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RIVERDALE, N.Y. - After playing its first 13 games in 11 different venues, Manhattan (5-8; 2-2 MAAC) returns home to host Saint Peter's (8-7; 2-2 MAAC) on Wednesday, Jan. 7 with tip time slated for 7 p.m.
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - Both teams will meet again in exactly nine days, playing on Fri., Jan. 16.
#2 - The Jaspers have won seven-straight games against the Peacocks, including taking all three match-ups a year ago.
#3 - Manhattan has claimed 10 of the last 11 meetings between the teams at Draddy Gymnasium.
QUICK HITS
* Manhattan leads the all-time series with Saint Peter's by a 73-48 count.
* Steve Masiello is 7-0, all-time, against the Peacocks since assuming the head coaching reigns and was 7-2 vs. Saint Peter's as an assistant during his first tenure in Riverdale from 2001-2005.
* Last season, the Jaspers limited the Peacocks to just 56.3 ppg, on 37.1 percent (52-for-140), including 21.2 percent (7-for-33) from long range.
* Manhattan is a perfect 2-0 at home this year and has won six-straight and 11-of-12 dating back to last season. Masiello is also 27-11 at Draddy since taking over as head coach.
* In the Jaspers' current seven-game winning streak against Saint Peter's, Manhattan is winning by an average of 14.1 ppg while allowing the Peacocks to notch 60 points just twice.
* DYK? The Jaspers defeated Saint Peter's three times in each of their last two MAAC Championship runs (2004, 2014).
* Manhattan returns to action after posting a hard-fought 63-60 win over Canisius while salvaging a split of the team's annual Western New York swing.
* The Jaspers shot a season-high 57.9 percent (11-for-19) in the first half en route to converting on a season-best 48.8 percent (21-for-43) for the game while limiting the Golden Griffins to just 14.7 percent (3-for-21) from long range.
* Manhattan also was victorious for the first time on the road this season after going 12-4 in true road games a year ago while posting its second victory by less than five points after recording seven a year ago.
* Led by Shane Richards' season-high matching five three pointers, the Jaspers made good on 42.9 percent (9-for-21) from deep, including a blistering 50.0 percent (7-for-14) after halftime.
* Three of Richards' three pointers came after Canisius took the lead in the second half. All told, the Golden Griffins held the lead on four different occasions only to see the Manhattan reclaim the lead each time.
* Richards finished up 5-for-9 from long range and finished with a game-high 18 points while pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds en route to posting his first career double-double and fourth by a Jasper student-athlete this season. His 10 caroms also marked the fourth double-digit rebounding performance by the program this year.
* Manhattan has won three of their last four in large part to Richards, who is averaging a team-best 14.8 points per game while shooting 52.8 percent (19-for-36) from the floor, including 53.3 percent (16-for-30) from long range during that time.
* As a unit, the Jaspers have shot 41.5 percent (34-for-82) from long range in the current four-game run while limiting the opposition to just 30.6 percent (19-for-62).
* In all five victories this season, Manhattan has limited the opposition to less than 70 points.
* Richards, who has converted at least three triples in each of his last four games for the first time in his career, ranks among the league leaders in scoring (12.1-15th), three-point field goal percentage (.387-11th) and threes per game (2.8-4th) while converting a school-record 178 three pointers (2.3/game) in his career.
* Richards' stellar play has also opened up the floor other players like sophomore Rich Williams, who scored 12 points against Canisius. Over his last four games, he is averaging 7.5 points per game while making good on 42.1 percent (8-for-21) from deep while giving the Jaspers a consistent second shooter.
* Senior RaShawn Stores had a solid game against the Golden Griffins, finishing with nine points, four assists, against no turnovers, over 26 minutes after matching his career-high with six assists against Niagara.
* Since entering the starting line-up five games ago, Stores is averaging 6.0 points and 3.4 assists per game while posting a 2.8 assist/turnover ratio and over his last three games has 14 assists while turning the ball over just once in 129 minutes. For the season, Stores is averaging 2.5 assists per game while posting an impressive 3.4 assist/turnover ratio.
