Monmouth Hawks (7-2, 2-0 MAAC) at Pitt Panthers (3-6, 0-1 ACC)
Sunday, December 12, 2021 - 7:00 p.m.
Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, PA
TV
ACC Network
Play-by-Play: Drew Carter
Analyst: Dan Bonner
RADIO
Monmouth Digital Network
Play-by-Play: Eddy Occhipinti
PITT COVID-19 POLICIES
University of Pittsburgh health guidelines currently require all persons to wear face coverings when inside University buildings, regardless of vaccination status. Accordingly, attending fans over the age of 2 will be
required to wear face coverings inside the Petersen Events Center, unless actively eating or drinking.
QUICK BULLETS
-Monmouth had its seven-game win streak snapped at St. John's on Thursday night
-MU ranks 9th nationally in free throw percentage at 80.2% as a team
-Monmouth is taking on its first ACC opponent since playing at Pitt in '19
-Shavar Reynolds posted a career best 25 points at St. John's the last time out
-All four of Monmouth's fifth-year seniors are scoring in double figures
-Monmouth is currently 45th in the NCAA's NET rankings
-George Papas is currently 36th in the country in minutes played at over 36 per contest
A MONMOUTH WIN WOULD…
> mark Monmouth's eighth win of the season
> give the Hawks an 8-2 start for the first time since 2016-17
> be MU's nation-leading sixth true road victory this season
> be King Rice's second win over an ACC opponent
> mark the third win over a current ACC member in school history (Miami, Notre Dame)
> be MU's first ever win over Pitt in two tries
> mark the eighth win over a high-major program under King Rice
> make MU the second MAAC team to reach eight wins this season
> be the second win over a high-major this season (Cincinnati)
> Be Monmouth's seventh non-league win, tied for the second most in program history
> be the 169th of Rice's head coaching career
> be the 1,015th win in program history
NOTES FROM THE LAST TIME OUT
> Shavar Reynolds matched his career high with 25 points.
> Myles Foster topped his career-best in points with 13 and rebounds with eight.
> Reynolds' five triples is his most as a Hawk.
> Monmouth put five in double figures for the first time since February 23, 2020 against Quinnipiac. George Papas is the lone Hawk to score in doubles in each game.
> MU's seven-game winning streak, the longest since 2017, was snapped, as was its five-game road win streak
> Monmouth still has not been outrebounded this season.
> Nikkei Rutty grabbed 10 rebounds for the third time this season.
> MU's 30 made field goals ties a season high.
> Monmouth won the second half, 47-46.
> MU shot a better % from downtown than SJU.
> MU topped SJU in second chance points, 16-8.
> In total, 10 players scored in double figures in the game.
> Monmouth played a Big East opponent for the first time since 2017 (Seton Hall).
NOTES ON THE ALL-TIME SERIES
> Monmouth and Pitt are meeting for the 4th time ever
> The Hawks and Panthers are meeting for the first time since 2019
> Monmouth is 0-1 all-time against Pitt
> King Rice is 1-8 in games against ACC opponents all time
> In the last matchup, Mustapha Traore led MU with 12 points in a game Monmouth had tied in the second half
> Monmouth's two wins over current ACC members are over Miami in 1988 and Notre Dame in 2015
> King Rice is competing in his 10th game against an ACC opponent since taking the head job at MU
> Rice competed in the ACC as a student-athlete at North Carolina
MID-MAJOR TOP 25
Monmouth grabbed a spot in the most recent Mid-Major Top 25, posted by CollegeInsider. MU came in ranked as the 21st ranked mid-major, one of just two schools to make the ranking (Iona). This marks the first time the Hawks re-enter the poll after spending the entirety of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons in it.
ROAD WARRIORS
Monmouth leads the nation in road victories with five. There is only one team with as many as four (Chattanooga) with the next highest having three. MU has won five of its seven road contests this season. The 2015-16 Hawks led the nation in road and road/neutral wins, finishing with 13 true road wins and 17 away from home.
