SCOUTING THE GRIFFS
A pair of All-MAAC performers lead Canisiusm, as first teamer Takal Molson scores nearly 17 points per game and Malik Johnson is just under double figures while totaling 150 assists. Canisius topped Manhattan in overtime in the quarterfinals. 

CANISIUS HEAD COACH REGGIE WITHERSPOON
Reggie Witherspoon is in his second season leading Cani- sius, finishing as last year's co-regular season champion. Witherspoon was previously the head coach at Buffalo. 

HAWKS AT NEUTRAL SITES 
Monmouth is 2-3 at neutral sites this season, dropping all three games at the Myrtle Beach Invitational to #13 West Virginia, Valparaiso and Cal State Fullerton back in November before topping Niagara and Quinnipiac in this MAAC Tournament.

CANISIUS AT NEUTRAL SITES
Canisius is 1-3 at neutral sites this season, dropping three games at November's AdvoCare Invitational before topping Manhattan at the Times Union Center earlier this week.

SERIES NOTES
-Since becoming MAAC foes, Monmouth holds a 7-6 advantage.
-After winning three in a row in the matchup, MU has now dropped the last four.
-Canisius used a strong second half to win the first game this season between the schools in Buffalo, 80-66. The Griffs won the second by a single point in West Long Branch.

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Monmouth's 98 points in the quarterfinal win over Quinnipiac marked the most for MU this season, and was 14 more than the previous high of 84 at Iona on January 3rd. It was the most points the Hawks netted since a 102-point outburst in a regular season win over Siena on February 13, 2017 in a game also played at the Times Union Center. The 50 first-half points the Hawks scored was their highest output in a half this season, while the 48 in the second tied their best second half of the year. The Hawks made 35 field goals and shot 55.6%, both season bests.

BACK TO THE SEMIFINALS
Monmouth is appearing in its fourth MAAC semifinal in six seasons in the league, and have qualified for the semis in four of the last five seasons. MU is 1-2 in previous semifinal rounds, falling to Iona in 2015 before topping Fairfield in 2016 and losing to Siena in 2017.

SEVEN IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Monmouth put seven players in double figures in the quarterfinals win for the first time this season and first time in the King Rice era. Seven of Monmouth's nine players to see minutes in the game scored in double figures, and eight of the nine made a field goal. 

CAREER HIGHS FOR TRAORE, RUTHERFORD AND MCCLARY
Three Hawks netted their career highs in the QF win over Quinnipiac, with Mustapha Traore leading the way with 19 on a career best eight made field goals. Marcus McClary also topped a career best with 14, and Nick Rutherford's 11 were the most for him in a Monmouth uniform. Rutherford's overall career best is 16, doing so while with Florida Atlantic in November 2016 against UT Martin.

RICE PASSES KORNEGAY
With his 130th career win over Quinnipiac in the MAAC semis, King Rice tied Monmouth Hall of Famer RonCKornegay in career wins, making him fourth all time in school history. Kornegay is MU's all-time scoring leader across all divisions, netting 2,526 points from 1966-69.

FIRST MAAC TEAM TO FINISH OVER .500 IN MAAC PLAY AND NOT RECEIVE A BYE
MU finished with a 10-8 record in MAAC play, and became the first team in MAAC Basketball history to finish over .500 in conference play and not receive a bye. The league has given byes to the top five teams since 2013 when Monmouth and Quinnipiac extended the membership to 11 insitutions, and prior to that, gave a bye to the top six teams. MU has finished over .500 in MAAC play four times in six seasons in the conference.

TOTALING THE TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE
Monmouth's non-conference opponents, with almost all having completed the regular season already, have compiled a record of 238-160 this season, a winning percentage of .597. Three of those teams (Colgate, Bucknell, Hofstra) secured at least a share of their league's regular season title. Seven teams have already secured 20-win seasons (Colgate, Kentucky, Hofstra, Lehigh, Princeton, Bucknell, Yale) while Penn sits at 19 wins.

QUINN NAMED TO ALL-MAAC THIRD TEAM
Diago Quinn was named to the All-MAAC Third Team earlier this week. The senior posted 10.9 points and 6.9 boards in MAAC competition this season, posting 10 of his 12 double-figure games this season in conference play. Quinn notched consecutive double-doubles in league games vs. Rider and Marist in February, and ranks 21st in the MAAC in scoring and tied for fourth in rebounding during conference play while shooting 49.6% from the floor in the 18 contests. Quinn averaged 8.8 points and 5.8 rebounds overall this season, shooting 46.5% from the field and 71% from the free throw line with a team-best 24 blocks.

KING RICE IN THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
King Rice has posted an overall record of 5-6 in conference tournaments and 5-5 in MAAC Tourneys in his eight seasons at the helm at MU.

2011-12 (6 seed, NEC) - Lost in quarterfinals at #3 Robert Morris, 87-68
2013-14 (9 seed, MAAC) - Lost in opening round to #8 Rider, 71-60
2014-15 (4 seed, MAAC) - Beat #5 Canisius in quarterfinals, 60-54; lost in semifinals to #1 Iona, 95-77
2015-16 (1 seed, MAAC) - Beat #8 Rider in QF, 59-48; beat #5 Fairfield in SF, 76-63; lost to #1 Iona in finals, 79-76
2016-17 (1 seed, MAAC) - Beat #9 Niagara in quarterfinals, 84-59; lost to #4 Siena in semifinals, 89-85
2017-18 (8 seed, MAAC) - Lost to #9 Saint Peter's in opening round, 60-58
2018-19 (6 seed, MAAC) - Beat #11 Niagara in opening round, 76-72; beat #3 Quinnipiac in quarterfinals, 98-92

HAWKS EXPERIENCE IN MAAC TOURNAMENTS
Monmouth combined to return 17 games of total MAAC Tournament experience at the start of the tournament, with just three players who have played in more than one game. After two game of the 2019 edition, Louie Pillari has scored 48 points in four MAAC Tournament games, shooting 16-28 from the field, while Diago Quinn has 46 points and 27 rebounds on 18-32 shooting in eight total MAAC Tourney games. Mustapha Traore has appeared in three contests, totaling 55 minutes with 25 points. Six Hawks had one game each in MAAC postseason play prior to this year.