The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team (13-3; 3-1 A-10) will host Fordham (10-5; 1-3) on Saturday, January 16 at Hagan Arena. Game time is 1 p.m. with the local broadcast on WPHL-17.
The game will also be available for viewing on the Atlantic 10 Network, with the radio broadcast on 990 AM
ARENA: Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena (4,200)
TELEVISION: WPHL-17 (Matt Martucci, Joe Lunardi) WATCH
RADIO: WNTP 990 AM (Steve Wanczyk, Jack Scheuer) LISTEN
VIDEO STREAMING: A-10 Network
AUDIO STREAMING: SJUHawks.com
SJU STREAK: 2 wins
HAWKS' NEXT GAME: January 20 vs. Penn, 9 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• Saint Joseph's is coming off an 87-73 win at George Mason in which Isaiah Miles scored 26 points and DeAndre' Bembry had 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
• SJU has won nine of the last 10 games and has now matched the number of victories (13) achieved in the entire 2014-15 season.
• Isaiah Miles ranks eighth in the nation in free throw shooting at 90.4 percent while DeAndre' Bembry ranks sixth in the nation in minutes played with 37.6.
• Saint Joseph's RPI is 34th, the third best in the A-10 behind Dayton (15) and George Washington (31).
• Over 30 former players will be in attendance today and will be honored at timeouts during the game.
• Today's game is part of the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight, which raises awareness of Jesuit education.
SENIOR MOMENT: Papa Ndao made his first start of the season, and first since 2013-14, when he replaced the injured Pierfrancesco Oliva in the lineup at George Mason. Ndao seems to have a liking for the EagleBank Arena (formerly Patriot Center), as he scored 13 points to match the career-high he previously established in that arena in January 2014. Ndao made 4-of-10 from the field, including back-to-back threes in the last four minutes, that helped SJU solidify the win.
CAN'T MISS: Isaiah Miles has been “in the zone” many times this year and the George Mason game was another example. The senior made his first six shots from the field, with his only miss coming right before the halftime buzzer. Miles finished the game with 26 points on 8-for-11 shooting, while he went a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line and grabbed 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double. More importantly, that effort came after he had a season-low 10 points in the win over Rhode Island.
INJURY REPORT: Pierfrancesco Oliva is doubtful for today's game due to a sprained ankle he suffered in practice on Jan. 12.
COMING CLOSE: DeAndre' Bembry has come close to notching a triple-double on numerous occasions this year. In the win at George Mason, Bembry had 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. The last time a Saint Joseph's player achieved the feat was Dwayne Jones vs. St. Bonaventure on Feb. 19, 2005 when he had 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocked shots.
REWARD FOR HARD WORK: Phil Martelli announced that junior Brendan Casper will be awarded a scholarship for the upcoming semester. Casper joined the team as a walk-on his freshman year and has seen action in 36 games. “On a team that works extra hard, no one on a daily basis outworks Brendan. He's a great teammate and a great student and this announcement to the team was met with great joy,” said Martelli.
HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW: DeAndre' Bembry showed up to the Rhode Island game without his trademark hairstyle - due to a barber's error. But Bembry's game was still the same as he led the Hawks to the 72-67 victory. The junior scored a game-high 22 points, while leading the team with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
SEALING THE WIN: After poor second-half free-throw shooting doomed the Hawks against VCU (9-of-19), Saint Joseph's turned it around to seal the win over Rhode Island. Holding a 65-58 lead with 2:22 to play, the Hawks shot 7-for-8 from the line in the final 1:43 to secure the 72-67 victory. Shavar Newkirk was 4-for-4 during that stretch. SJU used another strong effort at George Mason, going 20-for-24 in the second half, and 9-for-10 in the final four minutes.
HOME BODIES: The Hawks are currently 7-2 at home this year, with losses only to #8 Villanova and VCU.
ROAD WARRIORS: SJU is 4-0 on the road this year, with wins at Columbia, Temple, Richmond and George Mason. The Hawks also played three neutral site games, with two in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Mohegan Sun Arena (Florida, ODU) and one at the Barclays Center in the ACC-Atlantic 10 doubleheader (Virginia Tech).
DEAN OF COACHES: Phil Martelli is the dean of A-10 coaches in his 21st season as the head coach of the Hawks with a 388-268 career record. He owns a 188-138 record in Atlantic 10 play for the most conference wins of any active coach, and the second most all-time.
FLYING START: This is the quickest that the Hawks have achieved 13 wins since the undefeated season in 2003-04. The seven-game winning streak that ended with the loss to VCU on Jan. 5 was the longest since a seven-game streak in January 2009. The Hawks have now already matched last season's victory total of 13. The 2013-14 team, which went 24-10, was 11-5 at this point during that championship season.
30 for 30: Leading scorer Isaiah Miles hit for 30-plus points for the second time this season when he scored 31 against VCU. The senior shot 11-for-14 from the field and 4-for-6 from the foul line. On Dec. 22 vs. Virginia Tech, Miles established a new personal best with 36 points. Prior to this year, Miles' career-high was 24 points.
DEE-FENSE: The Hawks' defense has been a big part of their success. SJU is leading the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage defense (39.8) and in three-point field goal percentage defense (29.9).
STAYING IN THE GAME: As they did two years ago, the Hawks have limited their fouls and currently rank 13th in the nation in fewest fouls per game (13.1). SJU has only had four disqualifications all season.
DYNAMIC DUO: The duo of DeAndre' Bembry and Isaiah Miles has been an offensive force for the Hawks. The pair has combined to score 46 percent of Saint Joseph's total points (559) this year. Bembry and Miles have also accounted for 41 pecent of the team's rebounds (260) and 42 percent of SJU's three-point field goals (48).
LOOKING AHEAD: SJU is in the midst of a stretch of four straight games in Philadelphia. The Hawks will play Penn at The Palestra on Wednesday in a Big 5 doubleheader in the final non-conference game of the year. The Hawks will then visit La Salle on Jan. 23, before returning to Hagan Arena on Jan. 27 to host Massachusetts.