ANOTHER PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOD
George Papas earned his second MAAC Player of the Week honor this season on Monday after averaging 19.5 points in the Western NY sweep last weekend. He posted his first career double-double at Canisius, grabbing a career-best 11 rebounds, and is the first Hawk since Austin Tilghman in the 2017-18 season to earn multiple Player of the Week honors in one year.
HIGH-MAJOR VICTORY
Monmouth won its seventh game over a high-major opponent under King Rice earlier this season, topping the University of Cincinnati on the road 61-59. Rice moved to 2-0 against AAC opponents after topping Memphis in 2016, and now has wins over UCLA, USC, Notre Dame, Rutgers and Georgetown to go with the two AAC wins.
NEVER OUTREBOUNDED
Through nine games, Monmouth has yet to be outrebounded this season. MU holds the second best rebounding margin in the MAAC at +4.6, and have topped their opponent on the boards seven times and matched them twice thus far.
MCCLARY'S BEST BASKETBALL
Graduate senior guard Marcus McClary is putting together one of the best stretch-es of his career to begin his final campaign. Entering this season, McClary's career best in single-game scoring was 15 points, a number he has already topped three times this year, including 24 points (20 in the second half) in a key win at St. Joe's before carrying the Hawks with 18 in the upset win at Cincinnati, 14 of them coming in the second half. McClary has cracked double figures five times.
AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION
Monmouth is currently ninth nationally in free throw percentage, shooting 80.2% from the foul line through nine games. MU has shot over 90% from the stripe in three of eight games. MU led the country through seven games before rare "off days" from the line at Canisius and St. John's.
BEST START SINCE 1990
Monmouth opened up the season 7-1 for the first time since the 1990-91 season when Wayne Szoke's squad was 8-1 to open the year before falling at St. John's.
STARTING 2-0 IN LEAGUE PLAY
Monmouth opened 2-0 in MAAC play with a sweep of Niagara and Canisius. This marks the third time MU has ever opened 2-0 in the MAAC and first since 2016-17. Monmouth was one of three teams in the league to win both games on the first weekend, joining Fairfield and Iona.
BLOCKING SHOTS
MU deflected a season-high eight shots at Canisius, with three players coming away with multiple rejections. On the weekend, MU blocked 11 shots, with the surprise coming in point guard Myles Ruth, who had swats in both contests.
BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK KEY WINS
MU's win at St. Joe's marked the first ever true road win over an Atlantic 10 opponent in school history. The Hawks topped SJU by 12 for King Rice's third win over an A10 school and the first on the road. Monmouth then beat Princeton at home to knock off a Tigers team that had already stunned high-major schools on the road in Oregon State and South Carolina. The Hawks won their third critical matchup in a row by topping Cincinnati who had already beaten a ranked Illinois team.
STIFLING SECOND-HALF DEFENSE
The second-half lockdown against Princeton was one of MU's best defensive halves of the King Rice era. The Hawks allowed just 18 points on 24.1% shooting, including just 2-12 (16.7%) from three and surrendered just three foul shots in the period. The Tigers made just one layup in the final 8:48, a basket with 59 seconds left in a game that was already decided. MU then locked up Cincinnati in the second half to just 23 points and 14.3% from deep in the final 20 minutes. The Hawks gave up just 22 points in the second half at Niagara.
WELCOME WALKER
Graduate center Walker Miller has burst onto the scene after playing four seasons as a walk on at North Carolina. Miller has scored in double figures in every game but one, and is MU's leading rebounder at just under seven per game. He posted his best rebounding performance at MU by grabbing 12 at Saint Joseph's and is one game removed from his top scoring game in his career, netting 24 at Canisius.
LAST TIME OUT
Monmouth fell to St. John's in a tight contest, 88-83. MU was within two inside the final minute, and were an extremely close ball out-of-bounds call away from getting possession down three with 14 seconds remaining. Shavar Reynolds matched his career-high of 25 points in the game.
WHAT'S TO COME
The Hawks wrap up their road non-league slate Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. when they visit Ivy League contender Yale.
