Game Info: Monday, December 22, 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 | Coastal Carolina Game Notes

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Opening Tip
Saint Joseph's plays its final game before Christmas, hosting Coastal Carolina on Thursday, December 22. Tipoff from Hagan Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with the game to air on ESPN+.

Youthful Leadership    
With a short-handed roster due to injury and illness on Thursday against Delaware State, Saint Joseph's got big contributions from its youngest players. Austin Williford earned his first start, scoring a career-high 14 points and became the first Hawk since the 2023-24 season to have five steals in a game. Khaafiq Myers played a personal best 26 minutes and had a career-high 11 points. He also led SJU in assists for the game. Along with Kevin Kearney, 30 of the 67 points St. Joe's tallied against the Hornets were from players who are in their first season of on-court action in college basketball.

Not Just Last Game    
Both Williford and Myers have made a significant impact on the Hawks through the first 11 games of the year. Both have played in all 11 games this season for St. Joe's, combining for 9.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Williford has been a defensive stopper with 15 steals in his 11 games, also blocking three shots. The Delaware State game showed a continued development on offense, as he is now connecting on 10-for-25 shots from beyond the arc and is 16-for-20 at the free throw line. Myers is a steady ball-handler who has 20 assists to just seven 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.

Home For The Holidays    
After a greater 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 faced Delaware State on December 18 and have Coastal Carolina on December 22 before wrapping the stretch with Arcadia on December 28. SJU is 5-0 at Hagan Arena in 2025-26 and 32-8 since the start of the 2023-24 season at home, an .800 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.

Stepping Up On Defense    
Saint Joseph's defense was once again in good form against Delaware State, surrendering just 51 points to the Hornets. In its last five contests against Division I opponents, the Hawks are allowing the opposition 62.8 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 40.3 percent and three-point percentage has gone from 34.9 percent to 30.5 percent. Another big aspect has been the ability to rebound with SJU averaging 39.8 boards per game and holding a +8.4 rebound margin in the four contests.

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 of St. Joe's opponents 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".

...Most Of The Time    
Coastal Carolina is one of the few teams that can match up in the middle with the Hawks. The Chants boast Nadjrick Peat (6'10"), Jerry Ngopot (6'10") and Braeden MacVicar (6'11") on their roster. In terms of turning aside shots, Peat is fifth in the Sun Belt Conference with 17 blocks.

Scouting Report    

• Coastal Carolina enters play 7-6 overall and is 1-1 in the Sun Belt following a 76-74 win at Old Dominion on Saturday. The Chanticleers have been one of the early season surprises in the SBC this season with their better than even record as they were picked 13th out of 14 teams in the conference and won just 10 games last season.
• The trio of Jonathan Beadle, Rasheed Jones and AJ Dancler lead the offense for CCU as they each average better than 13.5 points per game with Beadle leading the way at 14.8 per night. Reggie Hill tops the team at 6.2 rebounds per game. Beadle has 42 assists
• The Chanticleers have done an excellent job at limiting both opposing field goals and second chances. They are third nationally at 31.8 defensive rebounds per game and are 14th in NCAAD1, holding teams to 37.3 percent from the field. They also don't give the ball away much, averaging 10.4 turnovers per game. Coastal Carolina coughed the ball up just five times against Old Dominion and has been in single digits in turnovers six times in 2025-26.
• Holding onto the rock and maximizing posessions are critical for CCU, who ranks in the bottom-20 nationally in field goal percentage at  40.2. It also sends opponents to the free throw line quite a bit, committing 21.2 fouls a contest, leading to 24.7 foul shots against per outing.
• Justin Gray is in his second season as the head coach at Coastal Carolina and his fifth season as a collegiate mentor overall. He took Western Carolina from 11 wins in his first season to 22 victories in 2023-24, along the way, downing Power 4 schools in Notre Dame and Vanderbilt.

All-Time Series    
Monday is the first ever meeting between Saint Joseph's and Coastal Carolina in men's basketball.

But There Is One Link    
While it is the first meeting between SJU and CCU, one player combined between the two rosters has faced his opponent during his career. As a member of the St. Peter's Peacocks, Jerry Ngopot played three minutes against the Hawks in Hagan Arena on December 10, 2022 as part of a 73-57 St. Joe's win. He pulled in a rebound and had a putback dunk with five seconds remaining for the final points of the game.

A Look Ahead    
St. Joe's closes the 2025 portion of its schedule on December 28 against Arcadia before opening conference play on the road with a New Year's Eve matchup at Saint Louis. The Hawks then come home for two games, the first of them being a national TV contest on CBS Sports Network against Davidson on January 3. Following that is Duquesne on January 7.

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. With his four blocks against Delaware State, Justice Ajogbor moved into 11th on the St. Joe's all-time list, passing Rob Ferguson (2003-08). He is six away from tying Ronald Roberts, Jr. (2010-14) for 10th. Derek Simpson comes into the contest against Coastal Carolina with 933 career points combined between his time at Saint Joseph's (2024-present) and Rutgers (2022-24).

Next Up    
The Hawks return from a couple of days off for Christmas, hosting Arcadia on December 28. Tipoff from Hagan Arena is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. with the game airing on ESPN+.