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Riverdale, NY - Manhattan opens the home portion of its MAAC schedule against Marist for the second-straight year on Sunday, December 6 at 2:00 pm.
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - A year ago, the Jaspers defeated the Red Foxes 60-38 at Draddy Gymnasium and are 18-3, all-time, against Marist when playing in Riverdale.
#2 - Steve Masiello is 4-0 in MAAC home openers, winning by at least 20 points on three occasions en route to posting a +19.3 ppg margin of victory.
#3 - Manhattan has won each of the last six meetings between the two teams by an average of 13.5 points per game.
QUICK HITS
* Last season, the Jaspers won all three games over the Red Foxes by an average 17.0 points each time out while limiting the visitors to just 30.4 percent shooting, including 19.6 percent from long range, and winning the battle of the boards by a +11.7 margin.
* In the teams' most recent match-up, senior Shane Richards scored 18 points as Manhattan bested Marist 74-58 in the Quarterfinals of the 2015 MAAC Championships.
* Masiello holds an 8-1 career record against the Red Foxes as the Jaspers' Head Coach after going 6-2 against them as an assistant from 2001-2005.
* During that time, he is 8-0, all-time against Marist at Draddy Gymnasium.
* In his five years as head coach, Masiello is 57-31 (.648) against MAAC opposition, including going 29-9 (.763) at home.
* Manhattan is 15-3 at home against the Red Foxes since they joined the MAAC for the 1997-1998 season with eight of those victories coming by 20 points or more.
* At Siena, Richards scored 22 of his game-high 26 points after halftime thanks to going 8-of-11 from the field. Richards is now averaging 11.0 points per game after halftime while shooting 45.9 percent from the floor, compared to just 8.8 points each time out on 28.3 percent shooting in the first half.
* Richards' aforementioned 20-point performance is his third in five games this season and the 10th of his career.
* A 2015-2016 All-MAAC Preseason First Team selection, Richards was the hero in the first Manhattan victory of the year, a 69-67 come-from-behind triumph over George Mason, thanks to banking in a jumper with 1.2 seconds to play.
* The New York native also ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (19.8 ppg-5th), steals (1.4 spg-9th), threes (2.2/game-12th) and free throw percentage (.778-12th).
* Richards is playing a MAAC-high 38.2 minutes per game and notched a career-high 28 points and five steals to go along with six rebounds against Bucknell. He also scored a game-high 23 at Saint Mary's and is the school's single-season (92) and career (245) leader in threes.
* From long range, Richards has converted at least three triples in 51 of his 103 games and at least four 27 times. When the New York City native connects on four in a game, the Jaspers are 18-9, including 14-6 over the last three seasons.
* Giving Manhattan a dynamic one-two scoring punch is junior Rich Williams, who is 11th in MAAC with 16.4 points per game. Williams and Richards are fifth in the MAAC with a combined 36.2 points per game. Marist's duo of Khalid Hart (21.6 ppg) and Brian Parker (17.6 ppg) leads the league with 39.2 points each time out.
* Williams hit for a game and career-high 26 points at George Mason followed by a game-high 24 at Fordham as the Jaspers have had at least one student-athlete hit for 20 each game this season.
* Williams has also paced Manhattan on the glass in four of its five games while ranking seventh in the MAAC with a team-best 6.4 rebounds per game. He also is among the league leaders in defensive rebounds (5.0 drpg-4th), blocks (1.0 bpg-7th) and minutes (34.2 mpg-9th).
* DYK? Williams has improved both his scoring (+10.9 ppg) and rebounding (+4.9 rpg) from last year.
* Freshman Thomas Capuano has been solid over his first five collegiate games, averaging 7.2 points per game while ranking second in the MAAC with 2.4 steals per game to go along with 2.6 assists each time out.
* Junior Tyler Wilson scored a season-high 13 points to go along with a career-high eight assists and three steals at Fordham. He has handed out at least six helpers in four of his five games while ranking second in the MAAC and 28th nationally with 6.0 assists per game.
* Wilson is also fifth in the MAAC with 1.8 steals per game, 11th with a 1.3 assist/turnover rate and fourth in minutes (35.2/game).
* Thanks to Capuano and Wilson, the Jaspers have forced a combined 64 turnovers over their last three games, including a season-high 25 in the win over George Mason - fueled by six drawn charges the led to a 24-9 advantage in points off turnovers. The 25 were the most forced since Manhattan turned Niagara over 25 times in a 78-77 victory on February 9, 2014.
* Due to their defensive prowess, the Jaspers have a MAAC-best +4.0 turnover margin (10th NCAA as of 12/3)) while forcing an average of 18.8 miscues (9th NCAA as of 12/3) each time out. During Masiello's five years on the sidelines, Manhattan is 19-9 when turning over the opposition at least 20 times.
* The Jaspers recorded a season-high 11 steals against in the win over George Mason, improving 19-2 over the last three seasons when notching double-figures in thefts and are 30-5 when hitting the 10-steal standard over the last five years. This season, Manhattan is 29th nationally (as of 12/3) with 8.8 steals per game.
