Live Thursday: Stats | Watch 

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Loretto, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's basketball team (10-11, 6-4 NEC), fresh off its first 2-0 week of the NEC season, will host Central Connecticut State (10-13, 4-6 NEC) on Thursday, Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. and Bryant on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. Thursday night's game will be nationally-televised on ESPNU.
 
Scouting Central Connecticut State
 
The Blue Devils picked up two much-needed wins last week to climb back into playoff contention. Leading scorer Tyler Kohl came up huge with a 29 point, 12 rebound effort vs. St. Francis Brooklyn followed by 23 points and 13 rebounds in a comeback win over Bryant. Kohl ranks third in the NEC in scoring (17.6 ppg), fourth in rebounding (7.3 rpg) and third in assists (4.6 apg). The Red Flash bottled him up in the first meeting, an 80-69 victory in New Britain, holding him to just eight points on 3-16 shooting. Freshman Ian Krishnan is second on the Blue Devils in scoring at 12.7 ppg. Joe Hugley (12.2 ppg) and Jamir Coleman (11.5 ppg) also average in double figures. Coleman led CCSU in scoring in the first meeting with 17 points. The Blue Devils enter the week with the worst defensive rebounding pct. in the conference but did hold SFU under its season-average in offensive rebounding on Jan. 19. Keeping CCSU off the free throw line will be key as the Blue Devils shoot it at 77.5% from the charity stripe, the best mark in the NEC and the eighth best percentage in NCAA Division I.
 
Series History
 
Saint Francis trails CCSU 20-22 in the all-time series but has won eight of the last 11. Junior Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./Delsea) was the standout from SFU's win in New Britain with 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
 
Scouting Bryant
 
The Bulldogs are 5-5 under first-year head coach Jared Grasso and have enjoyed balanced scoring with four players averaging double figures: SaBastian Townes (14.6 ppg), Adam Grant (14.3 ppg), Byron Hawkins (13.0 ppg) and Joe Kasperzyk (10.2 ppg). The Bulldogs rank ninth in scoring offense (67.8 ppg), eighth in scoring defense (76.7 ppg) and last in scoring margin (-8.9 ppg), allowing teams to shoot 47.6% from the field and 39.2% from three-point range. This wasn't the case in the first meeting as the Bulldogs held SFU to 37.9% from the field and 29.2% from three-point range in a 76-67 win. Hawkins led the way with 16 points and was followed by Grant and Townes with 15 and 14, respectively.
 
Series History
 
Bryant took a 10-9 lead in the series with its win in Smithfield, ending a three-game SFU win streak over the Bulldogs.
 
Winning A Game With Defense
 
Saint Francis's 33.8% from the field was its lowest shooting pct. in a win since shooting 31.7% in a 63-57 win over Bryant on Feb. 4, 2016. Saint Francis locked up on defense, holding Mount St. Mary's to just 26 second half points on 10-26 (38.4%) field goals and 1-9 (11.1%) three-pointers. The Red Flash held the Mount to just 11 points over the final 11:22 of the game.
 
Braxton's Busy
 
Junior All-NEC guard Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./Delsea) has taken matters into his own hands since SFU's lackluster 3-3 start to conference. Braxton has averaged 21.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg and 4.0 apg over his last four games, leading the Red Flash in scoring in three of the four contests. A two-time NEC Player of the Week, Braxton ranks fifth in the conference in scoring (16.5 ppg.), first in rebounding (9.6 rpg.) eighth in assists (3.6 apg.) and second in steals (1.7 spg.).
 
Blackout DeGol
 
The Red Flash are urging fans to wear black for Thursday's televised contest vs. CCSU. In addition to a blackout, Saint Francis Athletics will host a tailgate for all students from 3:30 up until tipoff.