2023-24 Monmouth Basketball Gameday Preview: Game Sixteen

Monmouth Hawks (9-6, 2-0 CAA) at UNC Wilmington Seahawks (9-5, 0-2 CAA)
Thursday, January 11, 2024 - 7:00 p.m.
Trask Coliseum, Wilmington, NC

TV
FloSports
Play-by-Play: Mike Vaccaro
Analyst: Marty Feurer

RADIO
Monmouth Digital Network
Play-by-Play: Matt Harmon

QUICK BULLETS
-Monmouth has won its first two CAA games
-The Hawks are 2-0 in conference for the fourth time under King Rice
-Xander Rice scored 24 first-half points and ended with 29 against Northeastern
-Jakari Spence notched his first career double-figure game of the season Monday
-This is MU's second trip ever to UNCW
-This is the only meeting between Monmouth and UNC Wilmington this year
-The 19-point win over Northeastern was MU's largest margin of victory this year
-King Rice is two wins from 200 career
-Monmouth leads the CAA in three-point percentage at 37.8%
-Monmouth finished non-conference play 7-6, the fifth non-league winning record under King Rice
-The Hawks have started the same lineup in all 15 games

A MONMOUTH WIN WOULD...
-mark the 10th win of the season for Monmouth
-be MU's second true win of the season
-start Monmouth 3-0 in CAA play for the first time ever
-begin conference play 3-0 for the second time under Rice (2014-15)
-register as the 199th win of Rice's career
-be King Rice's first career win over the Seahawks
-hand UNCW its sixth loss of the season
-extend Monmouth's winning streak to three games
-be MU's third win in the calendar year of 2024
-be Monmouth's first victory over UNCW as a league member

MORE INFO ON THE ALL-TIME SERIES
-This is the fourth ever meeting between the schools
-This marks Monmouth's second ever visit to Wilmington
-The teams met in Monmouth's first ever CAA game on December 28, 2022
-Monmouth had a three to tie at Trask Coliseum last season, falling 52-49
-In two meetings last season with UNCW, MU was led by Klemen Vuga (21 points) and Jack Collins (18 points)
-The first meeting was Monmouth's fourth ever game as a Division I program on December 3, 1983. Monmouth had yet to earn a win as a DI program
-UNCW won that 1983 meeting 46-41 as part of the Olde Fayetteville Classic in Fayetteville, NC

NOTES FROM LAST TIME OUT
-Xander Rice tied a program record for three-point percentage in a game, going 5-for-5 to match prior 5-for-5 nights from Dejan Delic, Collin Stewart and Je'lon Hornbeak.
-Rice made his final 11 shots and had 24 points in the first half, the most points in a half by a Hawk this season.
-Rice's 11 made field goals marked a career high.\
-MU is 2-0 in the CAA for the first time ever and fourth time under Rice (2021-22, 2016-17, 2014-15)
-This was Monmouth's first win over Northeastern since 1991.
-Jakari Spence posted a season-high 11 points, his third career double-figure game.
-Nikita Konstantynovskyi posted his seventh game with nine or more rebounds
-Jaret Valencia posted his fifth career game in double figures.
-Sam Fagan notched his first career block and played a career-best seven minutes.
-MU shot over 50% from the field for the fifth time this season.
-The game aired on national television via the CBS Sports Network.
-Monmouth outshot Northeastern 53% to 34%.
-MU was better in the paint, 36-18.
-The Hawks dominated the fast break, 18-6.
-MU led for 30:18 on the night.

NEXT UP
-Monmouth completes the road trip with a game at Charleston on Jan. 13
-The Hawks are 0-1 against Charleston all time
-The game will air on FloSports and on The CW Low Country in the South Carolina area