GAME NOTES
LIVE AUDIO
LIVE STATS
On Deck!
Saint Francis will take a 2-12 record into a contest against red-hot Wagner on Saturday evening. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in front of a regional television audience on WATM ABC-23 (Johnstown), Fox College Sports and MSG+. The game will also be televised on tape delay at 10 p.m. on FSN-Pittsburgh. Dave Popkin (play-by-play), Joe DeSantis (color) and Paul Dottino (sideline) will have the ball. The game can be heard on The EDGE?1400 AM (Loretto, Pa.), and a link to listen will be available at www.myedgeradio.com
On The Horizon
After playing four straight, and 10 of their last 11 games on the road, the Red Flash will return to DeGol Arena for a four-game homestand, the longest of the year. SFU will have played just 3 of its first 15 games at home, where it has a 2-1 record.
History Lesson
The Saint Francis radio team of Bernie Jubeck and Joe Vesnesky love their history, so we dedicate this note to the voices of the Red Flash. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay. With a population of 491,730, Staten Island is the least populated of the five boroughs but is the third largest in area at 59 sq mi. Until 1975, the borough was officially named the Borough of Richmond. Staten Island has been sometimes called "the forgotten borough" by inhabitants who feel neglected by the city government. The first recorded European contact with the island was in 1524 by Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, who in the employ of the French crown, sailed through The Narrows on the French ship La Dauphine and anchored for one night.
Series vs. Wagner
This will be the 58th meeting between Saint Francis and Wagner in a series that dates back to a 75-70 Red Flash win on Feb. 16, 1957. The teams split the series last season with both winning on their home courts. The Red Flash have lost four straight games at the Spiro Sports Center, and eight of their last nine.
Sizing Up The Seahawks
Wagner entered this season in what many thought would be a rebuilding year under first-year head coach Dan Hurley. However, the Seahawks, who were picked to finish 11th in the Northeast Conference, head into Saturday's game in first place as the only unbeaten team in league play. In its last two games, Wagner has defeated the two teams picked to finish first and second in the NEC, respectively - Quinnipiac and Robert Morris. The Seahawks are 3-2 at home, and 4-5 on the road. They have won three straight games, eclipsing 70 points in each contest. Wagner averages 65.5 ppg, and is allowing opponents to score 68.3 ppg. The Seahawks are led by Tyler Murray with 17.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.4 apg, and 1.2 spg. Freshman Latif Rivers has emerged as a legitimate scoring threat, tallying 14.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 2.8 apg.
Inside The Box Score
Saint Francis lost its 10th straight game on Thursday night at Mount St.?Mary's to fall to 2-12 on the season. Here is a closer look and some notes from the box score:
- Saint Francis outscored Mount St. Mary's 34-26 in the second half. It was the first half in which the Red Flash outscored any opponent since Nov. 20 when they had a 36-26 edge in the first half against Bucknell. SFU had been outscored in 19 of 20 halves since then (tied Hartford 17-17 in first half on Nov. 24).
- The Red Flash tied a season low with 16 field goals (on 45 attempts, .356) at Mount St. Mary's.
- SFU is 4-of-27 (.148) from outside the arc over its past two games.
- The Red Flash made a season-high 21 free throws at Mount St. Mary's. They were 21-of-25 (.840) and are third in the NEC in free throw percentage (.725).
- Saint Francis had a season-low 7 assists at Mount St. Mary's.
- SFU's 5 blocks were its second-highest total in a single game this season, and most since recording 7 against Colgate on Nov. 15 - a span of 12 games.
- Mount St. Mary's had 19 field goals (on 44 attempts, .432), tying a season low for a Red Flash opponent.
- Mount St. Mary's had 13 offensive rebounds, marking the 10th straight SFU?opponent to have 10 or more in a game.
- Senior Mislav Jukic (Zagreb, Crotia/Life Center Acadamy) was 6-for-6 from the free throw line. He is 17-for-18 (.944) over his past four games, and has made 13 straight FT.
Road Warriors
Saint Francis has played 11 of 14 games on the road, and will have played 12 of 15 away from DeGol Arena when it wraps a four-game road swing on Saturday at Wagner. SFU had a six-game road swing at the end of November and into December, and has now played nine of its last 10 on the road.
Where's The Offense?
The Red Flash have struggled to find balanced scoring thus far in 2010-11. They are 11th in the 12-team Northeast Conference in scoring (59.3 ppg), and have yet to hit the 70-point plateau in 14 games this season. Saint Francis has not gotten out of the 50's on offense in the past five games, peaking at 58 points against Ohio (Dec. 15) and Cincinnati (Dec. 23).
3-Point Struggles
Saint?Francis had 203 three-pointers (6.77 per game) during the 2009-10 season, which was good for third in program history, and ranked second in the Northeast Conference with a 36.8 three-point field goal percentage. However, SFU has struggled from long distance so far this season. The Red Flash are averaging just 4.64 field goals per game from outside the arc, and rank 11th in the league with a 28.0 three-point field goal percentage. SFU has struggled in its past two games, going a combined 4-for-27 (.148) from long distance.
Growing Pains
As one of the youngest Division I teams in the country, Saint Francis may be suffering through some growing pains as head coach Don Friday is in the midst of a rebuilding process. With just 11 total years of Division I experience on the roster heading into 2010-11, most of SFU's minutes are being played by student-athletes with less than two years of experience. The five Red Flash sophomores have accounted for 62.4 percent (1746 of 2800) of the minutes played so far this season. Add in the six newcomers who have seen action, including junior transfer Jon Taylor (Bowie, Md./Montgomery College-Germantown), and 80.7 percent (2259 of 2800) of the minutes played are being contributed by first or second-year Division I players.
Super Sophomores
As previously mentioned, Saint Francis' five sophomores are putting in significant minutes this season. SFU has started four freshman/sophomores in 11 of its 14 games this season, and the five second-year players have contributed 1746 of 2800 possible minutes (62.4 percent) thus far. Most of the team's production is also coming from the five players. Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs), Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh), Tony?Peters and Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) have scored 584 of 830 points and have pulled down 238 of 460 rebounds, accounting for 70.4 percent of the team's offense and 51.7 percent of its rebounds.
Protect The Ball
Saint Francis has struggled in protecting the ball this season. The Red Flash have 230 turnovers on the season, third-most in the Northeast Conference. SFU's -2.86 turnover margin is 11th in the league. However, the Red Flash had a season-low five turnovers in their Dec. 18 contest against Drexel.
