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Riverdale, NY - Manhattan (1-5) returns to non-conference play when it hosts local-rival Columbia (5-5) on Wednesday, December 9 at 7:00 pm.
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - The teams last met on November 12, 2013 with the Jaspers escaping with a 71-70 victory on George Beamon's buzzer-beating layup.
#2 - The Lions lead the all-time series by a 15-9 count with the two teams splitting 10 previous match-ups in Riverdale.
#3 - In the teams' last match-up senior Shane Richards connected on a career-high matching six three pointers en route to notching 19 points. For his career he is 9-for-15 from deep against the Lions
QUICK HITS
* Head Coach Steve Masiello is 1-2, all-time, against Columbia.
* Masiello is 7-5, all-time, in non-conference home games and 2-4 against the Ivy League.
* Despite dropping its home MAAC opener this past weekend, Manhattan notched season-highs in points (70), field goal percentage (.463), assists (18) and three pointers (9) while winning the rebounding battle (+4) for the first time this season vs. Marist.
* The Jaspers also shot a blistering 70.0 percent (14-for-20) in the opening half against the Red Foxes, including 55.6 percent (5-for-9) from deep.
* Junior Tyler Wilson facilitated the offense against Marist, handing out a career-high 10 assists while committing just one turnover.
* The 10 assists are the most by a Manhattan student-athlete since Von Damien Green notched 10 against Saint Peter's on January 30, 2002.
* Wilson, who scored a season-high 13 at Fordham, has now handed out at least six assists in five of his six games this year and ranks second in the MAAC and 16th nationally with 6.7 per game.
* He also had three steals against the Red Foxes and is tied for third in the MAAC with 2.0 thefts per game to go along with a 1.7 assist/turnover ratio (7th MAAC).
* Wilson's play on defense have also helped the Jaspers rank 13th nationally with a MAAC-best 18.3 forced turnovers per game and 30th with 8.7 steals each time out.
* Manhattan has forced a combined 80 turnovers over their last four 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.
* During Masiello's five years on the sidelines, the Jaspers are 19-9 when turning over the opposition at least 20 times.
* Manhattan 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.
* Junior Rich Williams scored a game-high 22 points off the bench, highlighted by 15 first-half markers on perfect 6-for-6 shooting, against Marist.
* Williams, who hit for a career-high 26 against Bucknell, has now notched at least 20 points in three of his six games to start the season and ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (17.3 ppg-8th), rebounding (5.7 rpg-14th), blocks (1.0-8th) and defensive rebounds (4.2 drpg-7th).
* DYK? Williams has improved both his scoring (+11.8 ppg) and rebounding (+4.2 rpg) from last year.
* Senior RaShawn Stores scored a career-high 18 points, fueled by a career-high matching five three pointers, against the Red Foxes.
* For his career, Stores, a 2015-2016 All-MAAC Preseason Third Team selection, is shooting 42.5 percent (54-for-127) on threes after halftime. Since the start of last season, he is making good on 48.3 percent (29-for-60) in the second half, including posting a 4.67 assist/turnover (42 assists/9 TO) ratio during that sample.
* The Jaspers are 36-17 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.
* 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 10.3 points per game after halftime while shooting 43.5 percent from the floor, compared to just 8.2 points each time out on 29.4 percent shooting in the first half.
* Richards' aforementioned 20-point performance is his third in six games this season and the 10th of his career. He has combined with Williams to give Manhattan a 20-point scorer in all six games this season with the duo ranking fifth in the MAAC with 35.8 ppg.
* A 2015-2016 All-MAAC Preseason Second Team selection, Richards was the hero in the first Jasper 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 (18.5 ppg-5th), steals (1.2 spg-11th), threes (2.0/game-12th) and free throw percentage (.763-13th).
* Richards 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 (246) leader in threes.
* From long range, Richards has converted at least three triples in 51 of his 104 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.
* 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.
* Sophomore Zane Waterman narrowly missed his first career double-double against Marist, finishing with nine points and a career-high 10 rebounds. On the year, he leads the team and is seventh in the MAAC with 6.7 rebounds per game. He is also among the league leaders in offensive rebounds (3.0 orpg-3rd) and steals (1.2 spg-11th)
* Freshman Thomas Capuano has had a solid start to his career, averaging 6.5 points, 2.4 steals (3rd MAAC) and 2.3 assists each time out. He is also shooting 42.1 percent from the field and notched a career-high 14 points in the win over George Mason.
* Manhattan played with just five scholarship players against George 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.
* Manhattan is 36-2 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 the Jaspers are 16-2 when leading with five minutes to play and 13-10 in games decided by 10 points or less.
* Also over the last three years, Manhattan is 30-6 when holding teams to less than 70 points, 20-6 when limiting teams to less than 40 percent shooting, 22-7 when winning the battle of the boards and 30-13 when forcing more turnovers than the opposition.
* Masiello, who holds a career record of 80-58 (49-29 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 the Jaspers to a pair of 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 163-94 record.
* In his 20th season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 441-204, including 320-176 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.
* Manhattan's non-conference slate features four games against teams that qualified for the postseason a year ago, including three (Saint Mary's, Bucknell, Memphis) that participated in the NIT. Additionally, six of the nine non-conference opponents have qualified for the NCAA Tournament this decade.
SCOUTING COLUMBIA
Columbia (5-5) is an experienced, veteran team that features four double-figure scorers. The Lions are one of the unluckiest teams in the country, having lost four games by three points or less, including two by one point.
KEY MANHATTAN MATCH-UPS
Defense - Manhattan is yielding over 80 points a game and will be facing a Columbia team that is averaging 79.8 points per game.
Turnover Game - The Jaspers strength is turning over the opposition and have done so to the tune of a MAAC-best 18.3. However, Columbia is averaging just 11.1 miscues per game and boasts an impressive +2.3 turnover margin.
Columbia's Big Three - Seniors Maodo Lo, Alex Rosenberg and Grant Mullins are averaging a combined 43.1 points per game and will need to be contained.
DID YOU KNOW???
The last time these teams played, Manhattan took the subway to Columbia's Levien Gym.
FOR STARTERS
Due to a rash of injuries to start the year, the Jaspers have had a different starting line-up in all six games.
INJURIES APLENTY
Manhattan has had seven players (six scholarship) miss a total of 23 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 31st in school history with 1,051 points.
THE WORLDWIDE LEADER
Manhattan is slated to appear on the ESPN family of networks 11 times during the 2015-2016 season, including 10 during MAAC play. The Jaspers will next play on ESPN3 at Memphis on Saturday, December 12.
UP NEXT
Manhattan travels to Memphis on Saturday, December 12 with opening tip slated for 8:00 pm (EST).
