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Riverdale, NY - Manhattan (2-4) will open its 36th season of MAAC Basketball against Canisius (2-4) on Friday, December 2 at 7:00 pm.
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - Head Coach Steve Masiello holds an 8-2 career record against the Golden Griffins. He also was 7-1 as an assistant during his previous stint with the Jaspers from 2001-2005.
#2 - Canisius won the teams' last match-up a year ago by a 65-62 count after Manhattan won the first meeting by a 94-86 score.
#3 - The Jaspers' four losses have come against teams that have a combined record of 20-7 with each owning wins over BCS schools: Bucknell (Vanderbilt), Temple (Florida State/WVU), WVU (Illinois) and Winthrop (Illinois).
#4 - Manhattan is 9-6 in its last 15 MAAC openers but has lost each of its two previous league lidlifters.
QUICK HITS
* Senior Rich Williams averaged 14.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg and 3.5 apg last season against Canisius, highlighted by 19 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in the Jaspers' victory in Buffalo.
* In the aforementioned Manhattan win, the Jaspers converted 14 three pointers while shooting a blistering 55.8 percent from the floor, including 63.6 percent from deep.
* The 14 three pointers were the most by Manhattan since making good on 14 in a win over the Golden Griffins on January 30, 2000.
* DYK? This is the first time in Masiello's six years that the Jaspers will be opening MAAC play at home.
* Masiello earned his 94th victory in last week's 84-81 double overtime triumph at Detroit Mercy
* Masiello has led Manhattan to a 94-75 (.556) record, including going 58-38 (.604) during MAAC play and 43-20 (.683) at Draddy Gymnasium, over his six seasons with three MAAC Title Game appearances, three postseason berths, two Metropolitan Coach of the Year honors and two 20-win campaigns.
* Junior Zavier Turner led the Jaspers to the win over the Titans with 32 points to go along with six assists. The Ball State transfer scored 10 points in overtime, highlighted by hitting the eventual game-winner, and was 5-of-6 from the line.
* Turner, who also scored 28 points at Temple, ranks among the league leaders in scoring (17.0 ppg-6th), free throw percentage (.842-4th), assists (3.0-10th), three-point percentage (.462-9th), three's per game (2.0-14th) and assist/turnover rate (0.7-11th) while hitting for at least 20 points twice this year and eight times in his career.
* Manhattan went 9-for-12 from the line in overtime at Detroit Mercy with freshman Aaron Walker Jr. tying the game up with two free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining in the first extra session.
* Walker Jr. was named MAAC Rookie of the Week on November 21 after averaging 12.3 ppg and 3.3 rpg in three games, highlighted by a 15-point, 6-rebound performance vs. Winthrop, and is third on the team with 8.8 ppg.
* The Jaspers also snapped the Titans' seven-game home non-conference winning streak thanks to holding them to just 1-of-7 shooting on threes in overtime after Detroit Mercy connected on 8-of-12 in regulation.
* Senior Tyler Wilson made arguably the play of the game in the second overtime when he drew a charge with 7.7 seconds remaining.
* Junior Zane Waterman had another big performance in the win over the Titans, going for 15 points, fueled by four three pointers, with eight rebounds and is averaging 13.8 ppg and 7.5 rpg while shooting 62.5 percent (20-of-32) from the floor over his last four games.
* Waterman has started each of the last 33 games for Manhattan dating back to last year and ranks among the league leaders in scoring (10.8-28th), rebounding (7.0-6th), field goal percentage (.535-6th) and three-point percentage (.474-7th).
* After scoring just three points in his previous two games, junior Calvin Crawford had 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench in the win over Detroit Mercy.
* Sophomore Ak Ojo scored a career-high nine points while pulling down four rebounds against the Titans. Fellow Nigerian junior Samson Usilo had a career-high nine points and seven rebounds at WVU.
* The Jaspers have won the battle of the boards in each of their first six games and rank second in the MAAC in rebounding margin (+8.8) and first offensive rebounding (15.2) while averaging 31.0 ppg in the paint. Last year, Manhattan ranked last in rebounding offense, rebounding defense and rebounding margin.
* Also having a big presence on the glass for the Jaspers has been junior Ahmed Ismail, who is 13th in the MAAC with 5.7 rpg and most recently pulled down a career-high 11 in the victory over Detroit Mercy. The Egypt native also had a career-high four blocks and is fifth in the MAAC with 1.3 rejections per game.
* Manhattan has outscored the opposition in second-chance points in four of its six games, highlighted by posting a 24-0 advantage at Temple, and is averaging 15.7 second-chance points each time out.
* The Jaspers have had 10 players see at least 10 minutes three times, including having 11 notch double-figures against WVU.
* Through the first six games, the seven Manhattan newcomers are averaging a combined 45.5 ppg and 20.7 rpg while accounting for 62.5 percent of the team's offense and 51.9 percent of the rebounding.
