2023-24 Monmouth Basketball Gameday Preview: Game Eleven
                                                                                     
Monmouth Hawks (5-5, 0-0 CAA) vs. Rider Broncs (2-7, 0-2 MAAC)
Saturday, December 16, 2023 – 2:00 p.m.
OceanFirst Bank Center, West Long Branch, NJ
 
Please find PDF of full notes attached.
 
TV
SNY/NBC Sports Philadelphia/FloSports
Play-by-Play: Eddy Occhipinti
Analyst: Dave Calloway
 
QUICK BULLETS
-The Hawks come in following a single-digit loss at Seton Hall on Tuesday
-Amaan Sandhu recorded season highs with eight points in 15 minutes at Seton Hall
-Last home game, Jakari Spence made a buzzer-beating three to beat NIU (12/9)
-Spence's shot was featured as #1 on ESPN's Sports Center's Top 10 plays Monmouth trailed NIU by 19 before coming back to win
-MU plays its final of three NJ opponents this season (Princeton, Seton Hall)
-This is the 61st ever meeting between Monmouth and Rider
-Xander Rice has scored double digits in nine of 10 games this season
-Abdi Bashir was named the CAA Rookie of the Week on 11/27
-The Hawks have started the same five in all 10 games
 
A MONMOUTH WIN WOULD...
-tie Monmouth's regular season win total from 2022-23
-mark the sixth win of the season for Monmouth
-be MU's third home win of the season
-be MU's 10th straight win over Manhattan
-give Monmouth its 194th win over a MAAC opponent
-register as the 195th win of Rice's career
-hand Rider its eighth loss of the season
-make Monmouth 1-2 against New Jersey competition this season


MORE INFO ON THE ALL-TIME SERIES
-The series is 33-27 Rider
-It will be the 25th time the two teams meet in West Long Branch. The Hawks lead the home head-to-head, 13-11
-Last year's meeting saw Rider capture an 88-62 victory in Lawrenceville
-King Rice is 12-12 as the Monmouth head coach against Rider
-Rider is Monmouth's longest tenured opponent, with the teams playing every year since 1989
-MU is 193-178 all-time against MAAC members
-This is the 24th meeting between Rice and Baggett as head coaches
-Rice is 12-11 against Baggett all time
-The schools are separated by 45 miles
 
NOTES FROM THE LAST TIME OUT
-Xander Rice scored 20+ points for the seventh time in 10 games this season, and scored in double digits for the ninth time
-Amaan Sandhu tied a career-high with eight points and topped his career best with three made field goals
-Sandhu played a season-high 15 minutes
-Gabe Spinelli matched his season best with six points
-Jack Collins scored in double digits for the 22nd time in his career
-Rice set a career-high with five steals, matching the most by a Hawk in a game this season
-Jack Collins' four steals was a season best
-This marked the 15th meeting ever between MU and Seton Hall » MU was better from three, 36% to 25%
-Monmouth had 12 steals to SHU's eight
-The Hawks shot 36% from the field and from three
-The teams combined for 55 bench points
 
NEXT UP
-Monmouth will host Manhattan Saturday
-The teams will meet for the second year in a row as non-league foes
-The Hawks lead the all-time series, 15-9
-The Hawks topped the Jaspers in last year's matchup, 76-69 in New York (12/2/22)
-Monmouth will take on its final of two MAAC opponents (vs. Rider 12/16/23)
-The game will air on SNY and FloSports