Men's Basketball 1/26/2016 12:00:00 AM SJU Athletic Communications

Men's Basketball Hosts Massachusetts on Wednesday

The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team (16-3; 5-1 A-10) will look for its sixth straight win when it hosts Massachusetts (8-10; 1-5) on Wednesday, January 27 at Hagan Arena. Game time is 7 p.m

ARENA: Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena (4,200)
TELEVISION: None
RADIO: WNTP 990 AM (Matt Martucci, Joe Lunardi)
VIDEO STREAMING: A-10 Network
AUDIO STREAMING: SJUHawks.com
SJU STREAK: 5 wins
HAWKS' NEXT GAME: January 30 at Rhode Island, 6 p.m., CBSSN

GAME NOTES

• Big 5 Player of the Week DeAndre' Bembry led Saint Joseph's to the win at La Salle with 16 points, four rebounds, six assists and four steals. Isaiah Miles had 15 points and nine rebounds while Lamarr Kimble added 10 points as the Hawks came back from 11 points down.
• This will be the 660th game coached by Phil Martelli in his 21 seasons.
• SJU has won five in a row and 12 of the last 13 games. With 16 victories, Saint Joseph's has surpassed last year's win total (13). The Hawks finished the non-conference portion of the schedule with an 11-2 record.
• Saint Joseph's RPI is 35, which is the third best in the A-10 behind Dayton (10) and George Washington (31).
• This closes out a stretch of four straight games in Philadelphia; the Hawks travel to Rhode Island on Saturday and will play three of the next four on the road.

FOR A GOOD CAUSE: This is the annual Suits and Sneakers Week, a Coaches vs. Cancer initiative that supports the American Cancer Society. The Hawks will also wear special laces in memory of Lacey Holsworth, an 8-year-old basketball fan who died of cancer. Laces are now available at Shoe Carnival stores or at: shoecarnival.com/lacey.

COMEBACK KIDS: The Hawks fell behind by 11 points in the first half at La Salle, but staged their biggest comeback of the season. Down 19-8 with 8:20 to play, SJU went on a 20-3 run to take a 28-22 lead by halftime. During that stretch, DeAndre' Bembry scored seven points while Lamarr Kimble and Papa Ndao had five apiece. The Hawks' biggest comeback this season prior to that was coming from nine points down to score a 77-73 win at Richmond.

POINT TAKEN: Shavar Newkirk and Lamarr Kimble have been splitting time as the Hawks' point guards and Phil Martelli is happy with the play of the duo. “The competition is so healthy between the two of them. In this situation the point guards get the key to the house. Fresh (Kimble) is making a lot of progress and the two of them root for each other, which is nice to see. They're not competing any longer. It's now about 'us', it's not about 'them'”. In the win over Penn, the duo combined for 19 points (11 by Newkirk) and 11 assists (6 by Kimble) while combining to shoot 6-for-11 from the field.

GAINING NOTICE: The Hawks received two votes in this week's USA Today Coaches' Poll. SJU had been given three votes in the AP Poll of Jan. 4 and two votes the previous week, but did not receive any for Jan. 11. The Jan. 4 poll marked the first time SJU received votes since the 2013-14 season. In that year, SJU gained votes in the polls of Feb. 3, March 3 and March 17.

WORKING LATE: The 9:30 p.m. start time for the Penn game didn't affect the Hawks. They fell behind in the first three minutes, 8-3, but after a 10-2 run, took the lead for good at the 14:31 mark. SJU led by as many as 19 points in the contest. DeAndre' Bembry again led SJU with 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.

THE THROWBACK'S THROWBACK: More than 30 former SJU players witnessed the win over Fordham on Jan. 16 and they got to see DeAndre' Bembry at his best. The junior posted 26 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double. Phil Martelli felt that Bembry would've fit in with all of those former Hawks, saying, “DeAndre' plays like an old guy. He could play with any one of those guys. He's a throwback's throwback. He's gifted. They could've called him out for playing in the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, because he has an old-school game.”

RETURN TO ACTION: Pierfrancesco Oliva returned to action vs. Penn after missing two games (George Mason, Fordham) with an ankle injury suffered in practice on Jan. 12. Oliva had five rebounds and two steals in his return. The freshman's parents were visiting from Italy, and the Penn game was the first time they had seen him play for the Hawks.

OFF THE BENCH: James Demery is proving to be one of the more valuable “sixth men” in the Atlantic 10. He's scored double figures in 10 games this season while playing just over 22 minutes per game. Demery has also been one of the Hawks' best three-point shooters during A-10 play, hitting 55.6 percent of his long-range shots.

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.

BEMBRY AND THE BIG 5: DeAndre' Bembry was named the Big 5 Player of the Week for consecutive weeks - Jan. 18 and Jan. 25. This week, he earned the award after averaging 16.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 4.0 steals in wins over Penn and La Salle. He has now received the weekly honor four times this season and seven times in his career.

MONEY IN THE BANK: Isaiah Miles is hitting 90.4 percent from the foul line and has made 11 consecutive free throws, but he hasn't gone to the line in the last three games. The school record for a single-season percentage is 89.2 set by Delonte West in 2003-04.

HOME BODIES: The Hawks are currently 8-2 at home this year, with losses only to #8 Villanova and VCU.

FACE THE NATION: Saint Joseph's has the 17th best winning percentage (.842) in the nation while Isaiah Miles is sixth in free throw percentage (.904) and DeAndre' Bembry is ninth in minutes (37.6). The Hawks also rank in the top 25 of the NCAA statistics in the following categories:
   • 3pt FG% Defense - 11th (.293)
   • Fewest Fouls/Game - 6th (15.6)
   • Fewest Fouls - 9th (297)
   • Turnovers/Game - 22nd (10.6)
   • Fewest Turnovers - 23rd (202)

LOOKING AHEAD: SJU goes on the road for three of the next four, beginning with Saturday's trip to Rhode Island. The Hawks will return home to face St. Bonaventure on Feb. 3 and then travel to Fordham (Feb. 6) and George Washington (Feb. 10).