* Next Saturday's game against Fordham is one of 11 non-conference games for the Jaspers against 11 different conferences (ACC, American, Atlantic 10, Big South, Big 12, CAA, Horizon, MEAC, NEC, OVC, Patriot). Manhattan will also play in six states: NY (5), PA (2), FL (1), MD (1), MI (1) and WV (1)
* Included in the Jaspers' 11-game schedule are six games (Temple (NCAA), WVU (NCAA), Bucknell (NIT), Florida State (NIT), Hofstra (NIT) and Fordham (CIT)) against teams that qualified for the postseason a year ago.
* Manhattan will also participate in the 2016 Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, FL against Florida State on Saturday, December 17 at 1:30 pm.
* The Jaspers recently completed a brutal four-game stretch against teams that either qualified for the postseason a year ago or won 20 games.
* In an 80-68 win over Hofstra, Manhattan shot a blistering 53.7 percent (29-for-54) from the floor, including a perfect 100 percent (17-for-17) from the line, and scored on seven of the Pride's nine first-half turnovers, parlaying the miscues into 17 points.
* Junior Zavier Peart scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the first half against Hofstra, going a perfect 7-for-7 in the opening stanza. Peart also paced the squad in scoring with 11 points at WVU and is shooting 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the floor.
* Wilson handed out five assists, against just one turnover, in the win over Hofstra after notching 10 points earlier in the week against Winthrop.
* Thanks to his five helpers, Wilson moved past former teammate RaShawn Stores into ninth place on the program's all-time assist list and now has 320.
* Sophomore Thomas Capuano scored a team-high 11 points with a career-best five assists at Bucknell before pulling down a career-high six rebounds against Winthrop and is averaging 6.7 ppg.
* Jasper basketball players are wearing memorial patches on the left shoulder of their jerseys this season in honor of Fr. George Hill, the longtime Manhattan College chaplain and an avid supporter of both teams, who passed away in September.
* The Jaspers' 45 rebounds, including 19 offensive caroms, at Bucknell are the most in each category in a game since the 2014-2015 season.
* Masiello has led Manhattan to a 94-75 (.556) record, including going 58-38 (.604) during MAAC play and 43-20 (.683) at Draddy Gymnasium, over his six seasons with three MAAC Title Game appearances, three postseason berths, two Metropolitan Coach of the Year honors and two 20-win campaigns.
* He has participated in the NCAA Tournament in 13 of his 20 seasons as a player or coach, including being a part of eight conference champions and one National Championship.
* Masiello has also been a part of four of the Jaspers' five MAAC Championships and five 20-win campaigns during his nine full years in Riverdale (Assistant & HC).
* Manhattan, which is averaging 6.7 steals per game, ranked second in the MAAC and 36th nationally a year ago with 7.7 thefts per game, and is 23-3 when notching 10 steals over the last three years and 34-6 since Masiello took the reigns of the Jaspers.
* Manhattan was also 13th nationally with 15.8 forced turnovers per game a year ago while turning the opposition over on at least 20 occasions five times and was third in the MAAC (76th NCAA) with a +1.6 turnover margin. During the Masiello era, the Jaspers are 20-11 when forcing at least 20 turnovers.
* Manhattan returns eight letterwinners, including three starters, that accounted for 62.6 percent of the Jaspers' scoring (1,334 points) and 75.7 percent of their rebounding (693 rebounds).
* Manhattan was slated to finish sixth in the annual preseason MAAC Coaches Poll with Williams earning All-MAAC Second Team honors.
* Williams and Wilson are the lone seniors as the duo has helped the Jaspers to a 59-44 record, two MAAC titles, two trips to the NCAA Tournament and a MAAC-best 7-1 conference tourney record.
* Williams averaged 14.8 ppg and a team-best 6.0 rpg last year, highlighted by seven 20-plus point performances and three double-doubles. Additionally, he raised both his scoring (+9.3 ppg) and rebounding (+4.5 rpg) numbers and took his game to another level at the MAAC Tournament, averaging a team-leading 21.0 ppg.
* The Jaspers boast five foreign-born players in R. Williams (Jamaica), Ismail (Egypt), Usilo (Nigeria), Ojo (Nigeria) and Oliver Ehrnvall (Sweden).
* Since returning to Riverdale, Masiello has led Manhattan to a pair of MAAC Titles 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 four of the five Jaspers' MAAC Championship teams and five of the school's 12 20-win seasons in accruing a 177-111 record.
* In his 21st season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 457-221, including 336-193 on the sidelines, with one National Title, two National Championship Game appearances, two Final Fours, six Elite Eight berths, eight conference championships, 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and 15 20-win seasons.
* Joining the staff this year is assistant coach Shawn Finney, who spent the last six years at UCF. Finney coached Masiello and Kentucky before giving him his first job at Tulane.
* Manhattan is next in action at Saint Peter's on Sunday, December 4 with oepning tip tabbed for 2:00 pm.