* Sophomore Tyler Wilson also had a solid game against Canisius, finishing with six points and four assists, against just one turnover, and has now handed out at least four helpers seven times this season. Over his last five games, Wilson is averaging 3.4 assists each time out while posting a 2.8 assist/turnover ratio.
* Wilson continues to rank among the MAAC leaders in assists (3.4-5th) and steals (1.4-11th).
* Freshman Zane Waterman matched his career-high with eight points against Canisius after notching eight the previous game at Niagara and is averaging 7.7 points each time out over his last three games.
* Senior Emmy Andujar continues to rank among the MAAC leaders in scoring (13.2-13th), rebounding (7.2-6th), field goal percentage (.512-5th), steals (1.6-6th), assists (3.1-8th), offensive rebounds (2.8-3rd), defensive rebounds (4.3-10th) and assist/turnover ratio (0.8-9th).
* For his career, Andujar is now just 20 points shy of becoming the 36th member of the Jaspers' 1,000-point club. Additionally, with the aforementioned 20 points and seven more assists he will become the first player in school history with 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 300 assists.
* For the month of December, Andujar averaged 15.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 62.7 percent from the floor and pacing the squad in scoring in four of Manhattan's six games.
* At Pitt, Andujar notched 17 of his team-high 19 points after halftime and continues to lead the squad with 8.4 points per game after halftime. Additionally, over his last seven games he is averaging 10.3 points each time out in the second half on 62.5 percent (25-for-40) shooting.
* Despite scoring a season-low two points at Canisius, junior Ashton Pankey grabbed six rebounds, including the game-clinching carom and continues to rank among the MAAC leaders in scoring (9.9-23rd), rebounding (6.3-11th), field goal percentage (.495-8th), blocks (1.0-8th), offensive rebounds (2.2-12th) and defensive rebounds (4.2-14th).
* The Jaspers won against the Golden Griffins despite forcing a season-low seven turnovers and has pressured the opposition into at least 16 turnovers in 10 of its 13 games and ranks 66th nationally with a +3.1 turnover rate.
* 10 games on Manhattan's 2014-2015 schedule will appear on the ESPN family of networks. The Jaspers currently have seven games slated for ESPN3, two for ESPNU and one for ESPN2, next appearing on ESPN3 Friday, Jan. 16 at Saint Peter's (7 p.m.).
* Senior Donovan Kates became the sixth different Jasper to miss a game this season against Morgan State. Kates (1), Stores (2), sophomore Jermaine Lawrence (4), classmate Carlton Allen (6), freshman Samson Usilo (13) and Waterman (5) have combined to miss 31 games this season.
* 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 148-83 record.
* In his 19th season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 426-193, including 305-172 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
* Execution - Manhattan will be facing a stout defense in Saint Peter's, which is allowing a MAAC-low 58.7 points per game.
* Three-Ball - The Jaspers (.316) and the Peacocks (.310) have the top-two ranked three-point defenses in the league in a game that figures to be a defensive slug fest.
* The Big Three - Manhattan's top three players are accounting for 54.2 percent of the team's offense while Saint Peter's top three check in at 51.8 percent.
RICHARDS SAVES THE DAY
With Andujar not in the line-up and Pankey only scoring two points, Richards came up big with 18 points against Canisius. On the year the big three of Andujar, Pankey and Richards have combined to account for 21 of the Jaspers' 27 double-figure scoring performances.
MIRROR IMAGE
Manhattan has scored and yielded exactly 238 points (59.5 ppg) over four MAAC games this season.
FROM THE LINE
Despite making good on just 62.1 percent from the line this year, the Jaspers converted a season-high 73.3 percent (10-for-13) from the line against Niagara and made good 10-for-12 (.833) to close out the Fordham win and 8-for-10 (.800) in the Morgan State victory.
HOME SWEET HOME
Manhattan returns home after playing 11 of its first 13 games in different venues. The Jaspers will now play four of their next six games at home.
UP NEXT
The Jaspers will host Niagara on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.
