| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Chris Moncrief |
6-6 |
190 |
Sr. |
7.0 |
1.0 |
50.0 |
Scored seven points in season opener |
| G |
2 |
Zion Russell |
6-2 |
185 |
R-Sr. |
15.0 |
5.0 |
42.9 |
Notched a career-high 15 points at Oklahoma |
| G |
3 |
Brandon Russell |
6-5 |
185 |
Fr. |
6.0 |
1.0 |
14.3 |
Had six points in his collegiate debut |
| G |
F |
Skylar Wicks |
6-6 |
190 |
R-Sr. |
20.0 |
5.0 |
47.4 |
Led the team with 20 points at Oklahoma |
| F |
21 |
Gestin Liberis |
6-9 |
225 |
R-Jr. |
3.0 |
1.0 |
25.0 |
Made his first career 3-pointer at Oklahoma |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
1 |
KJ Swain, Jr. |
6-1 |
165 |
R-Sr.. |
0.0 |
0.0 |
--- |
Earned a scholarship in the summer |
| G/F |
4 |
Ralph Martino, Jr. |
6-6 |
180 |
So. |
7.0 |
3.0 |
60.0 |
Had six points in first game with Red Flash |
| G |
7 |
Paris Papadatos |
6-4 |
185 |
Fr. |
--- |
--- |
--- |
Did not play against Oklahoma |
| G |
15 |
Victor Payne |
6-4 |
190 |
So. |
0.0 |
1.0 |
--- |
Appeared in 25 games with SFU last season |
| F |
20 |
Cam Tweedy |
6-6 |
240 |
R-Sr.. |
6.0 |
4.0 |
60.0 |
Posted six points and four rebounds in SFU debut |
| G |
55 |
Ahmad Harrison |
6-1 |
190 |
Sr. |
2.0 |
1.0 |
16.7 |
Will make his SFU debut against Oklahoma |
SELECT GAME NOTES VS. TCU (FULL GAME NOTES PDF)
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Saint Francis makes the trek 187 miles south to Texas Christian University (TCU) to complete its season-opening road trip after starting the campaign against the University of Oklahoma on Monday. Just like the game against the Sooners, it will be the first meeting against the Horned Frogs.
• There are 51 head coaches who are at the helm of their alma mater, and the game on Tuesday features two of them with Saint Francis head coach
Luke McConnell and TCU head coach
Jamie Dixon.
• Both McConnell and Dixon have been connected to their alma mater for 13 years. McConnell is one of two head coaches who did not play men's basketball in college (McConnell was a four-year letter winner for the Red Flash football team), but he served on the staff as a graduate assistant, director of basketball operations, assistant coach, and associate head coach before being elevated to head coach this season. Dixon played three years with the Horned Frogs and is in his 10th season with TCU as head coach.
• This will be one of eight games that McConnell will face a coach who is also coaching his alma mater. Along with Thursday's bout, the Red Flash will face Belmont (Casey Alexander) on November 24 and then will have home-and-home games with NEC rivals (CCSU, Le Moyne, and Stonehill) in a battle of alma mater pride.
• While this is the first meeting against TCU, it is not Dixon's first encounter against the Red Flash. Dixon is 3-0 against Saint Francis when he was the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh (79.2 miles separate Loretto and the Pittsburgh campus). Dixon's Panthers defeated the Frankies in 2003-04, 2004-05, and 2011-12 at the Petersen Events Center. McConnell was a senior at Saint Francis the last time Dixon faced Saint Francis.
• The Red Flash is 1-3 in the state of Texas. The lone win in the Lone Star State was an 85-81 win at North Texas State on December 27, 1973. The team opened up the 2008-09 regular season with an 81-47 loss at Texas Tech on November 14, 2008, while McConnell was on the Saint Francis staff for a 78-46 loss at Texas on November 25, 2014, and an 81-58 defeat at Texas A&M on December 21, 2016.
• While the saying goes, "Don't Mess With Texas," Saint Francis doesn't mind messing with Texas in Loretto since the Frankies are 4-0 against the state in Pennsylvania. The Red Flash owns a 3-0 record in the 'Lo against Texas Southern and is 1-0 against Texas Wesleyan. Of course, all of those wins occurred during the Golden Era of Saint Francis men's basketball (1950-72).
• This will be the third time the Loretto team will face a team from the Big 12 and the first since playing Texas in 2014-15. The squad also played at Nebraska in 2003-04 and is looking for its first win against the conference.
• While McConnell is in his first season as head coach, he was on the bench under his mentor, Rob Krimmel, against Power 5 teams twice when the Frankies defeated Rutgers 73-68 on December 20, 2014, and Pitt 80-70 on November 25, 2020.
