Saint Francis University (7-10, 4-0 NEC) at Sacred Heart (9-10, 2-2 NEC)
Date | Time	Monday, January 16, 2023 | 2 p.m.
Location	Fairfield, Conn. | William H. Pitt Center
Television	NEC Front Row
Live Stats	SideArm
Printable Notes	Saint Francis | Sacred Heart
Stats	Saint Francis | Sacred Heart | Northeast Conference
Social Media	@RedFlashMBB  | #BELIEVE | #RideTogether | @RedFlashMBB | Facebook

OPENING TIP
• Monday's game between Saint Francis and Sacred Heart marks the 31st meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1999-00 season.
• Despite the two teams splitting last year's series with each team winning on its home floor, the Red Flash leads the all-time series 23-17
• The Pioneers have won the last two tilts at the Pitt Center to take an 11-9 edge on its home court.

THE WORD ON SACRED HEART
• The Pioneers come into the game 9-10 overall and 2-2 in NEC play after falling 82-79 at St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday.
• Nico Gallette (17 points), Joey Reilly (14 points), Raheem Solomon (12 points), Mike Sixsmith (11 points) and Brendan McGuire (11 points)each registered double figures.
• Galette, an All-NEC preseason performer, leads the team with 15.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Solomon (11.6 points per game) and Reilly (10.6 points per game) are also averaging double figures.

LAST TIME WE MET
• Despite 21 points from Josh Cohen and 20 points from Maxwell Land, Sacred Heart defeated Saint Francis 80-68 on February 26, 2022.
• Nico Galette (18 points), Tyler Thomas (17 points), Bryce Johnson (14 points, 15 rebounds) and Aaron Clarke (10 points) all found double figures for the Pioneers in the regular season finale.

LAST TIME OUT
• Junior Maxwell Land's first shot of the game was his 100th career 3-pointer, while he finished with a NEC career-high 21 points to lift Saint Francis past LIU 87-68 on Saturday and help the Red Flash start the league slate 4-0 for the second time in team history, and the first since the NEC Championship team in 1990-91. 
• With his shot from downtown, Land became the 26th player in team history to reach 100 triples in his career and the ninth player under head coach Rob Krimmel. The junior, who had his first career 20-point game at LIU on January 9, 2022, came into the contest with four games of exactly 20 points in league play.
• Freshman Landon Moore led all scorers with 22 points and posted his most points in a game at DeGol Arena.
• The Jersey Force redshirt juniors Josh Cohen and Brad McCabe each had 13 points, while Cohen grabbed nine rebounds and McCabe hauled in a season-high eight boards.

AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Give the Red Flash its second 5-0 start in program history in NEC play and first since 1990-91
• Continue team's best winning streak since 2019-20 with its fifth-straight win. The 2019-20 team won eight straight games
• Improve the Red Flash to 3-0 against the Nutmeg State after wins against Hartford (November 12) and CCSU (December 29)
• End a two-game losing streak at the Pitt Center

TRENDING UP
• In his last five games, freshman Landon Moore has scored at least 15 points in all six games and notched three 20-point performances. He is averaging 18.8 points this latest stretch. During this span, he has dished out at least four assists four times and matched his career high with six rebounds twice.
• Last year the fourth NEC game of the year was also LIU so we cannot pinpoint whether its the the fourth NEC game or LIU, but junior Maxwell Land recorded his first 20-point game of his career at LIU on January 9, 2022. Fast Forward one year and he posted an NEC career-high 21 points against the Sharks on Saturday. Last year before the game against LIU, Land averaged 9.3 points per game and starting with that game he went on to average 13.4 points in the final 16 regular season games so Land's stock could be on the rise again.
• Redshirt junior Brad McCabe registered his fifth double figure game of the season with 13 points on Saturday and the eighth of his career. McCabe is still looking for his first back-to-back double-figure performance of his career. It was also the third time in his career that the redshirt junior hauled in eight boards in a game. He had at least eight caroms one time in his career last year at CCSU and Sacred Heart at the end of the season.
• Saint Francis is 6-1 this season when it makes at least eight baskets from behind the arc, which is also the total needed to give away free a free Big Mac at home games.
• The squad made 11 treys against LIU on Saturday, marking the fifth time this season the team has dialed up long distance at least 11 times in a game this season. It was also the fifth time the team shot over 50.0 from distance with four of those occasions coming when the team made 11 triples.
• While the Petula Clark will tell you that you can forget all your troubles and forget all of your cares and go downtown, there is another area that has been key to the Red Flash success this season. The team is 6-2 when it has more points or even number of points inside the paint.

FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Saint Francis is 4-0 in NEC play for just the second time in program history, tying the best start in the league in program history with four-straight league wins.
• In 1990-91, the Red Flash reeled off six-straight wins. The squad won its first four games at home and its first two on the road before its first NEC loss.
• The Loretto program currently has a pair of four-game winning streaks to mark the ninth time under head coach Rob Krimmel the team has enjoyed a winning streak of at least four games. The team has won its last four overall games against CCSU (December 29), Stonehill (December 31), at Wagner (January 7) and LIU (January 14).
• In addition, the home games against CCSU, Stonehill and LIU were preceded by an 88-58 victory against Saint Vincent on December 8 to give the Red Flash a four-game winning streak at home.
• Both streaks go back to the 2019-20 season when the team won four-straight games and four-consecutive contests at home.
• The Frankies are looking for its first five or more game winning streak since winning eight straight from January 30-February 27, 2020. The team played seven of its eight games at home during that winning streak in that stretch.
• The home streak will be put on hold with the trip to Sacred Heart, but the team will also be looking for back-to-back road wins for first time since defeating FDU 78-65 on February 10, 2022 and CCSU 79-63 14 days later.
• Wins are important on the road, but protecting DeGol Arena is the key to success under Krimmel. In the six seasons the Red Flash has finished .500 or better in league play under the coach, the team has posted a winning mark and at least eight wins at home.
• The Red Flash is 6-3 at home in 2022-23 after posting just four wins in each of the last two seasons in Loretto.
• Redshirt junior Josh Cohen is averaging 31.3 points per game in his last four road games thanks to 40 points against Hawai'i on December 11, 30 points at Miami on December 17, 28 points at Robert Morris on December 21 and 27 points at Wagner on January 14.
• Cohen has registered at least 18 points and seven rebounds in the eight road games season and leads the team with 25.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game away from Loretto.
• Junior Maxwell Land is averaging 15.0 points per game in 11 games against a team from the state of Connecticut. He has found double figures in nine of the 11 contests against the state. The Red Flash has played CCSU five times, Sacred Heart four times and Hartford twice in his three years in Loretto.
• The Cincinnati kid has posted four 20-point performances in his last five games against the Nutmeg state and is averaging 19.2 points per game in that stretch.
• He registered exactly 20 points in both games against Sacred Heart last season, including posting 20 points in the final regular season road trip in 2021-22 at CCSU and Sacred Heart to notch back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career.
• Land could notch his second consecutive 20-point games on Monday after notching an NEC career-best 21 points against LIU on Saturday.
• Saint Francis played one game from January 1 to January 12. It is the longest stretch playing one game in NEC play in program history. The team is in the midst of  a 15-day span (January 14-28) with five tilts.
• Saint Francis will play five of its next six games on the road, starting at Sacred Heart on Monday.
• The Red Flash return home to face St. Francis Brooklyn on January 20 before hitting the road for back-to-back weeks for a four-game road trip.