Sacred Heart University (13-13, 6-4 NEC) at Saint Francis University (8-15, 5-5 NEC)
Date | Time	Thursday, February 9, 2023 | 5 p.m.
Location	Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arena
Television	ESPN U (Dave Leno, Play-by-Play, Terrence Oglesby, Color Analyst)
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
• Thursday's game marks the 41st meeting in the all-time series between Saint Francis and Sacred Heart dating back to the 1999-00 season.
• Despite the Pioneers winning the last two meetings in the series, the Red Flash holds a 23-17 edge in the all-time series.
• Saint Francis has won the last nine meetings at home in the series and holds a 14-8 margin in games at DeGol Arena.

THE WORD ON SACRED HEART
• The Pioneers comes into the contest 13-13 overall and 6-4 in NEC play after defeating CCSU 78-65 on Saturday.
• Nico Galette paced the Pioneers with 22 points, while Tanner Thomas (15 points), Bryce Johnson (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Joey Reilly (10 points also registered double figures.
• Galette fuels the team with 15.8 points per game, while Reilly (11.5 points per game) and Raheem Solomon (11.1 points per game) are also averaging double digits.

LAST TIME WE MET
• Maxwell Land's 3-pointer at the buzzer hit off the front of the rim in a 54-51 loss at Sacred Heart on January 16.
• Josh Cohen paced the Red Flash with 23 points and nine rebounds and Ronell Giles, Jr. added 14 points.
• Joey Reilly led the Pioneers with 13 points. Bryce Johnson (11 points, 12 rebounds) and Nico Galette (11 points) also had double figures.

LAST TIME OUT
• Despite cutting it to a two-point game after trailing by 16 points, Saint Francis lost 70-66 at Merrimack on Saturday.
• Redshirt junior Josh Cohen paced the team with 17 points and eight rebounds.
• Junior Maxwell Land added 15 points and eight rebounds. It marks the third-straight year the junior has registered a good rebound performance at Merrimack after grabbing nine rebounds in each of his first two trips against the Warriors.
• Redshirt junior Brad McCabe added a season-high 14 points and matched his career best with nine caroms. The junior also posted back-to-back games in double figures in points for the first time in his career.

A SFU WIN WOULD
• Be the sixth-straight win at home
• Improve to 8-3 at DeGol Arena
• End a four-game losing streak
• Be the team's first win in the month of February
• Be the team's 10th-straight win against Sacred Heart at home

TRENDING UP
• Redshirt junior Josh Cohen returns home needing nine points to become the eighth player under head coach Rob Krimmel to register 500 points in a single season. He is also 53 points away from becoming the 43rd player in team history to reach 1,000 points in his career.
• Cohen has registered six games with more than 26 points this season and only his 40-point performance against Lehigh has been at home.
• The redshirt junior has also dished out 16 assists in his last five games. Cohen has dished out at least three assists 10 times this season and ranks third on the team with 52 dimes on the year.
• Redshirt junior Brad McCabe registered double figures in back-to-back games for the first time in his career after posting 12 points at Stonehill on Thursday and a season-high 14 points at Merrimack on Saturday.  He has scored double figures seven times this season and 10 times in his career. In addition, he narrowly missed a double-double for the second time in his career, finishing in double figures in points and needing just one rebound to turn the trick against Merrimack on Saturday. He also just missed a double-double last year at CCSU
• Junior Maxwell Land has had some of his best success against teams from Connecticut and Sacred Heart is no different for the Cincinnati kid. He has four of his six 20-point games against the Nutmeg State and registered exactly 20 points in both meetings with the Pioneers last season. He has found double figures in 10 of the 13 contests against the state. Two of his Top-3 performances this season were against the state with a career-high 26 points against Hartford on November 12 and 18 points at CCSU on January 28.
• Saint Francis is 7-2 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 team is 7-0 at home when this happens.
• 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.

FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Taking nothing away from the Blue Brothers, but Saint Francis men's basketball is happy to be Home, Sweet, Home, Loretto after a two-week, four-game road trip. The team will be back at DeGol Arena for the first time in 21 days.
• The Red Flash left Loretto 5-1 in NEC play and in first place by a half of a game but will return at 5-5 and two and half games out of the top spot.
• With only a 16-ga me schedule for league play this season, the squad probably needs to go at least 4-2 the rest of the way to have a chance at hosting an NEC Tournament game in Loretto.
• Freshman Landon Moore was injured in the game against LIU at home on January 14 and the team is 1-4 in his absence. The team won a home game and lost four on the road but replacing 18.0 points per game in NEC play is not easy either.
• The team returns home where it is 7-3 in DeGol Arena and winnings of five-straight contests. The last time the team lost in Loretto fans were still eating Thanksgiving leftovers on November 26 against American.
• The splits of home and road games are almost reverse. The Red Flash are outscoring its opponent 82.0-66.5 at home while the opponents are outscoring the Frankies 80.4-66.4 on the road.
• In 10 home games, Saint Francis is hitting at a 49.7 clip from the floor and 45.4 percent from behind the arc. The team also holds a 36.8-30.5 average advantage on the boards in Loretto.
• Since the start of conference play, the Red Flash have made 45 baskets from 3-point land both home and away but are shooting 57.5 percent at home and 33.1 percent on the road since the squad has 58 more attempts in road games in that stretch.
• Two players are averaging about five points more a game at home than on the road. Redshirt junior Marlon Hargis and redshirt junior Luke Ruggery have better numbers at home than the road. Hargis has posted 75 of his 114 points (65.8 percent) at home and Ruggery has registered 68 of his 93 points (73.1 percent) in the friendly confines of DeGol Arena. Ruggery is also shooting 59.4 percent from 3-point land at home compared to just 23.1 percent on the road.
• Ruggery also did not have a 10-point game on the road until his 11 points at FDU on January 26. He has four of his five 10+ games at home in his career including two 15+ point games.
• February has traditionally been the most successful month under head coach Rob Krimmel, posting a 47-33 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 3-14 over the last three seasons, counting the two losses in New England over the last weekend.
• 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.
• Last season the team returned from a four-game road trip and then had a come-from-behind win against CCSU on ESPN3 and a win against Sacred Heart. The team looks to have similar success in 2022-23, starting with hosting Sacred Heart on ESPN U on Thursday.
• 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.