SERIES NOTES
-The teams met for the first time in the 2016 NIT in West Long Branch, with top-seeded Monmouth winning 90-80.
-They met for a second time on opening night last season, a late one-point MU victory.
-Diago Quinn is the only Hawk on the roster that will have played in all three contests between the teams.
-Quinn has 20 career points vs. the Bison, going 8-13 from the field in the two contests.

SALNAVE LEADS THE WAY
Monmouth redshirt sophomore guard Ray Salnave has led Monmouth in scoring three times this season, including 14 points at Kentucky for the NYC product. He is second on MU in scoring, and his 17 field goal attempts at UK were the most by a Hawk this season.

ROAD TRIP
Monmouth is in the midst of its longest road trip of the season, a four-game swing that started at Kentucky and goes through Bucknell, Hofstra and Albany. The Blue and White will go nearly a month without a home game (11/24-12/20) once you factor in a 12-day period with no games due to final exams.

TWO DIFFERENT LINEUPS
After finishing near the top of the country last season in lineup combinations, King Rice has held some consistency in the starters in the early going this year. He has featured just two different combos, with Nick Rutherford, Ray Salnave, Deion Hammond and Mustapha Traore starting every game. Marcus McClary and Louie Pillari have switched on and off in the starting five, with each starting four times through the first eight contests.

TOP OF THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
This game marks the third of three that MU will play against the top three preseason selections in the Patriot League. The Hawks opened up with two in a row against Patriot competition, dropping a home contest to Lehigh and a road tilt at Colgate in the first week of the year. 

HAWKS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
MU is ranked in the top-50 in a pair of categories nationally, ranking 48th in free throws made with 121, a number that tops the MAAC. The Blue and White are also 49th in total steals with 58, one shy of MAAC leader Iona. Individually, Deion Hammond has attempted the 50th most three-point shots nationally, taking 54 triples to this point, second in the conference to Siena's Sloan Seymour, who has taken 62 from downtown.

CALLOWAY JR. HITS A PAIR
True freshman guard Dave Calloway Jr. has knocked in a pair of threes this season, both coming from the right corner and both coming against ranked opponents (#RV/13 West Virginia, #10/9 Kentucky).

HAWKS GETTING TO THE LINE
Monmouth leads the MAAC in made free throws with 121, and are second in the conference in foul shooting percentage at 74.2%. MU is led by Nick Rutherford and Diago Quinn at the stripe, both of whom are 13-16 for 81.3%. Freshman Samuel Chaput has jkust one miss from the line this year, and is 8-for-9.