmouth careers. Ed Waite accomplished it in Rice's second season, while Andrew Nicholas and Deon Jones also joined all-time leading scorer Justin Robinson in scoring over 1,000.

Alex Blackwell - 49 games to reach 1,000 (Finished with 1,749, currently t-2nd all time)
Rahsaan Johnson - 54 games to reach 1,000 (Finished with 1,628, currently 4th all time)
John Giraldo - 66 games to reach 1,000 (Finished with 1,749, currently t-2nd all time)
Micah Seaborn - 75 games to reach 1,000 (Currently has 1,014 in 75 career games)
Deon Jones - 76 games to reach 1,000 (Finished with 1,229, currently 10th all time)
Justin Robinson - 79 games to reach 1,000 (Finished with 2,003, currently 1st all time)
William Lewis - 80 games to reach 1,000 (Finished with 1,517, currently 6th all time)
Dave Calloway - 82 games to reach 1,000 (Finished with 1,404, currently 8th all time)
Corey Albano - 84 games to reach 1,000 (Finished with 1,599, currently 5th all time)

RICE AND CALIPARI COACH TOGETHER
This past summer, King Rice had the opportunity to be a court coach for the USA Basketball Men's U19 World Cup Team in Colorado Springs in June at the US Olympic Training Center. The team is headed up by current Kentucky head coach John Calipari, while Rice was joined by Tad Boyle (Colorado), Danny Manning (Wake Forest), Matt Painter (Purdue), and
Ed Cooley (Providence) on the U19 staff.

HIGH SCHOOL CONNECTION
A pair of high school teammates will square off against each other when the Hawks and Wildcats meet, as a pair of freshmen from The Patrick School will play in today's game. Monmouth's Marcus McClary and Kentucky's Nick Richards were high school teammates at the New Jersey school.

TILLMAN GETS HOT
Zac Tillman has gone into double figures in his last three games, now giving him eight career games in double digits. He had never previously done that in consecutive games, and his 15 points against Albany was his first such effort since February 26, 2016 against Rider.

MIXING UP THE STARTING FIVE
MU has seen eight different starting lineups in the first nine games of the season, with 10 different players earning a spot on the floor to start a game to this point. On Monmouth's roster, 11 players have earned a start at some point in their career, nine of them this season in addition to Zac Tillman, who has totaled 67 starts in his Monmouth career. George Papas picked up his first career start against Hofstra.