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NEW YORK, N.Y. - After taking a break from non-conference play last weekend, Manhattan (2-5) will renew its rivalry with Rutgers (5-4) on Sunday, Dec. 14 at the world famous Madison Square Garden with tip time slated for 12 p.m. There will be no video stream or television broadcast of the game but fans can listen for free through the above Jasper Vision audio link.
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - Manhattan will looking for its first winning streak of the season against Rutgers in the opening game of 2014 Madison Square Garden (MSG) Holiday Festival.
#2 - A victory would give the Jaspers, who are playing in the Holiday Festival for the first since 2003, their first win against the Big Ten since besting Michigan 84-79 at the 1972 ECAC Holiday Festival at MSG.
#3 - The teams last met just over seven years ago on Dec. 12, 2007, with the Scarlet Knights posting a 73-67 victory.
#4 - At halftime of the second game between St. John's and Fordham former Manhattan College student-athlete, coach and administrator Jack Powers will be honored with the ECAC Lifetime Award. For more information click HERE,
QUICK HITS
* Rutgers joined the Big Ten this season after spending last year in the AAC. Previously, the Scarlet Knights were a member of the Big East for 18 seasons.
* DYK? The last Manhattan win against Rutgers came in the Scarlet Knights' first year as a member of the Big East by an 81-76 score on Jan. 10, 1996.
* The Jaspers are 14-17, all-time, against Rutgers, including going 2-4 at neutral site venues.
* Manhattan is 3-13, all-time, against members of the Big Ten and most recently played and lost to Wisconsin 50-35 on Nov. 25, 2010.
* Staff member Heshimu Evans averaged 13.5 points per game over the last two Jasper wins against the Scarlet Knights (see page 2 for results).
* Head coaches Steve Masiello (1997, 1998) and Eddie Jordan (1976) each were members of Final Four teams during their playing days.
* This is the seventh venue that Manhattan will be playing at this season as the Jaspers will play at 11 different locations over their first 13 games.
* Manhattan will be take the court at MSG for the first time since dropping a 71-51 decision to Iona on Jan. 24, 2009.
* The Jaspers will be playing their third neutral site game of the season and are 5-2 in neutral site venues since last year.
* After dropping its MAAC opener to Fairfield, Manhattan responded with a vengeance in blowing out Marist 60-38 while improving to 27-15, all-time, against the Red Foxes. The Jaspers have also won 13 of the teams' last 14 meetings at Draddy Gymnasium.
* The 38 points were the fewest allowed by Manhattan since limiting the Stags to 31 in a three-point victory on March 1, 2013.
* Marist also made good on just 19.5 percent (8-for-41) shooting, which is the lowest total since limiting Iona to 18.6 percent (8-for-43) shooting on Feb. 9, 2009.
* The Jaspers held both Marist and Fairfield without a field goal for exactly 8:31 to start their respective games. The Red Foxes misfired on their first nine shots while the Stags were errant on their first 10.
* Senior Emmy Andujar led the charge against Marist with 15 points, 15 rebounds and a career-best matching eight assists while narrowly missing the first triple-double in Manhattan College history.
* His rebounds are the most by a Jasper since Rhamel Brown pulled down 17 against Iona on Feb. 15, 2013 and are tied for the most by a MAAC player this season.
* Andjuar's double-double was his second of the season and the sixth of his career while the 15 rebounds are one off of his career-high of 16 accrued against Loyola (MD) on Jan. 27, 2003. Additionally, the eight helpers matched his career-best mark of eight set against Binghamton on Dec. 30, 2011.
* Andujar ranks among the league leaders in seven categories: scoring (11.3 ppg-18th), rebounding (8.1 rpg-4th), assists (2.9-10th), steals (1.6-10th), field goal percentage (.515-4th), offensive rebounds (3.1-1st) and defensive rebounds (5.0-7th).
* His scoring and assist hauls now give him 901 points and 276 assists for his career. With 99 more points he will become the 36th member of the Manhattan 1,000-point club while with 10 more helpers he will be crack the Jaspers' top-10 list for assists.
* Against Rutgers, Andujar will be squaring off against his former high school teammate Kadeem Jack, who is second on the Scarlet Knights with 11.4 points per game while pulling down 6.6 rebounds each time out.
* Sophomore Rich Williams made his first start of the season against Marist and responded with 13 points while falling just one shy of his career-high. In his previous three games, Williams had scored just seven points, on 2-of-15 shooting in his previous three games.
* Junior Ashton Pankey narrowly missed his second double-double against the Red Foxes, finishing with eight points and nine rebounds. For the week, he averaged a team-best 15.5 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 63.2 percent (12-for-19) from the floor.
* Pankey began the week with a career-high 23 points against Fairfield and ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (11.0 ppg-19th), rebounding (5.6 rpg-15th), field goal percentage (.538-3rd) and blocks (0.7-14th) despite playing just over 24 minutes per game.
* His 23 points represent the second-most scored by a Manhattan player this season (Junior Shane Richards (24) - Binghamton) as well as the third Jasper 20-plus point outing .
* Andujar and Pankey have accounted for 46.2 percent (96-for-208) of Manhattan's rebounding this season with Andujar leading team on five different occasions.
