| Matchup |
Merrimack (5-5) vs. Army (4-4) |
| Date/Time |
Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019 // 7 p.m. |
| Venue |
North Andover, Mass. // Hammel Court (Tickets) |
| Multimedia |
Watch // Live Stats |
| Social |
Twitter // Instagram |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's basketball program will host the first Division I opponent during its DI era at Hammel Court on Wednesday night when the Warriors welcome Army West Point to campus for a 7 p.m. tip-off against the Black Knights. The contest can be streamed worldwide and free-of-charge on NEC Front Row. Multimedia links as well as links to Merrimack's social media accounts are accessible above.
GAMEDAY FANFARE
Wednesday's game will feature a variety of activities and events for the Hammel faithful. Beginning at 6:00, WMCK Radio will be in attendance playing music in the Hall of Fame lobby where pizza courtesy of Mr. Takeout will be available for all in attendance. T-shirts commemorating the first hosting of a Division I game will be distributed to the first 750 fans, and special pregame festivities will occur to celebrate the historic events!
SCOUTING THE BLACK KNIGHTS
Army arrives at Hammel Court also sitting at .500 on the season, boasting a 4-4 record through eight games. The Black Knights saw their modest two-game winning streak end on Saturday with a 13-point loss to Long Island University; Merrimack will be the third NEC opponent on the docket for Army, who bested Fairleigh Dickinson before the aforementioned loss to LIU. As a team, Army paces the Patriot League in assists per game and ranks second in steals per contest. Individually, the Black Knights have two players among the top-15 in the Patriot League in scoring: Tommy Funk paces the squad with 13.9 points per game followed by Matt Wilson at 12.9 ppg.
HISTORY AGAINST ARMY
The Warriors and Black Knights will play for the fifth time in school history, and first time in 43 years on Wednesday. Merrimack and Army played four times spanning 1971-77 with the Warriors triumphing once – in the first-ever meeting between the schools. The Warriors' last two games against Army (1975-76 & 1976-77) were against a Black Knights program led by Mike Krzyzewski
Matchup Comparison:
| Category |
Merrimack (5-5) |
Army (4-4) |
| Scoring Offense |
62.5 |
69.8 |
| Scoring Defense |
61.5 |
72.0 |
| Field-Goal % |
40.0% |
45.4% |
| Field-Goal % Defense |
42.5% |
42.1% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % |
29.2% |
32.5% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % Defense |
29.8% |
34.5% |
| 3-PT Field Goal Attempts |
274 |
203 |
| Free-Throw Percentage |
71.3% |
54.5% |
| Winning Percentage |
.500 |
.500 |
| Rebounding Margin |
-10.0 |
-2.8 |
| Assists/Game |
12.2 |
16.6 |
| Steals/Game |
10.8 |
7.0 |
| Turnovers/Game |
11.2 |
13.5 |
| Blocks/Game |
3.0 |
1.6 |
| Total Fouls |
177 |
120 |
ROAD WARRIORS
The Warriors' early season success as the newest Division I program has brought plenty of notoriety: Merrimack took down Northwestern to post just the second win ever for a Northeast Conference (NEC) institution against a Big Ten adversary. The Warriors have also picked up road victories over UMass Lowell and Hartford. As of Monday, Merrimack is tied for the most road wins in the NEC through 10 games (with Sacred Heart and Saint Francis University) and tied second nationwide in wins away from campus. When Merrimack tips on Wednesday night, the Warriors will be the third-to-last team to play their first home game of the year against a Division I adversary in the entire country.
800 CAREER ASSISTS ... AND COUNTING
Senior point guard
Juvaris Hayes recorded his 800th career assist at Hartford, becoming the third player in Merrimack history to do so. Hayes needs 17 more assists to set a new program record (826), currently owned by Darren Duncan '10. His 7.7 career assists per game average is up there in program history as well. Peter Dufour leads all former Warriors with a career assists average of 9.0 per contest
LOCK IT DOWN
Merrimack's defense is among the best in the NEC in the early parts of the season. The Warriors are currently allowing a league-best 61.5 points per game - over five points fewer than any other team in the conference. The Warriors' .425 field-goal percentage defense ranks third in the conference while Merrimack's 3-point field-goal defense (.298) sits atop the league rankings, as well. More league-leading stats include steals and turnover margin, where Merrimack's 10.80 thefts per game and +6.60 turnover margin are the best in the league. If Merrimack qualified, the Warriors would rank seventh nationally in steals and 10
th in turnover margin.
FROM DEEP!
Merrimack ranks fourth in the NEC in 3-pointers made (75), and are one of five teams in the league averaging over eight makes per contest. Senior
Jaleel Lord ranks fourth in the league with 20 treys and Junior
Devin Jensen sits in fifth with 19. Jensen ranks 10th in 3-point percentage as well (.373).
Up Next:
Merrimack will be off for finals week before returning to action one week from Sunday when the Warriors head out to California to face UC Santa Barbara. The contest will be played at 5 p.m. EST in New England and 2 p.m. locally in Santa Barbara, Calif. It will be the program's first games in California since 1995.
