2021-22 Monmouth Basketball Game Eighteen Preview                                                                           

Monmouth Hawks (11-6, 3-3 MAAC) vs. Manhattan Jaspers (10-5, 3-3 MAAC)
Sunday, January 23, 2022 - 2:00 p.m.
OceanFirst Bank Center, West Long Branch, NJ

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

MONMOUTH 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 is playing its fifth game in 10 days
-Monmouth is opening a four-game homestand today
-Monmouth is playing just its second of 10 home MAAC contests
-MU's three leading scorers are all averaging over 14 points per game
-George Papas has earned two MAAC Player of the Week honors this season while Shavar Reynolds has one as well
-Monmouth is ranked #21 in this week's CollegeInsider Mid-Major Top 25
-George Papas was named to the Lou Henson Award Watch List
-MU's eight non-league wins tied for the most ever in school history
-This is MU's first matchup with Manhattan this season

A MONMOUTH WIN WOULD...
-mark Monmouth's 12th win of the season
-be the Hawks second win in a row
-move the Hawks back over .500 in MAAC play at 4-3
-make Monmouth the second MAAC team to 12 victories
-be MU's 98th ever win in the MAAC
-be MU's first win at home since December 19
-mark Monmouth's 11th win as MAAC opponents against Manhattan
-be the Hawks seventh win in a row over Manhattan
-register as MU's fourth win in five tries on a Sunday this season
-be MU's fifth win in six tries during the day

NOTES FROM THE LAST TIME OUT
-Monmouth wins its nation-leading eighth road game of the season.
-MU snaps a four-game losing streak.
-The Hawks move back to .500 in the MAAC at 3-3.
-Jarvis Vaughan posted his first points of the season, scoring five.
-Myles Ruth had three steals, a season-best.
-Monmouth is the second MAAC team to reach 11 wins this season.
-The win is Monmouth's first in 2022.
-MU has won three of five over Fairfield.
-The game was the first regular season matchup between the schools since March 4, 2020.
-MU limited Fairfield to 30.4% shooting in the second half.
-Monmouth outshot Fairfield overall 49% to 43%.
-The Hawks outrebounded the Stags 33-22.
-MU dominated points in the paint, 32-18.
-The Hawks and Stags each put three in double figures.

MORE INFO ON THE ALL-TIME SERIES
-Monmouth leads the all-time series, 12-9
-In matchups as MAAC foes, MU leads 10-6
-Monmouth has won six in a row in the series 
-The Hawks have won 10 of the last 11 against the Jaspers
-Monmouth has beaten Manhattan in West Long Branch five straight times
-This is the first regular season game between the teams in WLB since 3/1/20
-The teams first met on December 3, 1988, a Monmouth 61-48 win
-Monmouth and Fairfield met five times prior to MU joining the league, with those games coming between 1988 and 1996
-The teams will meet at Manhattan on February 11
-King Rice and Steve Masiello were hired at their respective schools just two weeks apart in 2011, and are each in their 11th season at their institution

CHAPUT REACHES 100
Senior guard Samuel Chaput played in his 100th career game at Fairfield, joining teammates George Papas and Marcus McClary as Hawks that have hit the century mark. Shavar Reynolds also is over 100, with 107 of those coming at Seton Hall. 

VAUGHAN RETURNS
Playing in just his second contest of the season due to injury, Jarvis Vaughan played 13 important minutes against Fairfield. He made his first shot, a three, as well as a driving layup to go with two rebounds and was on the floor late in the game, helping get a stop on the final possession to secure the win. 

ROAD WARRIORS
Monmouth leads the nation in road victories, knocking off Fairfield to stay on top of the country in wins away from home. MU has won eight times outside of West Long Branch, including three in conference play. MU has won eight of its 12 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.

THREE GUYS HIT 20
For the first time in 25 years, Monmouth had three players each score 20+ points in a game against Iona. In the overtime contest, Walker Miller had 22 while George Papas and Shavar Reynolds each had 21, marking the first time three Hawks did that in a game since January 17, 1996, an 82-77 win over Mount Saint Mary's inside Boylan Gym. In that contest, John Giraldo, Corey Albano and Quincy Lee all hit the 20-point mark.

PAPAS MOVING UP
George Papas passed former teammate and current student assistant Micah Seaborn in career three pointers made, knocking in his 175th against Iona. He is now 10th all time in career triples, and is two threes shy of Rahsaan Johnson's 181.

FOSTER SAYS NO
Myles Foster's four blocks against Iona marked a career high and the most by a Hawk this season. The last Hawk with four rejections in a game was Nikkei Rutty, who had four last February in a win at Manhattan. 

TYING A RECORD IN WINS
The Hawks tied the program record with eight non-conference wins, set three times (2015-16, 1991-92, 1990-91). The 2015-16 group did beat nine non-league opponents, with the ninth coming in the postseason NIT over Bucknell.

PAPAS EARNS SPOT ON PRESTIGIOUS LIST
George Papas was named to the Lou Henson Award Watch List, awarded to the National Mid-Major Player of the Year. Papas is the second ever Hawk to earn a spot on the list, joining program all-time leading scorer Justin Robinson, who won the award in 2017. Papas is one of two MAAC players on the list (Nelly Jr Joseph- Iona) and one of just two players from the state of New Jersey (Jaelin Llewellyn - Princeton).

LONG LAYOFF, QUICK TURNAROUND
Monmouth is playing in its fifth game in 10 days after playing its first game in 23 days, dating back to December 22 against Hofstra. That marked the longest time between games in one season in the program's Division I history. MU comes off four games in seven days. 

BEST START IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Monmouth's 10-2 start was the best in the program's Division I history dating back to the 1983-94 season. MU had previously started 9-2 in 1990-91, and went to 10-2 for the first time as a DI program before falling to Hofstra on December 22.

MID-MAJOR TOP 25
Monmouth continued its rise up College Insider's Mid-Major Top 25, finding their way into the top-10 prior to the Hofstra game at #10. Monmouth currently sits 21st in the ranking. MU broke into the rankings at #21 in late November and moved to #17 before going up to as high at 10. MU spent the entirety of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons in the poll prior to re-entering this season, and during 2016, reached the #1 spot.

HIGH-MAJOR WINS
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.

LAST TIME OUT
Monmouth snapped a four-game losing streak, topping Fairfield 61-58.

WHAT'S TO COME
Monmouth hosts Canisius on Friday night at 7:00 p.m.