* Despite playing just 15 minutes at Siena due to foul trouble, sophomore Zane Waterman finished with eight points and a game-high seven rebounds. He also narrowly missed a double-double in the win over George Mason, ending with nine points and a career-high nine rebounds and is averaging 8.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
* Manhattan played with just five scholarship players against Mason, while rallying from a 16-point deficit, which was the largest overcome since battling back from an 18-point margin at Iona on January 12, 2012. The Jaspers also made just eight substitutions in the aforementioned victory against the Patriots and played the final 10:48 with the same line-up.
* Senior RaShawn Stores saw his first action of the year against Bucknell while teaming with Wilson to hand out nine assists, against just one turnover, over a combined 51 minutes of action. He has five assists against just one turnover in 41 minutes of action this season.
* For his career, Stores, a 2015-2016 All-MAAC Preseason Third Team selection, is shooting 42.1 percent (51-for-121) on threes after halftime. Since the start of last season, he is making good on 48.1 percent (26-for-54) in the second half, including posting a 4.44 assist/turnover (40 assists/9 TO) ratio during that sample.
* Manhattan is 36-16 over the last three years when Stores, who was granted an extra year of eligibility on July 22, 2015 by the NCAA, starts including going 17-8 last year.
* Both Richards & Stores are the only MAAC student-athletes to have played in each of the last three conference title games and have been a part of 59 total wins, including going 8-1 during MAAC Tournament play.
* The Jaspers are 36-1 when leading at the half over the last three seasons, including going a perfect 15-0 a year ago. Additionally, since the start of last season Manhattan is 16-2 when leading with five minutes to play and 13-9 in games decided by 10 points or less.
* Also over the last three years, the Jaspers are 30-6 when holding teams to less than 70 points, 20-6 when limiting teams to less than 40 percent shooting, 22-6 when winning the battle of the boards and 30-13 when forcing more turnovers than the opposition.
* Masiello, who holds a career record of 80-57 (49-28 MAAC), set the school-record for MAAC Tournament wins a year ago with his eighth against Iona while breaking current ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla's previous mark.
* Since returning to Riverdale, Masiello has led Manhattan to two MAAC Championships 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 Jasper MAAC Championship teams and five of Manhattan's 12 20-win seasons while accruing a 163-93 record.
* In his 20th season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 441-203, including 320-175 on the sidelines, with one National Title, two National Championship appearances, two Final Four appearances, six Elite Eight berths, eight conference championships, 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and 15 20-win seasons.
SCOUTING MARIST
Marist (1-4; 0-1 MAAC) enters Sunday's tilt losers of three in a row. The Red Foxes, like the Jaspers, opened MAAC play on Friday with a 35-point loss. Marist is led by the aforementioned 1-2 punch of Hart (21.6 ppg) and Parker (17.6 ppg).
KEY MANHATTAN MATCH-UPS
Rebounding - Manhattan has been outrebounded by double-figures in each of its five games and will be facing a Red Fox team that has been outrebounded by an average of 6.6 caroms each time out.
Turnover Game - The Jaspers have done an outstanding job in turning over the opposition in the first five games to the tune of a MAAC-best 18.8 forced miscues and 8.8 steals each time out. Marist, meanwhile, is forcing just 10.8 turnovers and 4.4 steals per game.
Khalid Hart - Hart leads the Red Foxes in scoring at 21.6 points per game while shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from long range. However, over five career games against Manhattan he is averaging 14.0 points per game on just 28.6 percent (16-for-56) shooting, including 19.0 percent (4-for-21) from deep.
FOR HIS CAREER ...
Richards is notching 8.1 points per game over seven games against Marist while shooting 41.2 percent (14-for-34) from long range.
FOR STARTERS
Due to a rash of injuries to start the year, the Jaspers have had a different starting line-up in all five games.
INJURIES APLENTY
Manhattan has had seven players (six scholarship) miss a total of 20 games due to injury this year
CLIMBING THE LADDER
Richards, who became the 37th member of the Jaspers' 1,000-point club in the win over George Mason, is 33rd in school history with 1,039 points to go along with his school-record 245 career three pointers.
IRON MEN
Five times this season a Jasper student-athletes has played all 40 minutes in a game (Williams 2x, Capuano, Richards, Wilson).
LIFE BEGINS AT 80
Masiello became the sixth coach in school history with 80 victories in the win over George Mason.
SECOND-HALF SUCCESS
Manhattan outscored George Mason 38-25 in the second half, shooting 46.7 percent from the floor while limiting the visitors to 38.1 percent. In the first two games, the Jaspers shot just 29.4 percent, including 26.3 percent from distance, while allowing the opposition to make good on 56.8 percent
MASIELLO AT MANHATTAN
Masiello has been a part of four of Jaspers' five MAAC Championships while helping lead the Jaspers to a 163-93 record in nine seasons in Riverdale.
OJO MAKE DEBUT
Freshman Ak Ojo made his much-anticipated debut against Bucknell, finishing with four rebounds and a crowd-exciting block in 10 minutes off the bench before adding two steals in second game at Siena.
UP NEXT
Manhattan hosts Columbia on Wednesday, December 9 at 7:00 pm.
