2020-21 Monmouth Basketball Game Fourteen Preview
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Monmouth Hawks (8-5, 8-4 MAAC) at Manhattan Jaspers (5-6, 4-6 MAAC)
Friday, February 5, 2021Â - 9:00 p.m. EST
Draddy Gymnasium, Riverdale, NY
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TV
ESPNU
Play-by-Play: Matt Martucci
Analyst: Noah Savage
RADIO
Monmouth Digital Network
Play-by-Play:
Eddy Occhipinti
Analyst: Steve Bazaz
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SCOUTING THE JASPERS
Manhattan is 5-6, and 4-6 in the MAAC. The Jaspers had won three in a row and four of the previous five before dropping a pair at Saint Peter's last weekend. Ant Nelson, Elijah Buchanan and Samir Stewart are averaging in double figures, while Warren Williams is the leading rebounder with more than seven per contest.Â
MANHATTAN HEAD COACH STEVE MASIELLO
10th year Manhattan Head Coach Steve Masiello has 145 wins to his credit and a pair of MAAC titles in his time with the Jaspers. Among those 145 wins are 92 MAAC victories.
MONMOUTH ON THE ROAD
The Hawks will hit the road for just the third trip this season, coming off a weekend set at Niagara in which the Hawks earned a split.Â
MANHATTAN AT HOME
The Jaspers are 3-3 at Draddy this season, picking up wins over Rider and a pair over Niagara while dropping two to Marist and the front end of the weekend series with the Broncs. After this weekend, Manhattan and Monmouth will both have completed eight of 10 home MAAC games.
SERIES NOTES
-The teams have played 19 times overall, with MU owning the 10-9 edge.
-This marks the 15th matchup in MAAC competition between the two schools, with MU leading 8-6.
-Monmouth has won the last four meetings.
-MU has captured eight of nine vs. Manhattan.Â
100 STARTS FOR #3
Deion Hammond became the 10th player in program history to start 100 games when he got the nod at Niagara on 1/30. Hammond has started 46 games in a row for the Hawks and 79 of the last 80, only missing the start in the 2019 MAAC quarterfinal win over Quinnipiac in which he played 29 minutes off the bench.
HAMMOND APPROACHING THE THREE-POINT RECORDÂ
Deion Hammond enters this game with 258 made threes, two shy of tying the school mark and putting him in second place all-time alone after just passing the program's all-time leading scorer, Justin Robinson. Waiting for Hammond is Dave Calloway's program mark of 260 makes, a number the current Hawk guard is two triples shy of tying and three from breaking. Hammond is already the runaway program leader in threes attempted despite being just 13 games into his senior season with 709, 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, coming off his first carer double-double on 1/30 against Niagara with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He led MU with 19 points and tied career highs in assists (5), field goals made (8) and threes made (3) in the win over Niagara on 1/29. In the last six games, he has scored in double figures five times, and is averaging 15.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, has nine steals and is shooting 56.3% from the field. Martin has made a whopping 36 field goals in the last six contests, including nine triples.Â
ASSIST-TURNOVERÂ
Monmouth posted 23 assists to just nine turnovers in a win over Niagara on 1/29, 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 the 1/29 win at Niagara, 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.
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