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NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - Manhattan (15-12; 12-6 MAAC) travels to Iona (23-6; 16-2 MAAC) on Friday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised on ESPN2.
TOP STORYLINES
# 1 - The Gaels won the teams' first match-up two weeks ago by a 70-67 count thanks to A.J. English's late tiebreaking three pointer.
# 2 - The teams have met in the MAAC Championship games in each of the last two seasons while splitting the regular season match-ups the last three years.
# 3 - With a win and a Monmouth loss on Thursday, the Jaspers would clinch the No. 3 seed.
QUICK HITS
* Iona leads the all-time series by a 47-39 count, including going 44-30 since the teams joined the MAAC for the 1981-1982 season.
* The Gaels hold a 22-10 advantage when playing the Jaspers at the Hynes Athletic Center, including winning the last two
* Steve Masiello is 4-5 against Iona as a head coach, including going 4-2 in games decided by five points or less, after posting a 5-5 record as an assistant (2001-2005).
* Senior Emmy Andujar's game-winning three pointer with time expiring gave Manhattan's its last victory at the Hynes Athletic Center by a 75-72 score on Jan. 12, 2012.
* Over nine career games against Gaels, Andujar is averaging 14.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 3.0 apg while shooting 53.2 percent (50-of-94) from the floor and 81.3 percent (26-of-32) at the line.
* When playing in New Rochelle, Andujar is averaging 15.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg and 2.3 apg while converting on 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the field and 93.8 percent (15-of-16) at the line.
* Andujar scored 17 points with nine rebounds, four steals and three assists in Iona's 70-67 win two weeks ago while junior Ashton Pankey added 16 points and classmate Shane Richards notched 12.
* The Jaspers limited the Gaels to their fourth lowest scoring output (70) of the season while turning them over a season-high 21 times and posting a +10 turnover margin.
* The 21 miscues were the most committed by Iona since the Gaels were pressured into 23 turnovers at Hofstra on Dec. 29, 2011.
* Manhattan has now forced at least 20 turnovers nine times this season and are fourth nationally with 16.9 forced turnovers per game while also ranking 51st with a +2.0 turnover margin.
* An offshoot of the Jaspers high-energy pace is that they rank among the top-20 nationally with 468 free throws (19th NCAA) and 690 free throw attempts (9th NCAA),
* Manhattan will be looking for its fourth-straight victory after defeating Marist by a 67-54 count and securing at least the No. 4 seed in the upcoming conference tournament this past Monday.
* The Jaspers, which shot a season-high 65.0 percent (13-of-20) after halftime against the Red Foxes, also improved to a perfect 2-0 when playing on Mondays with the next possible Monday game coming in the MAAC Championship Game.
* During its current three-game winning streak, Manhattan is averaging 43.7 ppg in the second half while shooting 57.4 percent from the floor, including 52.0 percent from distance.
* With their most recent victory, the Jaspers improved to 15-4 since the 2013-2014 season when playing in February/March and are 21-7 over the last three years.
* On the year, Manhattan has limited the opposition to less than 60 points and 35.0 percent shooting on three occasions with two of those times coming against Marist.
* In sweeping the season series from Marist, the Jasper defense limited the Red Foxes to just 28.1 percent (27-of-96) shooting, including 20.0 percent (8-of-40) from long range, while posting a +11.0 margin on the glass.
* Sophomore Jermaine Lawrence led all players with a career-high 19 points while going 8-for-10 from the floor. He had scored a combined 19 points in his previous six games.
* Andujar scored all 13 of his points after halftime to go along with a game-high eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. In two games this season against Marist, he averaged 14.0 ppg, 11.5 rpg and 6.5 apg while shooting 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the floor.
* Over his last 14 games, Andujar is averaging 19.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.8 apg and 2.6 spg while notching at least 20 points on eight occasions, highlighted by a season-high 27 at Monmouth.
* Andujar is the only MAAC player to rank among the top-six in the league in scoring (16.4-6th), rebounding (7.4-5th), assists (3.5-6th) and steals (2.2-2nd) (19th NCAA) while adding 10 20-point performances and five double-doubles.
* He is now 18th in the all-time Jasper annals with 1,249 points, seventh with 346 assists, sixth with 158 steals and 10th with 718 rebounds to go along with 12 20-point games and nine double-doubles and is the first player in school history to notch 1,200 points, 700 rebounds, 300 assists and 150 steals.
* Senior RaShawn Stores scored eight of his 10 points in the win at Marist after halftime while converting two of Manhattan's three triples and is now averaging 11.5 ppg in the second half over his last two games.
* Stores, who scored all of his career-high matching 15 points after intermission at Siena, is now shooting a blistering 62.1 (18-of-29) percent from long range in the second half of MAAC games, including 70.0 percent (7-of-10) over the final five minutes.
* Stores, who handed out a career-high nine assists in the win at Monmouth, is second in the MAAC in three point percentage (.421) and eighth in assists (3.0 apg). During league play, he paces the MAAC in three-point percentage (.491) and assist/turnover ratio (3.1) while ranking seventh in assists (3.6 apg) and 14th in steals (1.2 spg).
* Junior Shane Richards enters the Iona game just three triples shy of his own single-season record total of 77 that he shares with Jeff Xavier.
* Richards, who is the school's all-time three point leader with 216 career makes, has converted at least three triples in 45 of his 92 games, and at least four in 24 games. When the New York City native hits at least four, the Jaspers are 17-7, including 13-4 over the last two seasons.
* Richards ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (13.0 ppg-14th), three pointers/game (2.7-3rd) (36th NCAA), three-point field goal percentage (.378-10th) and free throw percentage (.805-5th) and has five 20-point performances - including a career-high 24 against Binghamton.
