The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team (3-0) continues play in the 2015 Hall of Fame Tip-Off on Saturday when it meets Florida (2-0) in a semifinal at Mohegan Sun Arena. Game time is 2:30 p.m. with the broadcast on ESPN3. There will be no radio broadcast but audio streaming of the game will be available on SJUHawks.com.
VIDEO: ESPN3/Watch ESPN (Bob Picozzi, Mo Cassara) WATCH
AUDIO STREAMING: SJUHawks.com (Matt Martucci, Joe Lunardi) - LISTEN
SERIES RECORD: SJU leads 46-9
NEXT GAME: Nov. 22 vs. ODU/Purdue, Noon/5:30 p.m., ESPN3/ESPN2
LIVE STATS
GAME NOTES
• Isaiah Miles tied his career-highs with 24 points and 14 rebounds in the 89-67 win over Buffalo on Wednesday. Shavar Newkirk (12 pts) and James Demery (13 pts) recorded new career-highs while fresman Lamarr Kimble added a season-high nine points.
• DeAndre' Bembry scored his 1,000th career point in the win over Buffalo, becoming the 52nd Hawk to do so and the 22nd to achieve it in his third season.
• This is the first 3-0 start for SJU since 2009-10. A win today would give the Hawks their first 4-0 start since the 2003-04 team, which posted the perfect regular season at 27-0.
• DeAndre' Bembry was named to the Preseason Top 50 List for the John R. Wooden Award.
• The winner of this game will advance to the championship game on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. against the Old Dominion/Purdue winner. The loser will play in the consolation game at noon.
JOIN THE CLUB: DeAndre' Bembry became the 52nd Hawk player to score over 1,000 points in his Saint Joseph's career. He entered the Buffalo game with 998 points and hit the milestone with a driving layup at the 10:13 mark of the first half. He is the 22nd Hawk to achieve the milestone as a junior and now has 1,008 points in 68 games. "He's going to be a Hall of Famer here and be a Big 5 Hall of Famer down the line, but it's not going to be because of his points. It's going to be because of his game. He's a basketball player,” said coach Phil Martelli. "At halftime, he told me his man (Jarryn Skeete) didn't have any points. We've had other guys here get to that number (1,000) because they wanted to get to that number. With him, he wanted to get to 3-0.”
RACKING UP THE MILES: Senior Isaiah Miles is the team's leader in scoring (17.0), rebounding (9.3) and blocks (2.3). He tied his career-highs with 24 points and 14 rebounds in the win over Buffalo, and now has two double-doubles in three games. Miles has credited his work with assistant coach David Duda and a weight loss of close to 20 pounds from last March for his impressive start. Phil Martelli called his effort against Buffalo a “monster game” and said, “"It's a credit to him (Miles) because he looks like a different player with the weight loss. He's a senior in practice and he's a senior in the locker room. He had 14 rebounds and we're undersized. I'm just delighted for him. It's what you want for a senior. He's a really good person and comes from a wonderful family."
JAM-PACKED START: The Hawks have wasted no time getting the season going as they have played three games in six days. And with the two games this weekend, it will be five contests in 10 days. SJU, which has played on the past two Thanksgiving days, gets a break for the holiday and will return to action on Dec. 1, hosting rival Villanova.
HIGH-SCORING HAWKS: The Hawks have scored more than 70 points in their first three games, with a high of 89 vs. Drexel. It's quite a change from last year when SJU struggled to score. The 2014-15 Hawks surpassed the 70-point mark only six times in 31 games and scored less than 60 points on 11 occasions.
BOOK ON BEMBRY: DeAndre' Bembry has picked up where he left off, leading the Hawks. The junior opened the year with a game-high 23 points in the win over Drexel, hitting 6-of-12 from the field and tying his career-high with 11 free throws made (in 15 attempts). Bembry followed that with 12 points, six rebounds and seven assists vs. Niagara and had 10 points and a team-high five assists against Buffalo. Although he is two points per game (15.0) behind Isaiah Miles in the scoring columns, he leads the team in assists (4.7), and steals (2.0).
BALANCED ATTACK: Saint Joseph's has had four players score double figures in each of the first three games. It was the same foursome - DeAndre' Bembry, Isaiah Miles, Aaron Brown and Pierfrancesco Oliva - in the first two games, while Bembry, Miles, James Demery and Shavar Newkirk hit double digits against Buffalo.
VIVA ITALIA: Freshman Pierfrancesco Oliva gave a glimpse of things to come with his performance against Drexel - 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Oliva hit a three-pointer with 2:34 to play to give the Hawks a 12-point cushion that they would need. He followed that with 12 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in the Niagara win.
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU: Senior Aaron Brown posted back-to-back double-figure games in the first two contests and is averaging 12.7 ppg. Brown made the fourth start of his SJU career against Drexel and responded with 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting, and followed that with 14 vs. Niagara. Brown served primarily as the Hawks' “sixth man” last season and was the team's third leading scorer with 9.3 points per game.
ON THE LINE: SJU has converted over 70 percent from the line in all three games. Last year, the team struggled at the foul line, converting 61.5 percent of its free throw attempts. Isaiah Miles has made all 12 attempts while Aaron Brown has made all 11 of his free throws thus far.
TO THE POINT: Sophomore point guard Shavar Newkirk made the first start of his career against Drexel and has started all three games. He achieved a new career-high with 12 points in the win over Buffalo, hiting 4-of-7 from the field. The sophomore has taken care of the ball, only averaging 1.3 turnovers per game in 23.3 minutes played per game.
LOOKING AHEAD: After the Hall of Fame Tip-Off, the Hawks get a break for the holiday before returning to action against nationally-ranked Villanova on Tuesday, December 1. The annual Big 5 rivalry game will be played at Hagan Arena.
