-Monmouth has nine new players on this season's roster
-Graduate guard Xander Rice was named All-CAA Preseason Honorable Mention
-Rice was also named CAA Newcomer of the Year by Blue Ribbon Yearbook
-MU has three transfers on this years roster
-The Hawks enter their second season in the Coastal Athletic Association
-Jack Collins was a 2023 CAA All-Rookie selection
-Monmouth's King Rice enters his 13th season tonight as the MU head coach
-Monmouth returns three starters in Klemen Vuga, Jack Collins and Jakari Spence
-MU defeated Rhode Island College in an exhibition contest, 91-44
-Monmouth's roster boasts 19 players this season, the largest under King Rice

A MONMOUTH WIN WOULD...
-make MU 14-26 all time on opening night as a DI program
-be King Rice's seventh opening night victory in 13 seasons
-mark Monmouth's first opening night win on the road and first overall since 2019 at Lehigh
-mark MU's first win over George Mason since 1992
-be the Hawks eighth program win over a current A10 school
-be the Hawks first win of the season
-register as the 190th win of Rice's career
-put the Hawks at 1-0 on the season

MORE INFO ON THE ALL-TIME SERIES
-Monmouth and George Mason are meeting for the 7th time ever
-George Mason leads the all-time series, 4-2
-The first meeting was played in 1982, Monmouth's final season before moving to Division I
-This is the first meeting since 2011, when the teams met in the Preseason NIT at Virginia Tech in Rice's first season
-Monmouth's last visit to EagleBank Arena came in 2011 as part of the Preseason NIT, when MU played two neutral site contests against Brown and Albany
-The teams played in a home-and-home in 1991-92 and 1992-93
-Monmouth's last contest against an A10 program came with a win at Saint Joseph's in 2021

CAA PRESEASON INFO
-Monmouth was chosen 11th in the 14-team CAA
-Xander Rice was chosen as an All-CAA Preseason Honorable Mention
-MU received 50 votes from the league's coaches in the preseason poll
-Charleston was chosen first, with the defending champs receiving 165 votes
-Drexel's Amari Williams was the CAA Preseason Player of the Year
-11 of 14 CAA schools are in action on opening night

WHAT RETURNS
Monmouth returns 1,136 out of 2,036 points from last season, a 54.9% mark, including nine players returning from last seasons roster. Three returning starters in Jakari Spence, Jack Collins and Klemen Vuga are back for the Hawks.

WHAT WAS LOST
The Hawks lost 900 points, 45.1% of its scoring last year due to graduation and transfers. Two starters from last year's roster aren't on this seasons.

WHAT ENTERS FROM THE PORTAL
King Rice brought in three transfers ahead of this season, including Xander Rice, Nikita Konstantynovskyi and Gabe Spinelli. Rice comes in after scoring 1,000+ points in four seasons at Bucknell, and graduated in May as the fourth best free throw shooter in program history. He was a Third Team All-Patriot League selection last year, and was named Preseason All-CAA Honorable Mention. Konstantynovskyi enters from Tulsa, where he played 27 games in 2021-22 before missing the bulk of last season with injury. Spinelli played in 30 games with Evansville last season, averaging over five points from the point guard spot.

WHAT ENTERS AS FRESHMEN
Monmouth has five freshmen on the roster this season, with Abdi Bashir and Cornelius Robinson joining Quinn Peters, Jack Leahy and Corey Miller. Robinson and Bashir are expected to see minutes for the Blue and White early on, with Robinson coming from Camden HS and Bashir hailing from Nebraska before playing at PHHoenix Prep.

EXHIBITION ACTION
Monmouth toppled Rhode Island College in an open exhibition in October, 91-44 behind five in double figures. Xander Rice led the way with 15, while Nikita Konstantynovskyi, Jaret Valencia, Klemen Vuga and Cornelius Robinson all scored 10+ points. Jack Collins added 10 boards while Valencia had five rebounds, four blocks and three steals. Former Monmouth assistant Sam Ferry began his first season as the head coach at Rhode Island College.

PRESEASON HONORS
Xander Rice was named All-CAA Preseason Honorable Mention, while also earning CAA Preseason Newcomer of the Year from Blue Ribbon.