The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team (23-5; 12-3 A-10) begins its final week of the regular season on Sunday when it hosts Saint Louis (10-17; 5-10) at 1 p.m. at sold-out Hagan Arena.
The broadcast will be carried on the American Sports Network and will air on Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia. The game will also air on numerous ASN affiliates, such as SportsNet NY, KMOV3 (St. Louis), NESN+, CSN Bay Area, CSN Chicago, FOTV Los Angeles. To check the ASN schedule for a specific area, go to: americansportsnet.com.
ARENA: Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena (4,200)
TELEVISION: ASN/CSN (Eric Frede, John Griffin)
RADIO: 610 AM (Matt Martucci, Joe Lunardi)
VIDEO STREAMING: A-10 Network WATCH
AUDIO STREAMING: SJUHawks.com LISTEN
SJU STREAK: 1 win
HAWKS' NEXT GAME: March 2 at St. Bonaventure (at Rochester), 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES
SJU has won 12 of the last 14 games. This is the Hawks' best record through 28 games since the 2003-04 team was 27-1. They are currently in a tie for first place in the A-10.
• This marks the ninth 20-plus win season under Phil Martelli, who now has 398 career wins.
• Saint Joseph's RPI is 25, which is the second best in the Atlantic 10 behind Dayton (17).
• The Hawks mourn the passing of team chaplain Fr. Bruce Bidinger, S.J., who passed away on Feb. 23. Fr. Bidinger served in that role for 10 years and was the director of the William F. Leahy Advising Center in the Erivan K. Haub School of Business.
• Today's game is part of the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight, which raises awareness of Jesuit education. (more on pg 13)
• The Hawks will play St. Bonaventure at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., on Wednesday.
BOUNCING BACK: The Hawks got back to their winning ways at Massachusetts with strong defense and contributions from the upperclassmen. SJU held UMass to 2-for-22 shooting from three-point range, including a 0-for-11 effort in the first half. The Hawks committed just 15 fouls and had 10 turnovers. Isaiah Miles shot 6-for-10 to score 20 points and DeAndre' Bembry had 18. Aaron Brown scrored 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting and freshman Lamarr Kimble tallied 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting off the bench. Papa Ndao made his sixth start of the year in place of Pierfrancesco Oliva, who was ill.
LEADER OF THE PACK: Phil Martelli credited DeAndre' Bembry and his leadership skills in aiding the win at Massachusetts on Wednesday. “I said to him that I don't know what the numbers are going to show, but to me it's his leadership. He has something to say to every player on every play and they respond to that. Ironically, after the Davidson game I said to him, 'that's the first game that you didn't talk'.” Bembry was saddled with four fouls that caused him to miss seven minutes in the second half, but he re-entered the game with 5:42 left after UMass had cut its deficit to eight points. With Bembry back in the game, the Hawks outscored UMass, 13-6, to earn the win.
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU: Senior Aaron Brown has quietly scored double figures in the past four games, with a high of 14 points in both the Dayton and Massachusetts wins. He also seems to be the player that starts the scoring for the Hawks. At UMass, he scored seven of the team's first 12 points and versus Dayton, got the Hawks out to a 6-0 start. Brown is averaging 12.7 points per game in those four games and is shooting 50 percent (19-for-38) from the field. Earlier this season, he had a career game at Columbia, scoring 26 points on 11-for-16 shooting, while hitting 3-of-4 three-pointers. The senior is averaging 9.3 points per game this season.
EXCLUSIVE LIST: DeAndre' Bembry is just one of two players in the nation to be averaging over 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game. The other is LSU freshman Ben Simmons (19.5 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 5.0 apg), who is considered one of the top candidates for the National Player of the Year Award. Bembry is the only player in the nation to have those numbers and average less than 2.5 turnovers per game.
MOST IMPROVED HAWKS: SJU owns the fourth-biggest improvement in the nation from last season (as of Feb. 25), according to the NCAA.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Phil Martelli is hard-pressed to find a player he's coached that has made a bigger improvement from one year to the next than Isaiah Miles. The senior, who is arguably one of the most improved players in the nation, is averaging seven more points and three more rebounds than his junior season. He's scored double figures in all 28 games - entering this season he had a total of 20 double-digit games in his entire career. The only player Martelli could compare his improvement to was that of 2008-09 A-10 Player of the Year Ahmad Nivins. Nivins increased his averages by five points and six rebounds from his junior to senior year - but he had been a double-figure scorer as both a sophomore and junior.
BEMBRY ON BOARD: DeAndre' Bembry's rebounding ability is often overlooked but the junior is one of the nation's best for his size. Bembry ranks 42nd in defensive rebounds with 6.5 per game, but if you look at players 6'6” and under, he ranks second in the nation behind Denzel Valentine of Michigan State.
CAREER MILES: Heading into this year, Isaiah Miles had just 444 career points in three seasons. He surpassed the 500-point mark for this season alone (501) to now total 945 points in 99 career games. Miles is looking to become the 53rd Hawk to score 1,000 points. He's shooting 82.7 percent from the foul line in his career, which ties the fourth best percentage in school history (Pat Calathes, 2004-08).
20-20: This marks the ninth 20-plus win season under Phil Martelli, which is the most for any Hawk coach. Counting this one, there have been a total of 23 seasons in SJU history in which the Hawks have won 20 or more games.
HOME BODIES: The Hawks are currently 11-3 at home this year, with losses to #8 Villanova, VCU and St. Bonaventure.
GAINING NOTICE: The Hawks received 20 votes in this week's AP Poll, a decrease from last week's season-high of 57. The Hawks garnered 10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, which was down from last week's total of 17. The Jan. 4th AP poll marked the first time SJU received votes since the 2013-14 season. In that year, SJU garnered votes in the polls of Feb. 3, March 3 and March 17.
KEEPING IT FRESH: Lamarr “Fresh” Kimble has posted double figures in two of the last three games, averaging 9.0 ppg in that stretch. In the two games with double figures (UMass, Dayton), he's hitting a combined 8-for-10 from the field. Kimble had a big game vs. Dayton, tying his career-high with 13 points while adding five assists. He scored four straight points in the first half as the Hawks took the lead for good and hit a three-pointer after Dayton had cut SJU's lead to six with 5:20 to play. Kimble and fellow point guard Shavar Newkirk combined for 21 points, seven assists and just one turnover in the victory.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Hawks close out the regular season this week by playing St. Bonaventure on Wednesday at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., and then hosting Duquesne on Saturday, March 5 for “Senior Day”.
