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ALBANY, N.Y. - Manhattan (17-13) will square off with Saint Peter's (16-17) on Sunday, March 8 at 7 p.m. with a trip to the MAAC Championship on the line. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3.
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - The Jaspers won both games against the Peacocks this year and has won nine-straight against SPU.
#2 - Winners of five-of-six, Manhattan defeated Marist 74-58 in Saturday's quarterfinal round.
#3 - Senior Emmy Andujar led all players with 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
MAAC TOURNAMENT QUICK HITS
* Manhattan holds an all-time MAAC Tournament record of 24-29 in 33 appearances, including going 8-2 in semifinal games.
* The Jaspers are 16-4 when entering the field as either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed with four titles, but are just 8-25 when not seeded among the top-two.
* Manhattan won for the first time as the No. 3 seed yesterday and is 1-3 when playing out of the third slot.
* The Jaspers have faced Saint Peter's more than any other team in MAAC Tournament action, going 5-5 against the Jersey City-based institution.
* The teams met last year with Manhattan posting a 72-58 quarterfinal victory.
* The Jaspers are 16-13 in MAAC Tournament action when playing at the Times Union Center and have won two titles at the venue.
* Head Coach Steve Masiello is 9-0, all-time, against the Peacocks as a head coach, winning by average of 12.8 ppg each time while limiting Saint Peter's to less than 70 points each time out.
* Masiello is 6-2 during MAAC Tournament play and with one more victory would match Fran Fraschilla's school-record for tourney wins (7).
* Masiello also was 5-2 as an assistant coach from 2001-2005 and all told has helped the program to three MAAC titles.
* In this year's sweep of Saint Peter's, Manhattan limited opposing shooters to just 16.7 percent (5-for-30) shooting from long range.
* Andujar scored at least 20 points in both wins over the Peacocks, averaging 21.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg and 2.5 spg.
* Andujar earned MAAC All-Tournament team honors a year ago and is one of just 13 student-athletes in program history to garner All-Tournament recognition.
* In his career at the MAAC Tournament, the Rice graduate is averaging 13.3 ppg and 7.5 rpg while shooting 54.5 percent (36-for-66) from the floor and 85.0 percent (34-for-40) from the line.
* On Monday, Andujar was tabbed as a near-unanimous selection to the All-MAAC First Team as well being named as the league's final Player of the Week selection for the 2014-2015 season. With his inclusion onto the First Team, he is now eligible for the MAAC Player of the Year award, which will be announced on Friday.
* On the year, Andujar leads the team and ranks among the league leaders in scoring (16.8 ppg-5th), rebounding (7.6 rpg-4th), assists (3.5 apg-5th), steals (2.1 spg-2nd) (19th NCAA) and field goal percentage (.518-4th) (57th NCAA).
* Andujar is the only player in the league to rank among the top-five in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals with a team-best 10 20-point performances and six double-doubles.
* Last week, Andujar averaged 16.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 4.0 apg and 2.7 spg in garnering the first and only MAAC POTW accolade for a Jasper student-athlete this year.
* Andujar, who is the first player in school history to notch 1,300 points, 700 rebounds, 350 assists and 160 steals, ranks among the Manhattan career leaders in the four aforementioned categories: scoring (1,308-13th), rebounding (735-9th), assists (358-6th) and steals (162-3rd).
* Joining Andujar with All-MAAC recognition was junior Ashton Pankey, who earned Third Team honors after ranking among the league leaders in scoring (13.4 ppg-13th), rebounding (6.6 rpg-8th), field goal percentage (.539-3rd) and blocks (1.4 bpg-5th)
* The Maryland transfer along with Andujar each notched double-figures in scoring a team-best 23 times while registering at least 20 points on three occasions - highlighted by a career-high 23 in the first meeting with Fairfield - with two double-doubles.
* Andujar, Pankey and fellow seniors Donovan Kates and RaShawn Stores were honored prior to the 69-65 win over Quinnipiac. The quartet finished its career with a combined 35-13 at Draddy Gymnasium during their four years in Riverdale.
