Men's Basketball Opens 2020-21 Season Thanksgiving Day At Fort Myers Tip-Off

11/25/2020 10:13:00 AM

GAMEDAY LINKS
Saint Joseph's: Roster | Schedule | Stats
Auburn: Roster | Schedule | Stats
Kansas: Roster | Schedule | Stats

THE TIP-OFF
• Saint Joseph's men's basketball team opens its 2020-21 slate this Thursday and Friday at the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off against Auburn and #6 Kansas, respectively.
• The Hawks enter the Fort Myers Tip-Off with an 83-26 mark in season-opening contests, and have won their last two openers, including an 86-81 victory over Bradley last season in head coach Billy Lange's debut.
• Saint Joseph's returns six letterwinners from last year's team, including leading scorer Ryan Daly (20.6 ppg).
• Transfers Greg Foster, Jr. (Gonzaga) and Dahmir Bishop (Xavier) will make their Hawk debuts this Thanksgiving after each redshirted the 2019-20 season. Foster, Jr. joined the Hawks in the summer of 2019, while Bishop came to Hawk Hill in January of 2020.
• Redshirt junior Taylor Funk will make his return to the Saint Joseph's lineup this week after missing the final 25 games of last season due to a right hand injury.
• Freshmen Jordan Hall and Jadrian Tracey make their collegiate debuts, with Tracey (West Oaks Academy) playing in his hometown of Fort Myers, Florida.

THE MATCHUPS
Saint Joseph's vs. Auburn (#RV)
Date: Thursday, November 26 | 4:30 p.m.
Series vs. Auburn: Auburn leads 2-0
First Meeting: 12/18/56, Auburn, 66-64
Last Meeting: 3/21/03, Auburn, 65-63 OT
Coach Lange vs. Auburn: First Meeting

Saint Joseph's vs. Kansas (#6)
Date: Friday, November 27 | 2:00 p.m.
Series vs. Kansas: Kansas leads 5-2
First Meeting: 12/30/42, Kansas, 63-38
Last Meeting: 12/6/05, Saint Joseph's, 70-67
Coach Lange vs. Kansas: First Meeting

THE HAWKS VERSUS AUBURN
Saint Joseph's faces Auburn in its season opener on Thanksgiving. The contest marks just the third meeting between the two programs, with the Tigers having won each. Below is a breakdown of the previous two meetings.
• Auburn won the first meeting, 66-64, in the semifinals of the 1956 Carousel Tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Jameer Nelson hit two free throws with :00.5 left in regulation to force overtime in the First Round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament versus Auburn. In the extra frame, the Hawks had a chance to win at the buzzer, but a three-point attempt by Pat Carroll missed its mark as the Tigers advanced, 65-63. Nelson finished the game with 32 points, the fourth most by a Hawk in a NCAA Tournament game.

SAINT JOSEPH'S VERSUS KANSAS
The Hawks and Jayhawks wrap up the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off on Friday as the two squads meet for just the eighth time. Below are highlights from the previous matchups.
• Saint Joseph's won the last contest between the two teams, 70-67, in the 2005 Jimmy V Classic Madison Square Garden. Kansas led 34-31 at the break, but SJU pulled away in the second half thanks to a game-high 27 points from Chet Stachitas.
• The Hawks are 0-3 versus Kansas when it is ranked in the top 10 (2004, 1970, 1957).

RETURNING FIREPOWER
Saint Joseph's enters the 2020-21 season in good shape on the offensive side as it returns 74 percent of its scoring from a season ago, including its top five scorers in Ryan Daly (20.6 ppg), Cameron Brown (10.1 ppg), Taylor Funk (9.4 ppg), Myles Douglas (7.6 ppg) and Rahmir Moore (7.3 ppg). All told, the Hawks' returning letterwinners scored 1,633 of their 2,208 points in 2019-20.

FUNK BACK AND READY FOR ACTION
After missing the final 25 games of last season due to a right hand injury, Taylor Funk is set to return to the Hawks' lineup this Thanksgiving. Along with a fully healed hand, Funk improved his conditioning and strength in the down time and enters the season weighing 215 pounds, down 15 from last season thanks in part to working out with head strength and condition coach Eric Lang.

BISHOP SET FOR DEBUT
Sophomore Dahmir Bishop is set to make his Hawk debut against Auburn in the season opener. Transferring from Xavier to Hawk Hill last winter, Bishop received his eligibility waiver from the NCAA this fall for this season. A standout at Imhotep Charter, the 6-foot-5 guard averaged 1.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 12.0 minutes per game over 10 contests. A two-time Pennsylvania Sports Writers Class AAAA First Team All-State selection, he helped lead the Panthers to three-straight PIAA Class 4A State titles and Philadelphia Public League championships. A four star recruit, Bishop averaged 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game as a senior captain at Imhotep Charter.

