Loretto, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's basketball team (4-7) opens NEC action on Thursday, Jan. 3, at 7 p.m. vs. Mount St. Mary's (3-10) followed by a showdown vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (5-7) on Saturday, Jan. 5, at 7 p.m.

Live Thursday: Watch | Live Stats

Scouting Mount St. Mary's
 
The young Mountaineers team struggled out of the gates with nine straight losses befreo rattling off three wins over its final four non-conference games to stand 3-10 overall. Mount St. Mary's played the second toughest non-conference schedule in the NEC according to the KenPom adjusted strength of schedule metric, trailing only Saint Francis. The Mount only has one win over a Division I opponent, but it came over American, a team that handed SFU a loss. Sophomore transfer Jalen Gibbs leads the Mountaineers in scoring at 15.0 ppg followed by freshman Vado Morse at 11.5 ppg. Mount St. Mary's is an athletic team who has struggled from three-point range at just a tick over 28%.
 
Series History
 
Mount St. Mary's has dominated the series recently with seven straight wins, including two in one possession games last season. The Mountaineers hold a 49-30 all-time edge in the series as head coach Rob Krimmel is just 2-11 career vs. the Mount.
 
Live Saturday: Watch | Live Stats

Scouting Fairleigh Dickinson
 
The Knights are 5-7 with recent narrow losses to UMass and South Florida. Fairleigh Dickinson is a veteran-ladened group which features al-conference players Mike Holloway and Darnell Edge. Edge leads the team in scoring at 16.7 ppg and is shooting over 38% from three-point range. Fairleigh Dickinson is the top three-point shooting team in the conference at 37.2% led by 41.7% shooter Xzavier Malone-Key. Kaleb Bishop is the team's top rebounder at 7.3 ppg. The Knights hurt SFU on the backboards in last season's NEC Quarterfinal win for Fairleigh Dickinson.
 
Series History
 
Saint Francis went 2-1 vs. the Knights last season, but Fairleigh Dickinson hurt SFU when it mattered most, eliminating them from the NEC Tournament. SFU is 45-46 all-time vs. the Knights and 8-6 since the start of the 2012-13 season.
 
Non-Conference Facts

• Saint Francis played the toughest non-conference schedule in the NEC according to the KenPom adjusted strength of schedule metric and the 11^th toughest schedule in the country.
• In fact, SFU's non-conference schedule was the second toughest by an NEC school since the inception of the KenPom schedule metric at the start of the 2001-02 season. Only Mount St. Mary's in 2016-17 would play a tougher non-conference schedule. The Mount would go on to win the NEC title, defeating Saint Francis in the championship game.
• Despite its 4-7 overall record and 2-7 record against Division I opponents, SFU is still the second best team in the conference according to the KenPom rankings, which factors in strength of schedule, margin of victory, adjusted offense and adjusted defense. Only Wagner leads SFU.
• SFU will be anxious to open conference play at home as they have had just two home games vs. DI opponents to date. SFU went 2-0 in those games but 0-7 on the road.
• SFU has dropped its last two conference openers but is 3-3 in conference openers under coach Krimmel since 2012-13.
• Saint Francis ranks 2^nd in the NEC in scoring offense (77.0 ppg), trailing only Sacred Heart (82.4 ppg).