Game Info: Thursday, December 18, 2025 - 7:00 p.m.
Location: Hagan Arena - Philadelphia, Pa.
Tickets | TV: ESPN+ | Listen: sjuhawks.com | Live Stats: sjuhawks.com | Saint Joseph's Game Notes

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Opening Tip
Saint Joseph's returns to Philadelphia to face the Delaware State Hornets on Thursday, December 18. Tipoff from Hagan Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with the game to air on ESPN+.

Home For The Holidays    
After a higher than normal amount of non-conference travel, Saint Joseph's returns to Hagan Arena for the final three contests of its pre-Atlantic 10 schedule. The Hawks face Delaware State on December 18 and Coastal Carolina on December 22 before wrapping the stretch with Arcadia on December 28. SJU is 4-0 at Hagan Arena in 2025-26 and 31-8 since the start of the 2023-24 season at home, a .795 winning percentage. St. Joe's traveled 6,021 miles for its road and neutral site games this season, not counting games within the city of Philadelphia, including trips to UNLV and Syracuse. The 6k+ miles Saint Joseph's checks in at for non-conference games this season are more than the past three seasons combined.

Props    
On Monday, the Hawks received their first weekly honor this season as Jaiden Glover-Toscano was named the Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week. In a pair of games last week, Glover-Toscano averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest. The December 9 game against Coppin State saw the sophomore from Brooklyn, N.Y. net a career-high 25 points as he went 7-for-13 from beyond the arc. At Syracuse on Thursday, he scored 14 and tied a personal best with nine rebounds.

Stepping Up On Defense    
After a rough start to the season, Saint Joseph's has found its defensive identity in recent games. In its last four contests against Division I opponents, the Hawks are allowing the opposition 65.8 points per game and have held all four teams to 71 points or fewer. By contrast, in the first five games of the year, SJU allowed 83.4 PPG with three games above 80 and two teams topping 90. Overall, opponent shooting has dropped from 45.5 percent to 42.5 percent and three-point percentage has gone from 34.9 percent to 31.8 percent. Another big aspect has been the ability to rebound with SJU averaging 38.0 boards per game and holding a +7.5 rebound margin in the four contests.

Closing In    
A couple of Saint Joseph's players are getting near some career milestones and climbing the charts in the SJU career record book. Justice Ajogbor enters Thursday with 106 blocks as a member of the Hawks. He needs three to match Rob Ferguson (2003-08) for 11th on the St. Joe's all-time list and is 10 away from tying Ronald Roberts, Jr. (2010-14) for 10th. The December 18 matchup will also be the 100th game of Ajogbor's career. Derek Simpson comes into the contest against Delaware State with 924 career points combined between his time at Saint Joseph's (2024-present) and Rutgers (2022-24).

Featured Freshmen    
Both Austin Williford and Khaafiq Myers have made significant impacts on the Hawks through the first 10 games of the year. Each has played in all 10 games this season for St. Joe's. The pair has combined for 7.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Williford has been a defensive stopper with 10 steals in his 10 games, also blocking three shots. He has developed on offense, connecting on 6-for-16 shots from beyond the arc and is 16-for-20 at the free throw line. Myers is a steady ball-handler who has 17 assists to just five turnovers this season. He also has the SJU single-game high in rebounds with 12 against Rutgers-Camden, despite being the shortest player on the team at 5-10.

Charitable Contributions    
Saint Joseph's continues to excel at the free throw line as the calendar makes its way into mid-December. The Hawks rank seventh nationally, making 79.4 percent of their shots at the charity stripe. The high percentage is not a limited sample size with St. Joe's scoring 17.0 points per game at the line. SJU has five players that have taken 15 or more attempts that are shooting 80 percent or higher.

Scouting Report    

• Delaware State enters play 4-8 overall and is coming off an 81-76 win against Longwood in its best offensive performance against a Division I school this season. The Hornets were selected in a tie for fifth in the MEAC preseason poll and placed three players on Preseason All-Conference Teams.
• Leading the offense for DSU is Ponce James at 13.6 points per game. Ademar Santos is netting 9.3 an outing. Miles Webb tops the team in rebounding at 5.6 a night. Ponce has 45 assists to rank fourth in the MEAC. Additionally, Corey Perkins has one of 10 triple-doubles this season in NCAA D1 when he had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against Navy on December 3.
• Two things Delaware State does well are keep the opposition off the free throw line and generate turnovers on defense. The Hornets are in the top-50 nationally in fewest fouls per game at 15.6 per night with teams scoring just 12.7 points per game at the charity stripe. They are also in the top-50 in steals per game at 9.0, helping to lead to a positive turnover margin.
• DSU needs to generate opponent miscues as it sits 354th in points per game as a team with 61.8 and is 352nd in field goal percentage at 38.7. It also struggles to rebound, pulling down 32.3 boards per night with a -2.9 rebounding margin.
• Stan Waterman is in his fifth season as the head coach at Delaware State. He has led an impressive turnaround in Dover with back-to-back seasons of 15 or more wins after inheriting a team that went 2-26 in his first season.

All-Time Series    
Thursday is the third meeting between the Hawks and Hornets. SJU is 2-0 against Delaware State. Prior to last season, the teams had not met since the 1993-94 season.

Last Time Against Delaware State    
Four players scored in double figures as St. Joe's downed Delaware State, 76-58 on December 28, 2024. Erik Reynolds II led the Hawks with 22 points. Rasheer Fleming posted a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Derek Simpson and Dasear Haskins each scored 12. Simpson dished nine assists. Haskins pulled down seven boards. SJU built a 33-20 lead at halftime, using its defense to hold the Hornets to 8-for-32 shooting. DSU also went 0-for-8 from three-point range in the game, the first time the Hawks held an opponent without a trey since December 18, 2013 against Drexel.

Towering Over The Competition    
With Justice Ajogbor (6'10"), Jaden Smith (6'11") and Steven Solano (7'0"), the Hawks' roster is loaded with height. Only eight opponents for St. Joe's have three or more players who are 6'10" or taller, led by five on Duquesne's roster. Two teams – Princeton and Rutgers-Camden – do not have a player on their squad that is taller than 6'9".

Next Up    
The Hawks are back on the court on Monday, December 22, hosting Coastal Carolina. Tipoff from Hagan Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with the game airing on ESPN+.