Game Info: Saturday, December 10, 2024 - 7:00 p.m.
Location: Hagan Arena - Philadelphia, Pa.
TV: ESPN+ | Listen: sjuhawks.com | Live Stats: sjuhawks.com | Saint Joseph's Game Notes | Charleston Game Notes | Tickets

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Opening Tip
Fresh off its second consecutive Big 5 championship, the Saint Josephs men's basketball team returns to Hagan Arena to face the College of Charleston Cougars on Tuesday, December 10. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Back 2 Back In The Big 5    
Saint Joseph's won its second consecutive Philadelphia Big 5 championship on Saturday night with an 82-68 win against La Salle. The Hawks have claimed both Big 5 Classic championships, also beating Temple in the 2023 event. SJU is 6-0 in Big 5 play the last two seasons under the new pod system leading into the Big 5 Classic. St. Joe's has not lost a Big 5 game since December 2022.

On The Big Stage    
Erik Reynolds II has turned up his game in three contests played in NBA arenas this season. The senior from Temple Hills, Md. is averaging 18.7 points per game and is shooting 34.7 percent from three-point range in the Hawks' games at Barclays Center and Wells Fargo Center. Two of his three 20+ point scoring efforts this season have come in NBA venues, scoring 26 against No. 24 Texas Tech on November 21 and 24 against La Salle on Saturday.

Valuing The Ball    
The Hawks have improved in the past couple games at holding on to the ball with just 17 turnovers combined in the contests. Two of the three games this season for SJU with single digit giveaways have come in the past week. St. Joe's coughed the ball up a season-low eight times against Princeton on December 3.

Tis The Season    
Saint Joseph's has gotten into the holiday spirit of giving, delivering 22 assists on 32 made baskets against La Salle on Saturday. The number of dimes against the Explorers is a season-high for SJU. St. Joe's had assists on 68.8 percent of its shots in the game, the fourth time this season it has reached that mark or better. Having a high assist percentage shouldn't come as a surprise as the Hawks' season assist percentage of 61.5 is ranked 27th out of 364 teams in NCAA Division I.

Improved Shooting    
Two of the last three games have seen St. Joe's connect for 50 percent from the field or better. The Hawks went off for a season-best 53.3 percent (32-of-60) against La Salle on Saturday, including an eye-popping 62.1 percent (18-of-29) in the second half. They also shot 50 percent against Coppin State on November 26 In the last three contests, SJU is delivering at a 46.8 percent clip. It shot 43.0 percent in the first six games of the season.

70 Is The Number    
The Hawks are 6-0 this season in games where they score 70 or more points this season, topping out at a season-high of 86 at Penn on November 15. SJU has eclipsed 80 points three times in 2024-25 as well. St. Joe's is 0-3 when scoring 69 points or less in 2024-25.

Who's Next?    
Thanks to a Big 5 Classic MVP performance of 24 points, Erik Reynolds II moved into sixth place on the Saint Joseph's career scoring chart. He now has 1,755 points and passed Craig Amos (1988-92) who scored 1,735. The top-five begins with Ahmad Nivens (2005-09) with 1,789. Reynolds II enters the Charleston game 13 three-pointers behind Pat Carroll (294 - 2001-05) for second and is 20 away from becoming just the second ever SJU men's basketball player with 300 or more threes. Langston Galloway (2010-14) owns that distinction at 343.

Doubling His Fun    
With 21 points against la Salle on Saturday, Xzayvier Brown continued his mark of being the only player on the Hawks with double digit scoring in all nine games this season. Dating to last year, he has scored 10+ points in 10 consecutive contests. His previous long streak was six straight double digit games, from January 3-23 and February 21-March 13, 2024.

Scouting Report    
Charleston enters play 6-2 overall and is coming off a 94-71 win against Division II Tusculum on December 3. Tuesday will be just the third road game of the season for the Cougars.

It is a powerful offense for Charleston with four players averaging double figures and three more posting at least 9.5 per contest. Ante Brzovic leads the way at 19.5 points per game, ranking third in the CAA. CJ Fulton and Lazar Djokovic score 10.4 and 10.1, respectively with Jaxon Prunty netting 10.0. (Prunty has not played since Nov. 15). Brzovic does some of everything for the Cougars, leading the team in rebounding as well at 9.1 per game. He is also second on the team in assists with 26. Fulton tops the squad in helpers with 39.

As a team, Charleston ranks in the top-100 in NCAA Division I with 80.5 points per game, good for third in the CAA. It is also second in the conference in field goal percentage at 47.2  One thing CofC likes to do is play inside as they are second to last in the conference in three-point attempts per game, taking just 21.0. It shoots better than 54 percent from two-point range.

The Cougars will give up some points as well. They are in the bottom-50 nationally in scoring defense, surrendering 77.8 a contest. For as much as they play inside on offense, they do not protect the rim particularly effectively, allowing 53.3 percent shooting inside the arc and are 294th of 355 teams at 2.4 blocks per game.

Chris Mack is in his first season as the head coach of the Cougars and his 14th season as a head coach. He has had success wherever he has gone, advancing to the NCAA tournament nine times with four trips to the Sweet 16 and a visit to the Elite 8 with Xavier in 2017.

All-Time Series
The Cougars won the only previous matchup in the series. Despite not playing CofC until 2023, St, Joe's played on Charleston's campus before, competing in the 2011 Charleston Classic at TD Arena.

Last Time Against Charleston
The Hawks put five players in double figures and dropped 52 in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome a slow start to the game as Saint Joseph's fell 89-82 at Charleston on December 21, 2023. Cameron Brown led SJU with 21 points. Erik Reynolds II and Rasheer Fleming each had 16. Lynn Greer III tallied 11 and Xzayvier Brown netted 11. Greer flirted with a triple double, also adding eight rebounds and eight assists. St. Joe's trailed by 11 at the break before a second half that saw the Hawks shoot 50 percent (18-of-36) from the floor and go 8-for-19 from three-point range to close the gap to two on four different occasions.

We Love The Night Life    
Saint Joseph's has yet to play a day game this season, starting with nine contests in a row beginning at 5:00 p.m. or later. The first day game for the Hawks comes up on December 21 at noon against Virginia Tech in the Holiday Hoop Fest at the Palestra. The VT game starts a stretch of three in a row played in the afternoon. 23 of 31 games this season for SJU are scheduled as night games with a pair, both against Saint Louis, slated for 9:00 p.m. eastern time tipoffs.

Throwing It Down
The Hawks have 36 dunks this season, an average of 4.0 per game. Rasheer Fleming has 15 of those rim rockers, accounting for 41.6 percent.

Up Next
Saint Joseph's does not have a weekend game and returns to action on Wednesday, December 18, taking on the American University Eagles. Tipoff from Hagan Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.