FOSTER, JR. DONS CRIMSON AND GRAY
Like Dahmir Bishop, Redshirt sophomore Greg Foster, Jr. will don the Crimson and Gray this week for the first time. A transfer from Gonzaga, Foster, Jr. spent last season practicing with the Hawks as he sat out per NCAA transfer rules. Scoring 19 points in 28 games at Gonzaga, Foster, Jr., Foster's relationship with Saint Joseph's head coach Billy Lange goes deep as he previously spent Thanksgiving with the Lange family during his eighth grade year as his father, Greg Foster, Sr. and Lange were member of the 76ers coaching staff.

HAWKS VERSUS RANKED TEAMS
This Friday marks the 184th time Saint Joseph's has faced a nationally ranked opponent. The Hawks have posted a 45-138 record, having lost their last four contests against ranked teams. Saint Joseph's last win over a ranked team came on February 27, 2018, as the Hawks topped #17 Rhode Island, 78-48.

CHALLENGING BACK-TO-BACK
Saint Joseph's will face a challenge as it opens the 2020-21 schedule against an Auburn squad receiving votes in the national polls, and a pair of top-10 ranked teams in Kansas (#6) and Villanova (#3). The Hawks previously faced back-to-back nationally ranked teams in the 2004 Regional Semifinal (84-80 win over #17 Wake Forest) and Regional Final (64-62 loss to #4 Oklahoma State). The last time Saint Joseph's played two consecutive games against top-10 opponents was in 1966 as they topped #8 Providence, 86-57 on March 2, and then beat the #8 Friars 65-48 on March 7. The next game that season for the Hawks was a 76-74 loss to #2 Duke. in the NCAA Regional Semifinal.

DALY BACK ON HAWK HILL
Redshirt senior Ryan Daly originally entered the 2020 NBA Draft, but removed his name this summer to return back to Hawk Hill. The Atlantic 10 leading scorer a season ago, Daly enters the 2020-21 season having tallied 1,619 career points (18.0 ppg) over his collegiate career at Saint Joseph's and Delaware.

THREE-POINT FRENZY
The 2019-20 season ushered in a new offensive focus for Saint Joseph's basketball as the Hawks' put added emphasis on three pointers. Leading the Atlantic 10 in threes last year (287), the Hawks also set a new program record for attempts (965) and finished the year third in the nation in attempts and 28th in three pointers made. Additionally, Saint Joseph's 43 three-point attempts against William & Mary matched the program record that was set on March 15, 1997 versus Boston College.

PROMISING SOPHOMORE YEARS
Two keys members of last year's team - sophomores Cameron Brown and Rahmir Moore -are looking to build off their playing time as rookies. Leading all newcomers in scoring (10.1 ppg), Brown appeared in all 32 games and hit several big buckets for the Hawks, including a game-winning three pointer in the final seconds against Davidson. An explosive, slashing guard, Moore split time between starting and sixth man as a freshman and should build on his 7.3 points per game.

CENTER OF ATTENTION
The Hawks' added Anton Jansson last winter, and after serving as a member of the practice squad, the 6-foot-11 center is set to make his collegiate debut. Jansson competed for Sweden at the U20 U20 European Championship in 2019 and most recently was a member of the Golden State Prep in Napa, California.

DALY'S OFFENSIVE PROWESS
Ryan Daly had an offensive season for the record books in 2019-20 as his 619 points ranked eighth most in a single-season in Saint Joseph's history, and became just the 14th Hawk since 1941-42 to average 20 or more points per game. His 20.6 ppg were the highest by a Hawk since Jameer Nelson's 20.6 ppg in 2003-04 and he finished the year 21st nationally in scoring. Daly also became the second consecutive Hawk to lead the A-10 in scoring, following Charlie Brown (19.0 ppg) in 2018-19.

LONGPRE'S STRONG PLAY
Senior Anthony Longpré is coming off his best year on Hawk Hill as the forward averaged a career-best 5.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

FORREST TRANSFERS HOME
A native of nearby Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Jack Forrest is back home after transferring from Columbia. A four-year standout at Lower Merion High School, he appeared in 25 games with seven starts for the Lions, the 6-5 guard ranked third on the team in scoring (8.9 ppg) and shot a team-best 35.2 percent from three-point range. Leading the Aces to three Central League titles, Forrest was named Central League MVP and earned All-State Third Team honors as a senior.

NEXT UP
The Hawks head to Big 5 rival #3 Villanova on Monday for a 5 p.m. matchup on FS1.

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