2022-23 Monmouth Basketball Game One Preview                                                                         

Monmouth Hawks (0-0, 0-0 CAA) at Seton Hall Pirates (0-0, 0-0 Big East)
Wednesday, November 9, 2022 - 8:00 p.m.
Prudential Center, Newark, NJ

TV
FS1
Play-by-Play: Scott Graham
Analyst: Jim Spanarkel

RADIO
Monmouth Digital Network
Play-by-Play: Eddy Occhipinti
Analyst: Steve Bazaz

QUICK BULLETS
»  Monmouth opens the 2022-23 season at Seton Hall
»  The Hawks have 10 letterwinners coming back from last season
»  Seven Hawks on this year's roster have played collegiate minutes previously
»  Monmouth graduated four fifth-year seniors and three true seniors from last season's roster
»  MU comes off its sixth winning season in the last eight years
»  King Rice is opening his 12th season on the Monmouth sidelines
»  Four freshmen are active for the Blue and White tonight and could make their debut
»  Monmouth is entering its first season in the Colonial Athletic Association
»  MU will play its first three games on the road against high-major opponents

A MONMOUTH WIN WOULD...
»  make the Hawks 14-25 all-time on opening night as a DI program
»  be King Rice's seventh opening night victory in 12 seasons
»  mark Monmouth's first opening night win on the road since 2019 at Lehigh
»  be MU's first ever win over Seton Hall
»  mark Monmouth's second win ever against a Big East foe (Georgetown, 2015)
»  be Rice's fourth triumph on the road on opening night (Hofstra-2013, UCLA-2015, Lehigh, 2019)
»  register as the 183rd win of Rice's career
»  be the first collegiate win for four MU freshmen
»  count as the ninth high-major win for Rice in the last seven seasons

NOTES FROM THE LAST TIME OUT...
» Monmouth won 20 games last year for the third time under Rice
» MU's 20-win season was the seventh time in the program's DI history and 16th time overall
» The Hawks advanced to the MAAC Finals last season for the third time in school history
» MU played in a conference semifinal last year for the fifth time in seven tries
» The Hawks graduated its top five scorers and six of its top seven
» Monmouth completed its final season in the MAAC last March
» 10 letterwinners return for MU, three of whom redshirted a season ago

MORE INFO ON THE ALL-TIME SERIES
» The series between the teams is 13-0 Seton Hall
» Of those 13, 12 have been played at Seton Hall, with the Pirates making one visit to West Long Branch in 2009, the first year Monmouth opened its new arena 
» Monmouth last played at Seton Hall in 2017, a 75-65 SHU win
»  Under King Rice, MU is 0-2 against Seton Hall
»  The series is 11-9 Peacocks as MAAC foes
»  Monmouth is 1-33 as a program all-time against Big East competition
»  The Hawks win over a Big East program came in 2015 with an 82-67 victory at Georgetown
»  This marks the 10th meeting between King Rice and Shaheen Holloway as head coaches, the prior nine coming with Holloway at Saint Peter's
»  Rice is 3-6 against Holloway all time 
»  This is the 14th meeting all-time between the schools

WHAT WAS LOST
Monmouth graduated seven seniors from last season, four fifth-years and three true seniors, a group that accounted for 574 career games at MU. That group featured three All-MAAC performers in George Papas, Walker Miller and Shavar Reynolds, with Papas finishing as the top single-season three-point shooter in progam history. Also in that group was the program's all-time games played leader in Marcus McClary, last season's top rebounder in Nikkei Rutty, and veteran point guard Samuel Chaput.

SCORING PERCENTAGES LOST
Monmouth graduated 84% of its scoring from a season ago, totaling 57.6 points per game amongst the seven graduates. MU returns 16% of last year's points, a total of 11 points per game. That number is third lowest in the NCAA (IUPUI and West Virginia return 9.1 points per game).

WHAT ENTERS
The Hawks bring in four true freshmen as well as three players that redshirted a season ago to total seven players that could see their first collegiate action this season. True freshmen Andrew Ball, Jack Collins, Amaan Sandhu and Jaret Valen- cia are joined by redshirts Tadhg Crowley, Jayden Doyle and Sam Fagan.

STAFF CHANGES
King Rice enters his 12th season with Rick Callahan by his side, and the staff welcomes two new faces for 2022-23. A familiar coach is back on the MU bench as Brian Reese, a four-year member of Rice's original staff in 2011, is back as an assistant coach. Also joining the coaching staff is Clive Bentick as an assistant coach after a long run as an assistant at St. Francis Brooklyn.

OPENING NIGHT FACTS
The Hawks are 13-25 on opening night as a Division I program, but 6-5 under Rice in season openers, including a signature win in 2015 at UCLA. Of the six that Rice has won, three have been on the road, with wins at Lehigh in 2019 and Hofstra in 2013 as well as the UCLA triumph.

CAA BOUND
The Hawks are entering their first season as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, and will be the first team in the league to open CAA play on December 28. This is the second conference change for King Rice, who transitioned the Blue and White from the NEC to the MAAC in 2013.

COLONIAL PRESEASON POLL
Monmouth, in its first season in the league, was chosen 10th in the conference's preseason coaches poll, with MU selected ahead of North Carolina A&T, Hamp- ton and Elon. The Hawks have matched or outperformed their preseason ranking in nine of Rice's 11 seasons to this point, including winning three MAAC regular season titles despite being picked first just once.

MYLES FOSTER'S TIME
Monmouth's top returning scorer is post presence Myles Foster, who averaged just north of 5ppg a season ago. Foster, a left-handed junior, netted 179 points and se- cured 103 rebounds, including a career-best game at Big East member St. John's. Foster had 13 points and eight boards on 6-8 shooting against the Red Storm.

WINNING 20
Monmouth won 20 games last season for the third time under King Rice and seventh time as a Division I member. Rice's two prior 20-win years came in 2015- 16 and 2016-17, when the Blue and White won 28 and 27 games. Overall, it was the 16th time in the program's 66=year history that the Hawks have topped the 20-win plateau.

RICE SETS PROGRAM WINS RECORD
With the win on 2/22/22 against Siena, King Rice set the program's Division I wins record with his 179th victory in his career, all of them coming at Monmouth. That number is second all-time in the history of the program behind Bill Boylan (364).

ROAD WARRIORS
Monmouth as third the nation in road victories with 10 true road wins last season, behind only Chattanooga who had 12, as well as Towson, Navy and Murray State with 11.

TV DEALS
Monmouth recently reached an agreement for a robust television deal that will feature eight home games airing on SportsNet New York, with five of those to also air on NBC Sports Philadelphia. In addition, MU will play twice on CBS Sports Network as part of the CAA package, and open the season with games on FS1, the ACC Network and the Big Ten Network.

UP NEXT
Monmouth heads to Charlottesville, VA to take on #18 Virginia on Friday night at 9:00 p.m.