* Pankey scored 10 points with six rebounds in 23 foul-plagued minutes against Marist and has been outstanding over his last 14 games, averaging 15.6 ppg and 6.7 rpg while hitting for at least 15 points on 10 occasions.
* Pankey ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (12.9 ppg-15th), rebounding (6.5 rpg-8th), field goal percentage (.540-3rd) and blocks (1.4 bpg-4th) while hitting for at least 20 points on two occasions - including a career-high 23 in the first meeting with Fairfield.
* Andujar (10), Richards (7) and Pankey (2) have also combined for the 19 Manhattan 20-point outings and 57 of the Jaspers' 72 double-figure scoring performances while leading the squad in scoring in all but two games this season and accounting for 60.1 percent (1127/1874), including 61.9 percent (801/1293) during MAAC play.
* Manhattan recorded at least 10 steals for the sixth time this year against Fairfield, finishing with a season-best 15, which represents the most by the Jaspers since pressuring Buffalo into 16 in an overtime victory a year ago.
* Over the last two seasons, Manhattan is 16-1 when recording at least 10 steals and 27-4 during Masiello's regime, including posting a 19-1 record against MAAC opposition.
* The Jaspers lead the MAAC and are 32nd in the NCAA ranks with 7.9 steals per game.
* Sophomore Tyler Wilson had six assists, against no turnovers, with four steals in the win vs. Fairfield on the heels of handing out seven assists, against just one turnover, against Iona. He has dished out at least four assists 12 times this year and ranks among the MAAC leaders in assists (3.1 apg-7th), steals (1.3 spg-9th) and assist/turnover ratio (1.6-4th).
* Sophomore Rich Williams is averaging 7.0 ppg over his last nine games since returning to the bench.
* In 15 games as a reserve this season, Williams is averaging 6.3 ppg compared to just 4.8 ppg in 12 games as a starter.
* Since returning to Riverdale, Masiello has led 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 158-87 record.
* In his 19th season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 436-198, including 315-170 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.
KEYS TO THE GAME
* Guard The Three-Ball - Manhattan will need to limit the three-pointer against an Iona team that is shooting a MAAC-best 40.5 percent from long range while making good on 10.0 each time out.
* Take Away Options 2,3 & 4 - The Gaels have four players that are averaging 14.2 ppg or greater. Odds are that at least one of the four will put points on the board. However, limiting the production of the other three will be crucial.
* Depth - In the teams' first match-up, Iona jumped out to big leads but got worn down by the Jaspers' pressure defense and their ability to delve deep into the bench.
WELCOME TO THE RIVALRY
For the second time in as many games, Doug Sherman and Malcolm Huckaby will be working the Manhattan-Iona game for ESPN. Additionally, Sherman worked last year's MAAC Championship game.
ESPN
The Jaspers will be playing on the ESPN family of networks for the 14th time this season and on ESPN2 for the second time after dropping an overtime thriller to UMass 77-68 back on Nov. 18. Manhattan is 4-7 when playing on some form of ESPN. Additionally, both teams lost when playing on ESPN's 24 Hour Tip-Off Event.
SURGING
The Jaspers are 7-2 over its last nine games thanks to averaging 77.0 ppg while shooting 46.0 percent from the field.
MARIST DOMINATION
Masiello improved to 7-1, all-time, against Marist while moving into sixth place by himself on the all-time Manhattan wins (75) list.
STREAK SNAPPED
The Jaspers snapped a 10-game losing streak to Siena at the Times Union Center thanks to 15 points second-half points to Stores, highlighted by a backbreaking triple with just 18 seconds to play that put the game on ice.
GOOD TRENDS
Manhattan improved to 11-0 when leading at halftime and 4-0 when scoring at least 80 points.
TIGHT
The Jaspers are 9-3 during MAAC play in games decided by 10 points or less while shooting 72.7 percent from the line in the final five minutes ... Over his first three seasons, Masiello and the Jaspers were just 14-19 in MAAC games decided by 10 points or less.
DOUBLE-DOWN
Andujar recorded his fifth double-double of the season against Siena and the ninth of his career with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
Andujar (22) and Richards (20) each scored at least 20 points in the same game for the fourth time this season in Manhattan's 79-70 win over Fairfield.
SECOND-HALF SENSATION
Richards scored all 20 of his points against Fairfield in the second half on 6-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-5 from deep.
HONORING HEIMALL
In the first meeting with Iona, the HEADstrong Foundation honored Jasper broadcaster Christian Heimall as players from both teams wore lime green shoelaces to help in the battle against blood cancers. Heimall was diagnosed in December and is currently undergoing chemotherapy.
SECOND-HALF IMPROVEMENT
Andujar (9.3 ppg - 6.7 ppg) and Pankey (7.9 ppg - 4.9 ppg) have improved their scoring by more than two points after halftime this season compared to the first half.
WATCH AND LISTEN ON leslieschultz.com
For the 17th year, Manhattan Men's Basketball games will be broadcast live over the internet on leslieschultz.com. Former Jasper greats Brian Mahoney and Chris Williams return as the color analysts, alongside play-by-play broadcaster Christian Heimall. Each broadcast will begin with the “Steve Masiello Pre-Game Report.”
109TH SEASON OF JASPERS BASKETBALL
In its 109th season, the Manhattan men's basketball program boasts a 1323-1168 overall record and 270-281 MAAC mark in 35 seasons as a conference member. The Jaspers' storied men's basketball team was established in 1904-05 and served a two-year hiatus during the 1943-44 and 1944-45 season due to World War II.
UP NEXT
Manhattan will conclude the 2014-2015 regular season against Quinnipiac on Sunday, March 1 with opening tip slated for 2 p.m.
