2023-24 Monmouth Basketball Gameday Preview: Game Four
                                                                                       
Monmouth Hawks (1-2, 0-0 CAA) vs. Lehigh Mountain Hawks (1-3, 0-0 Patriot)
Tuesday, November 21, 2023 - 7:00 p.m.
OceanFirst Bank Center, West Long Branch, NJ
 
TV
NBC Sports Philadelphia/FloSports
Play-by-Play: Matt Harmon
Analyst: Dave Calloway

QUICK BULLETS
-Jack Collins has back-to-back games with double-digit rebounds including a career-high 12 vs. Princeton on Saturday
-This begins a four games in six days run
-MU has started the same lineup the first three games of the year
-This marks the 13th all-time meeting between MU and Lehigh
-The Hawks rank 2nd in the CAA in blocked shots
-Xander Rice leads the CAA in PPG with 22.3
-Monmouth won its ninth high-major game under King Rice at WVU (11/10)
-X. Rice was named CAA Player of the Week after scoring a career-high 30 points against West Virginia
-X. Rice was named All-CAA Preseason Honorable Mention and was also named CAA Newcomer of the Year by Blue Ribbon 
Yearbook

A MONMOUTH WIN WOULD...
-mark the second win of the season for Monmouth
-improve King Rice's record to 4-2 versus the Mountain Hawks
-mark Monmouth's first home win of the 2023-24 season
-register as the sixth win in school history over Lehigh
-be the Hawks 27th program win over a Patriot League school
-register as the 191st win of Rice's career
-hand Lehigh its fourth loss of the season
-be Monmouth's first 2-2 start since the 2020-21 season
-be MU's first win over Lehigh since Nov. 16, 2021 (W, 85-75)

MORE INFO ON THE ALL-TIME SERIES
-Monmouth and Lehigh are meeting for the 13th time in MBB competition
-The first ever meeting came on 12/30/87, a Lehigh win
-MU has won four of the last six over the Mountain Hawks
-MU has won two of the last three in the series
-The 2021 matchup saw Monmouth score 85 points, its second-highest offensive output of that season
-Monmouth is 26-23 against Patriot opponents all time
-The Hawks have played every Patriot member in program history with the exception of Boston U
-Monmouth takes on two Patriot opponents this season, with an 11/25 matchup versus Lafayette at The Palestra
-This marks the first of five matchups against Pennsylvania schools for MU this season

NOTES FROM THE LAST TIME OUT
-Jack Collins grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds.
-Xander Rice led MU with 16 points, his third straight game in double figures to open the season.
-Cornelius Robinson scored a career-high nine points, including a soaring dunk in the second half.
-Gabe Spinelli scored his first career points.
-Quinn Peters knocked in a three pointer, his first career points.
-Peters, Braedan Allen, Jack Leahy and Corey Miller all made their Monmouth debuts.
-MU was better off the bench, 28-12.
-Monmouth had five blocks to Princeton's two.
-MU assisted on 10 of its 20 baskets.

NEXT UP
-Monmouth will play three days in three games at the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic at The Palestra in Philadelphia, Pa.
-The Hawks will face Belmont on Friday, Lafayette on Saturday, and Penn on Sunday
-Monmouth and Belmont will meet for the first time ever
-Belmont has the second-most conference wins (334) in the NCAA since 2003
-All three games will air on ESPN+

RED HOT START TO THE YEAR
Xander Rice became the first Hawk since Walker Miller in 2021-22 to post a double-digit point total in each of the first three games of a season. Rice currently ranks 14th in the nation with 22.3 points-per-game.

GLASS CLEANER
Jack Collins set a career high in rebounds with 12 versus Princeton on Saturday. This came off the back of a previous best 10 boards at West Vriginia, becoming the first Monmouth player to pull in double-digit rebounds since Nikkei Rutty did so in 2021-22 (13 vs. Rider, 2/18/22; 19 vs. Siena 2/22/22).

GO CRAZY, XANDER
Xander Rice dropped career highs in points with 30 and made threes with five, including 20 points in the second half in Monmouth's win over West Virginia. He earned CAA Player of the Week, NJHoops Player of the Week, Field of 68 Player of the Night for 11/10 and was listed by ESPN's Dick Vitale as the Prime Time Player of the Night.

NINE HIGH-MAJOR WINS
Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Monmouth under King Rice has knocked off nine high-major opponents, averaging one per season in nine years, including the 2020-21 COVID season, when MU only played one non-league game and was unable to play a high-major. This seasons win over West Virginia was the ninth, joining Pitt and Cincinnati (2021), Memphis (2016) and UCLA, Notre Dame, USC, Georgetown and Rutgers (2015).

SECOND MOST POINTS EVER IN THE FIRST TWO
Xander Rice's 51 points in the first two games of the season is the second most by a Hawk in program history. The most came from John Giraldo to open the 1994-95 season, when he totaled 54 with 33 at Loyola Md. and 21 against Drexel. 

NATIONAL RANKINGS
MU as a team and several individuals rank atop the nation's rankings, led by Xander Rice, who enters the day 14th nationally in scoring at 22.3 points per game. Rice is also 59th in minutes per game. As a team, the Hawks rank 45th nationally in fastbreak points, averaging 16.7 points per game on the move.

FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE
After coming close several times last season, Jack Collins posted his first career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds at WVU. He has scored 17 points in each of the first two games.