Saint Francis University (8-14, 5-4 NEC) at Merrimack College (8-16, 6-4 NEC)
Date | Time	Saturday, February 4, 2023 | 3 p.m.
Location	North Andover, Mass. | Hammel Court
Television	NEC Front Row
Live Stats	SideArm
Printable Notes	Saint Francis | Merrimack
Stats	Saint Francis | Merrimack | Northeast Conference
Social Media	@RedFlashMBB  | #BELIEVE | #RideTogether | @RedFlashMBB | Facebook

OPENING TIP
• Saturday's game marks the sixth meeting in the all-time series between Saint Francis and Merrimack dating back to the 2019-20 season.
• The Warriors lead the series 4-1, but the two teams split the season series last year with the road team winning each game.

THE WORD ON MERRIMACK
• The Warriors come into the contest 8-16 overall and 6-4 in NEC play after defeating LIU 76-59 on Thursday.
• Jordan Minor had a huge game for the Warriors with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Ziggy Reid (19 points) and Javon Bennett (10 points) also registered double figures in the win.
• Minor paces the team in both scoring (17.1 points per game) and rebounding (8.8 rebounds per game). Reid is also averaging double figures with 12.5 points per game. Bennett has a team-high 62 assists.

LAST TIME WE MET
• Merrimack edged Saint Francis 65-64 in overtime on February 5, 2022.
• Josh Cohen scored a then career-high 26 points and added 10 rebounds for the Red Flash, while Maxwell Land registered 15 points.
• Jordan Minor paced the Warriors with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Ziggy Reid (14 points), Mikey Watkins (10 points) and Jordan McKoy (10 points) also found double figures.

LAST TIME OUT
• Stonehill defeated Saint Francis 74-61 on Thursday.
• Redshirt junior Josh Cohen paced the Red Flash with 17 points and added four rebounds, three assists and a block.
• Redshirt junior Brad McCabe added 12 points after going 4-for-5 from the floor and 4 of 4 from behind the arc.

AN SFU WIN WOULD
• End a three-game losing streak
• End a four-game losing streak on the road
• End the road trip with a win
• Be the team's first win in the month of February
• Be the second-straight win at Merrimack

TRENDING UP
• Redshirt junior Josh Cohen is averaging 26.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in his last eight road games . Please see Jersey Josh Really Is A Player Above on this page for a game-by-game breakdown. He has also recorded 20 points in five of his last seven contests.
• Cohen moved across the 900-point mark for his career late in the first half at CCSU on January 28. He is the 29th player in Red Flash NEC history to reach the mark and the 10th under head coach Rob Krimmel. The redshirt junior is now just 70 points from becoming the 43rd player in program history to score 1,000 points in his career.  With seven games left, Cohen could reach the feat by averaging 10.0 points per game the rest of the regular season.
• Cohen now has posted 474 points in 22 games this season after registering 456 points in his first 47 games in his first two campaigns in Loretto.  The New Jersey native has now scored the eighth most points in a single season under Krimmel and can become the eighth player under the head coach to post 500 points in a season with 26 points.
• The redshirt junior has also dished out 14 assists in his last four games thanks to registering at least three helpers in all four games. Cohen has dished out at least three assists 10 times this season and ranks third on the team with 50 dimes on the year.
• Redshirt junior Brad McCabe notched 12 points in the first half against Stonehill to notch his sixth game this season in double figures. It is the third time this season he has scored 12 or 13 points in a game. He has nine 10+ point games in his career but is still looking for his first back-to-back double-figure point game.
• Junior Maxwell Land has registered double figures in points in seven of his last nine games. He is averaging 12.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in that stretch.
• Redshirt senior Marlon Hargis has been big on the glass the last three games, posting a career-high nine boards at FDU and seven caroms against Stonehill on Thursday. Prior to his career-high at FDU, the redshirt senior had grabbed a personal-best eight caroms four times in his career. He has grabbed at least five rebounds six times and also has six 10+ point games this season.
• Saint Francis is 7-1 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 only time the squad hit double digit treys on the road was at Bucknell on November 30.
• 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 7-6 when it has more points or even number of points inside the paint. In the last seven games, the Red Flash has won the battle in the paint and are 4-3 in that stretch.

FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• February has traditionally been the most successful month under head coach Rob Krimmel, posting a 47-31 in the second month of the calendar year.
• During the most successful years under Krimmel (2016-20), the Red Flash was 25-7 in the month of February compared to just 3-13 over the last three seasons, counting the 71-64 loss at Stonehill on Thursday.
• The Red Flash is 1-11 on the road this season but fear not the 2018-19 team had simpler troubles to start the season on the road. That team was 3-9 after 12 road games and then won four of its last five games away from Loretto.
• The other key to success of those four years that led to three appearances in the NEC Championship Game and three postseason tournament appearances was having success at home with a combined mark of 44-15.
• The Red Flash is currently 6-3 at home and has won five-straight games in Loretto for the eighth time under Krimmel, and the team will finally return home on February 9 against Sacred Heart on ESPNU.
• Saint Francis will play four games at home in the month of February including the final two games of the regular season. Only a road trip to Brooklyn to face St. Francis Brooklyn (February 16) and LIU (February 18) break up the four games in Loretto.
• This four-game road trip in league play marks the ninth time the Loretto program will play four straight conference games on the road, joining the 1988-89, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2004-05, 2006-07 and 2021-22 teams.
• The Red Flash is currently 0-3 on this road trip and will try to avoid joining the 1988-89, 1998-99, 1999-00 and 2006-07 teams that went 0-4 on the road trip.
• The Loretto program, who defeated Merrimack last season in the third game of the road trip, will attempt to win the fourth game of a four-game road trip for the first time in team history.
• When the road trip began on January 26 at FDU the Frankies were going to play six of the next eight on the road, but when the team returns to Loretto after Merrimack the team will play four of the final six games at home.
• In the five NEC wins, Saint Francis holds a +7-point margin in points on turnovers compared to a -19-point margin in the four NEC losses.
• The Red Flash is also +11 points in second chance points in NEC wins, but -10 points in second chance points in NEC defeats.
• The squad had held the points in the paint advantage in eight of the last nine league games this year and in each of the last eight tilts.
• Home or road contests show interesting splits too. At home, the squad has made five more field goals and 19 more baskets from downtown than the opponent, but on the road the opponent has posted eight more made field goals and 11 more made 3-pointers.
• On the boards, Saint Francis has nine more offensive rebounds and 26 more defensive rebounds at home which helps eliminate the second-chance points at DeGol Arena. Conversely, the Frankies are behind the opponents by 11 offensive rebounds allowing for more second chance opportunities and behind three defensive rebounds.
• Just like the four-game road trip last season, the Red Flash will return to Loretto for an NEC TV game on February 9 against the Pioneers.