SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES
Niagara is 6-9 and 5-8 in MAAC play, and are led by Preseason All-MAAC First Teamer Marcus Hammond, who is leading the Purple Eagles in scoring and rebounding. Kobi Nwandu also scores in doubles for NU, who have dropped four of their last five games.

NIAGARA HEAD COACH GREG PAULUS
After taking over preseason last year, Duke alum Greg Paulus is in his second season at the helm of the Purple Eagles, and has 18 wins to his credit. 

MONMOUTH ON THE ROAD
The Hawks are on road for just the second trip this season, having played a weekend set at Siena just after the New Year. MU is 1-2 away from home this season following yesterday's win.

NIAGARA AT HOME
The Purple Eagles are 3-2 at home this season, with a sweep of Fairfield and a split with Rider on their ledger. NU had not played at home since January 9th prior to yesterday, and will play three of their remaining four MAAC weekends at the Gallagher Center.

SERIES NOTES
-Monmouth snapped a three-game Niagara win streak in the series with a win in the 2019 MAAC Tournament opening round.
-MU won the first nine games as a conference foe.
-Monmouth is 2-0 vs. Niagara in MAAC Tournaments.
-MU yesterday snapped a three-game losing streak at the Gallagher Center.

HAMMOND APPROACHING THE THREE-POINT RECORD
Deion Hammond enters this game with 257 made threes, putting him tied for second place all-time with Justin Robinson. Waiting for Hammond is Dave Calloway's program mark of 260 makes, a number the current Hawk guard is three triples shy of tying and four from breaking. Hammond is already the runaway program leader in threes attempted despite being just 12 games into his senior season with 703, becoming the first Hawk to attempt 700 career triples.

MELIK MARTIN TEARING IT UP

Melik Martin is putting together the best stretch of basketball in his career, after leading MU with 19 points and tying career highs in assists (5), field goals made (8) and threes made (3) in the win over Niagara Friday. In the MU five-game winning streak, he has scored in double figures four times, and is averaging 15.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2 steals and is shooting 59.3% from the field. Martin has made a whopping 32 field goals in the last five contests, including eight triples. 

ASSIST-TURNOVER 
Monmouth posted 23 assists to just nine turnovers in a win over Niagara Friday, marking a pair of milestones. The plus-14 is the best in a single game for MU under King Rice, while the 23 assists is the most since Rice's second season, when the Hawks opened the season with 25 helpers in a win over Hofstra on November 9, 2012.

FIVE IN A ROW 

With yesterday's win, Monmouth won its fifth in a row for the first time since the program record 17-game winning streak that concluded the regular season and continued into the MAAC Tournament in 2017. The Hawks had previously won four straight, the sixth four-game winning streak MU has had in the last two seasons.

BIG GAME FOR RUTTY

Nikkei Rutty posted a career-high 12 points in the Friday win over Niagara, doing so via three dunks and a three-point play. It marked his fourth career game in double figures and second this season.