• Five Saint Francis coaches won their first game on the Red Flash sideline since 1945. A win on Thursday, and McConnell would join John Hiller (1969) and Dave Magarity (1979) as coaches who earned their first win as a head coach in their second game at the helm. McConnell's father, Tom, and Don Friday earned their first win in the third game they coached.
• The Frankies will make their 2025-26 DeGol Arena debut against former NEC rival Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday.
AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Be the team's first win of the season
• Be the team's first win in the state of Texas since 1973-74
• Improve to 5-3 against the state of Texas
• Be the team's first win against a Big 12 school in three tries
• Be the first win for first-year head coach Luke McConnell to become the third head coach to win his first game in program history in his second attempt
• End the first road trip of the year with a victory
ABOUT THE HORNED FROGS
• TCU comes into the contest 0-1 after falling 78-74 to New Orleans on Monday. The squad finished 16-16 overall and 9-11 in Big 12 action last season.
• David Punch paced the Horned Frogs with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Micah Robinson (14 points), Jayden Pierre (11 points), and Xavier Edmonds (11 points also found double figures.
• Punch and Robertson were with TCU last season. Punch averaged 6.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, while Robinson averaged 5.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. Pierre averaged 12.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game at Providence last year. Edmonds played two seasons at Salt Lake City Community College and was ranked as the No. 1 JUCO player in the country.
LAST TIME OUT
• After playing with Oklahoma for 22 minutes, including grabbing a four-point lead, Saint Francis fell to the Sooners in the men's basketball season opener for both teams on Monday.
• Skylar Wicks paced the Red Flash with 20 points, while Zion Russell added a career-high 15 points. Both players made their Saint Francis debut in the game.
• Luke McConnell made his head coaching debut against the Sooners.
TRENDING UP
• Graduate student Skylar Wicks recorded his second 20-point performance in his last three games. Along with scoring 20 points at Oklahoma, the graduate student posted 20 points against Southwestern Adventist on December 19, 2024, in his penultimate game with UTSA last season. He is looking to notch back-to-back 20-point games for the first time since he turned the trick in four-straight games with Incarnate Word, November 14-25, 2023. It was his 10th 20-point game in his last three seasons. Wicks was the only player in the NEC to register a 20-point game on opening night against a Division I opponent.
• Graduate student Zion Russell posted a career-high 15 points against Oklahoma. It was his first 10-point game since he had exactly 10 points at Marist on February 23, 2025, with Niagara. Russell reached double figures in three consecutive games twice with the Purple Eagles. in 2024-25
• Senior Chris Moncrief is averaging 14.0 points per game in his last three regular-season road games. The senior had 10 points at CCSU on February 15 and a career-high 25 points at Le Moyne on February 20 in the last two regular-season road games last year, and then had seven points in the season opener on Monday.
• Redshirt junior Gestin Liberis played in his first game since playing in the 2024 NEC Quarterfinals at CCSU on March 6, 2024. Liberis, who missed last season due to an arm injury, had three points on his first career 3-pointer against Oklahoma. The redshirt junior had double figures in three of his last four games in the 2023-24 campaign.
• Sophomore Ralph Martino, Jr. had seven points in his Saint Francis debut. It was the most points that he scored on the road, and one point shy of his career high.
• Freshman Brandon Russell was the only freshman to get into the game on Monday and finished with six points, two rebounds, two steals, and an assist. The two steals tied Moncrief for a team-high against the Sooners.
GOING THE DISTANCE
• Saint Francis will travel a program-record 9,369 miles round-trip in 2025-26. It breaks the previous mark set in 2022-23 when the team traveled 9,267 miles.
• Saint Francis will travel to Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio, Virginia, and will play three games in Florida and two games in the Keystone State.
• The Red Flash will play in the state of Oklahoma for the second time in program history, the sixth time in the state of Texas (first since playing at Texas A&M in 2016-17). The last time the team played in Florida was in Miami in 2022-23, while the team has made several trips to Ohio and Virginia in recent years.
•The long travel does not hurt the Red Flash in league play in recent history. The 2022-23 team finished 9-7 in NEC play and advanced to the NEC Semifinals.
• The 2017-18 Flash traveled 8,964.3 miles and finished 18-13 overall and 12-6 in league play, while the 2018-19 team went 7,911.2 miles and also finished with a winning record at 18-15 overall and 12-6 in NEC play. The 2017-18 team played in the CIT, and the following year the Frankies won the NEC regular season, played in the NEC Championship Game, and played Indiana in the NIT.
• Last year, Saint Francis traveled 3,831.7 miles, which was the third lowest in the last 14 years.
ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 0-2 on this date after playing Buffalo (2018) and UCLA (2023) on this date.
• The late great Bill Walton was the color analyst for the game against UCLA and was at both the practice on November 5 and shootaround on November 6 for the 2023 season opener. He spent part of his last birthday (November 5) on earth with Red Flash basketball.
HAPPY HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY BILL WALTON
