2021-22 Monmouth Basketball Game Twelve Preview

Monmouth Hawks (9-2, 2-0 MAAC) vs. Colgate Raiders (4-7, 0-0 Patriot)
Sunday, December 19, 2021 - 2:00 p.m.
OceanFirst Bank Center, West Long Branch, NJ

TV
ESPN3
Play-by-Play: Eddy Occhipinti
Analyst: Dave Calloway

MONMOUTH'S COVID-19 POLICIES
Monmouth University has announced its campus-wide indoor event COVID-19 policies.

The following policies are in effect until further notice:

1.    All fans 18 and over are required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test administered by a doctor's office or a clinic within 72 hours of the event time for indoor Athletic events. Home test kit results will not be accepted.
2.    All event audiences must wear a mask that completely covers the nose and mouth of the participant. Face shields are not acceptable. This includes fans from 2-17 years of age.
3.    Athletic events held in the OceanFirst Bank Center will be permitted to have food in the stands as long as masks remain on when the participant is not actively consuming food or beverages. Masks must be worn otherwise.
 
Men's and women's basketball season ticket holders will be mailed (and emailed) instructions on how to obtain a vaccine credential which will require them to show their vaccine cards once and receive a credential to speed up entrance to events. Season ticket holders who are not vaccinated will need to show proof a negative test within 72 hours of the event for every event attended.
 
Additionally, there will be separate entrances for students, season ticket holders and the general public. More information on those locations will be available on MonmouthHawks.com.

QUICK BULLETS
-Monmouth comes off its second straight win, beating Yale 69-60 on Tuesday night in New Haven
-MU ranks 6th nationally in free throw percentage at 80.6% as a team 
-Monmouth has won nine of its last 10 games 
-Shavar Reynolds was named the MAAC Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 19.5 ppg last week 
-All four of Monmouth's fifth-year seniors are scoring in double figures 
-Monmouth is currently 44th in the NCAA's NET rankings
-George Papas is currently 9th in the country in three-point field goals attempted and 19th in triples made

A MONMOUTH WIN WOULD...
> mark Monmouth's 10th win of the season
> give the Hawks a 10-2 start for the first time in the school's Division I history
> be MU's third straight home win this year and 10th overall
> mark MU's third victory in a row
> be MU's second win ever over Colgate
> make MU the first MAAC team to reach 10 wins this season
> mark the 26th win over a Patriot League foe in program history
> Be Monmouth's eighth non-league win, tied for the second most in program history (2015-16 and 1991-92)
> be the 171st of Rice's head coaching career
> be the 1,017th win in program history

NOTES FROM THE LAST TIME OUT
> Monmouth's seven road wins are the most in the nation.
> MU's seven non-conference wins is tied for the third most in program history.
> Monmouth has outrebounded its opponent in 10 of 11 games this year.
> The Hawks +16 rebounding margin is the best in a game since November 14, 2017 at Lehigh.
> Nikkei Rutty netted a career-high eight free throws.
> Monmouth wraps up this six-game road trip with a 5-1 record.
> MU starts 9-2 for the first time since 2016-17.
> Monmouth is now 2-1 all time against Yale and 2-0 in New Haven.
> MU outrebounded Yale 43-27.
> The Hawks limited Yale in the opening half to 33.3% and 20% from three.
> Monmouth led for 38:14 and never trailed in the contest.
> The Hawks dominated the fast break, 16-2.

NOTES ON THE ALL-TIME SERIES
> Monmouth and Colgate are meeting for the fifth time ever
> The Hawks and Raiders are meeting for the first time since 2018
> Colgate is visiting West Long Branch for the first time since December 13, 2008 at Boylan Gym
> King Rice is facing Colgate for just the second time ever
> MU topped Colgate in the first ever meeting between the schools on December 2, 1988, 59-58
> The last meeting saw Colgate top MU 87-74
> Marcus McClary started that 2018 contest, while George Papas,Sam Chaput and Nikkei Rutty saw action off the bench
> MU led at the half in 2018 before falling in the final 20 minutes
> The Hawks have played all but one Patriot League member all-time (BU)
> King Rice is 8-6 all-time against Patriot members
> Colgate is the second Patriot member the Hawks play this year after topping Lehigh earlier this season

MOST NON-LEAGUE WINS
Monmouth is looking for its eighth non-conference victory this year, a number that would tie the 2015-16 group for second most in program history. The record belongs to the 1990-91 Hawks who won nine times out of the league, while the 1991-92 and 2015-16 teams each won eight non-league games, with the 15-16 group adding another non-league win in the postseason NIT over Bucknell.

THE GLASS
Monmouth posted one of their best rebounding games under King Rice in the win at Yale, topping the Bulldogs on the glass by 16, the highest rebounding margin in a game since a November 2017 win at Lehigh. Walker Miller led the way with nine, while Nikkei Rutty added eight.

MID-MAJOR TOP 25
Monmouth moved up four spots in the most recent Mid-Major Top 25, posted by CollegeInsider. MU moved up to 17th in the latest ranking after entering a week ago in the 21st slot. MU is one of just two MAAC schools in 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 seven. There are only two teams with as many as five (Chattanooga and Fairfield) with the next highest having four. MU has won seven of its nine 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
Shavar Reynolds earned his first MAAC Player of the Week honor this season on Monday after averaging 19.5 points in contests at St. John's and Pitt last week. Reynolds is the third Player of the Week for MU this season, joining backcourt mate George Papas who has captured the honor twice.

HIGH-MAJOR VICTORIES
Monmouth won its seventh and eighth games over high-major opponents under King Rice this season, topping the University of Cincinnati on the road 61-59 and Pitt by a 56-52 count. Rice moved to 2-0 against AAC opponents after topping Memphis in 2016, and picked up his second win over the ACC after topping Pitt to go along with beating Notre Dame in 2015. He now has wins over UCLA, USC, Notre Dame, Rutgers and Georgetown to go with the two AAC and ACC wins.

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 six times.

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 oppo-nent 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 one of MU's best defensive halves of the King Rice era. The Hawks allowed just 18 points on 24.1% shoot-ing, 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.

AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION
Monmouth is 6th ninth nationally in free throw percentage, shooting 80.6% from the foul line through 11 games. MU has shot over 90% from the stripe in three of eight games. MU led the country through seven games in foul shooting percentage.

LAST TIME OUT
Monmouth beat Yale behind a huge first half and dominant performance on the glass, with three Hawks finishing in double figures in the nine-point win. MU knocked home 29 free throws on the night.
 
WHAT'S TO COME
The Hawks close out the non-league slate on Wednesday night when they take on Hofstra at home, with tip set for 7:00 p.m.