* Richards was held under double-figures for the second-straight game but continues to lead the Jaspers in scoring (13.1 ppg) (12th MAAC), fueled by 2.6 triples per game (4th MAAC), while shooting 33.3 percent (18-for-54) from long range.
* Senior RaShawn Stores returned against Marist and handed out a team-best four assists, against no turnovers, in 15 minutes of action. Thanks to Stores, the Jaspers dished out a season-high 19 helpers while Manhattan also pulling down a season-high 45 rebounds and matching its season-best with 10 steals.
* Thanks to the return of Stores, the Jaspers played a season-high 13 players while fielding their deepest bench of the season.
* Stores (2), sophomore Jermaine Lawrence (4), freshman Samson Usilo (7) and classmate Zane Waterman (5) have combined to miss 18 games.
* In the final five minutes of games this year, Pankey is averaging a team-best 3.3 points per game while Wilson checks in with 2.9 points each time out. The duo is also making good on 72.4 percent (21-for-29) from the line, compared to just 27.8 percent (5-for-18) by the rest of the team.
* Richards paced Manhattan in scoring for third time this season at George Mason, finishing with 18 points, fueled by 5-for-8 shooting from deep.
* Thanks to Richards, the Jaspers shot a season-high 47.1 percent (8-for-17) from long range against the Patriots. He is third in school history with 160 career three pointers, just three behind Luis Flores' second-place total of 163 and five back of Devon Austin's school-record mark of 165.
* Manhattan will play eight of its nine non-conference games either on the road or in neutral venues while six of the aforementioned nine non-league games will be against teams from the Atlantic 10 (3), ACC (2) and Big Ten (1).
* Five of the Jaspers' first six games and six of their nine non-conference games will appear on the ESPN family of networks. All told, Manhattan currently has six games slated for ESPN3 and one each for ESPN2 and ESPNU.
* Since returning to Riverdale, Masiello has led the Manhattan to the program's fourth MAAC Championship as well as a pair of 20-plus win campaigns. In his first tenure, he was a part of two MAAC Championships and three 20-plus win seasons.
* All told, Masiello has been a member of three of the Jaspers' four MAAC Championship teams and five of their 12 20-win seasons while accruing a 145-80 record.
* In his 19th season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 423-190, including 302-162 on the sidelines, with one National Title, two National Championship appearances, two Final Four appearances, six Elite Eight berths, seven conference championships, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and 15 20-win seasons.
KEY MATCH-UPS
* Play Manhattan Basketball - Manhattan limited Marist to 38 points, on less than 20 percent shooting, while recording a +16 rebounding margin and 10 steals. The Jaspers will need to continue to play well defensively in order to produce positive results.
* Convert Scoring Opportunities - In the early part of the season, both Manhattan and Rutgers have shown a propensity for being successful in low-scoring defensive minded affairs. Both teams have struggled from behind the arc (.295 -Manhattan | .281 - Rutgers) and at the line (Manhattan - .615 | .675 - Rutgers). Points will be at a premium so the Jaspers must convert extra opportunities while limiting 'free' Scarlet Knight possessions.
* Take Advantage of Depth - Manhattan had its biggest available bench of the season against Marist and used all 13 players in the 22-point romp over Marist. Rutgers, meanwhile, has just 10 scholarship players available and went eight-deep in the win over UNH with all five starters playing at least 31 minutes.
* Play 40 Minutes - In both games last week, the Jaspers jumped out to early leads but was unable to keep Fairfield at bay before posting a wire-to-wire victory over the Red Foxes.
ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
Rutgers (5-4) may be one of the most perplexing teams in all of college basketball. The Scarlet Knights have defeated Vanderbilt of the SEC and at Clemson of the ACC, but has lost by 18 points at home to Saint Peter's. Additionally, each one of Rutgers' four losses have come by at least 17 points. Myles Mack is the unquestioned leader for the Scarlet Knights, averaging a team-best 14.8 points, 4.4 assists and 2.9 steals per game.
HISTORY LESSON
Last year all seven of Manhattan's non-conference wins came either on the road or neutral courts. This season the Jaspers will play four road and four neutral site games in the non-conference portion of their schedule.
PROJECT MAYHEM
Manhattan has forced at least 19 turnovers in four of its seven games and ranks third among MAAC leaders and 67th nationally with a +2.4 turnover margin.
DEFENSE LEADS TO OFFENSE
The Jaspers have forced the opposition into 24 offensive fouls (3.4/game), which has led to 30 points (4.3/game) over the first six times out, highlighted by a pressuring Binghamton into eight offensive fouls that resulted in 15 points.
THE PULSE
A major reason that Manhattan was able to snap a three-game losing streak last Sunday was the play of Stores, who is arguably the pulse of the Jaspers. Despite not making a shot and playing just 15 minutes, Stores handed out four assists, against no turnovers. Additionally, he was on the floor for all three of Manhattan's big runs (12-0 | 8-0 | 10-0) while helping set the tone of the game for the Jaspers. For the season, he has turned the ball over just once in 101 minutes of action.
UP NEXT
Manhattan will play at Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. in a game that will be streamed live through ESPN3.