* This season, Jaspers went 9-2 at home while averaging 74.1 ppg, on 45.6 percent shooting, including 36.2 percent from deep.
* In the QU victory, junior Shane Richards set the single-season school record for three pointers, breaking his own record that he shared with Jeff Xavier. He now has 83 after hitting four against Marist.
* Richards, who is also the school's all-time three point leader with 225 career makes, has converted at least three triples in 47 of his 95 games, and at least four in 25 games. When the New York City native hits at least four, the Jaspers are 18-7, including 14-4 over the last two seasons.
* Richards ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (13.1 ppg-14th), three pointers/game (2.8-3rd) (37th NCAA), three-point field goal percentage (.386-8th) (47th NCAA) and free throw percentage (.813-5th) while notching five 20-point performances - including a career-high 24 against Binghamton.
* Andujar (11), Richards (7) and Pankey (3) have also combined for the 21 Manhattan 20-point outings and 65 of the Jaspers' 80 double-figure scoring performances while leading the squad in scoring in all but two games this season. The trio has also accounted for 61.2 percent (1280/2092), including 62.4 percent (896/1437) during MAAC play.
* In the victory over Marist, Manhattan improved to a perfect 13-0 when leading at the half.
* The Jaspers have notched at least 10 steals (6-2) eight times this year and lead the MAAC and ranks 21st nationally with 8.1 spg.
* Manhattan is also 17-2 over the last two years and 28-5 during the Masiello regime (20-2-MAAC) when registering at least 10 steals.
* The Jaspers are second in the MAAC and 49th nationally with +2.2 turnover margin. Additionally, the Riverdale-based institution has pressured the opposition into at least 20 turnovers on nine occasions and are third in the NCAA ranks with 16.8 forced turnovers per game.
* An offshoot of Manhattan's frantic pace is that they rank among the top-20 nationally with 526 free throws (14th NCAA) and 757 free throw attempts (11th NCAA).
* The Jaspers are 16-5 since the 2013-2014 season when playing in February/March and 23-8 over the last three years.
* Manhattan has won five of its last six games and is averaging 74.0 ppg during that time, led by Andujar (18.5 ppg) and Pankey (15.8 ppg).
* During that time, the Jaspers are averaging 39.8 ppg in the second half in its current six-game run while shooting 49.3 percent, including a blistering 67.9 percent (19-of-28) over the last five minutes of the stretch, and 44.9 percent from distance.
* Stores, who is averaging 8.0 ppg, 2.8 apg and 2.0 spg while posting a 4.3 assist/turnover ratio over his last six, has picked it up in the second half during that time to the tune of a blistering 60.0 percent (9-of-15) conversion rate from distance with 11 assists and no turnovers.
* Pankey is averaging 5.0 ppg in the final five minutes over the last six games - highlighted by 15 points at Iona - on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor and 14-of-14 from the line.
* Stores, who scored all of his career-high matching 15 points after intermission at Siena, is now connecting a blistering 60.0 (21-of-35) percent from long range in the second half against MAAC opposition, including 63.6 percent (7-of-11) over the final five minutes.
* Stores is fourth in the MAAC with a 41.9 percent conversion rate from long range. He also ranks eighth in the MAAC with 2.9 apg and handed out a career-high nine at Monmouth.
* Three of the last five Manhattan wins have come by 10 points or less as the Jaspers are 11-8 in games decided by 10 points or less, including 10-4 during MAAC play.
* 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 one turnover, against Iona. He has dished out at least four assists 12 times this year and is among the MAAC leaders in assists (3.0 apg-7th) and steals (1.4 spg-8th).
* Since returning to the bench, sophomore Rich Williams is averaging 7.0 ppg over his last 12 games while shooting 36.6 percent (15-of-41) from deep. On the year he is notching 5.7 ppg while making good on 32.3 percent (32-of-99) from distance.
* Masiello is 77-52 as the head coach of the Jaspers, including posting a 49-27 MAAC record. His 77 victories are also the sixth-most in school history.
* 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 160-88 record.
* In his 19th season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 438-199, including 317-171 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.
