| Matchup |
Merrimack (18-9, 12-2 NEC) at Bryant (12-14, 4-9 NEC) |
| Date/Time |
Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020 // 7 p.m. |
| Venue |
Smithfield, R.I. // Chase Athletic and Wellness Center |
| Multimedia |
Watch // Live Stats |
| Social |
Twitter // Instagram |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team looks for its second win of the season against Bryant University when the Warriors visit the Bulldogs on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Chase Athletic and Wellness Center in Smithfield, R.I. The contest will be streamed on NEC Front Row as well as televised on YurView New England in markets across Rhode Island, Connecticut and the rest of the country. With a win, Merrimack will become the first NEC team since Wagner in 2015-16 with 10 road victories and become the fifth team nationwide this season with double-digit victories on the road.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Bryant enters Tuesday with an 8-4 record and a three-game home winning streak. Merrimack will look to become just the fifth team this season to beat the Bulldogs at the Chase Athletic Center. The Bulldogs begin the week with a two-game lead on the final playoff spot in the NEC. Bryant is led by senior Adam Grant who is averaging 16.1 points per game. The veteran guard is only averaging 13.2 points per outing in NEC play, however. In league games, Bryant ranks sixth in both scoring offense (67.5 ppg) and scoring defense (69.7).
HISTORY AGAINST BRYANT
Tuesday will be the second game of the D1 history between Bryant and Merrimack after the programs were old DII rivals in the Northeast-10 Conference. Merrimack owns a 36-19 edge in the all-time series, including the first matchup of the year. Merrimack turned a six-point halftime deficit into a 71-67 win in the first meeting. Freshman
Mykel Derring scored a career-high 14 points off the bench in the win.
Matchup Comparison:
| Category |
Merrimack (18-9, 12-2 NEC) |
Bryant (12-14, 4-9 NEC) |
| Scoring Offense |
63.2 |
70.7 |
| Scoring Defense |
60.2 |
69.0 |
| Field-Goal % |
42.4% |
41.5% |
| Field-Goal % Defense |
42.6% |
40.6% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % |
33.4% |
31.9% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % Defense |
30.8% |
30.7% |
| 3-PT Field Goals (Made-Attempts) |
208-622 |
225-705 |
| Free-Throw Percentage |
68.1% |
68.0% |
| Winning Percentage |
.667 |
.462 |
| Rebounding Margin |
-6.9 |
+0.8 |
| Assists/Game |
12.8 |
14.0 |
| Steals/Game |
10.0 |
7.1 |
| Turnovers/Game |
12.2 |
14.5 |
| Blocks/Game |
2.8 |
4.4 |
| Total Fouls |
448 |
497 |
MOST WINS EVER!
After last Thursday's victory at St. Francis Brooklyn, the men's basketball team set a new NCAA record for wins by a first-year program reclassifying to Division I. The Warriors bested Cal Baptist's 16-win mark last year to establish the new record. Seventeen of the Warriors' 18 wins are against DI competition; last year, Cal Baptist only had 12 triumphs over DI foes. The Warriors remained alive in their bid to become the second first-year program reclassifying to Division I to win a Regular Season Conference Championship. Birmingham Southern accomplished the feat in the Big South in 2003-04.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
Merrimack joins Cal Baptist and North Alabama as programs going through the reclassification process to Division I. As part of the process, the Warriors will not be postseason eligible in the NEC and not be able to compete in the conference tournament; Merrimack will, however, count in the regular season standings and have an opportunity to claim a NEC Regular Season Championship. The Warriors are eligible for select postseason tournament such as the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and the College Insider Tournament (CIT).
JUVARIS NEARING THE STEALS RECORD
Senior point guard
Juvaris Hayes is closing in on NCAA history. Hayes needs just 12 more steals this season to set a new NCAA record, previously held by Tennyson Whitted of Ramapo College (DII). Hayes needs to reach 448 career steals to tie the record and 449 to break it; he enters this weekend with 437 thefts including a Division I high 101 steals in 2019-20, averaging nearly four steals per game.
THE NEW ASSIST KING
With six helpers on against Boston University on Sunday, Dec. 29, Hayes surpassed Darren Duncan '10 as the program's all-time assists leader. Hayes enters Tuesday with 928 career helpers. He moved into the NEC lead recently, and now has a conference-leading 174 assists on the season. He recently became the 22nd player in NCAA history with 900 career assists.
PUTTING THE NEC IN THE ZONE
Led by the nation's leader in steals in
Juvaris Hayes (101), the Warriors' defense has dominated during NEC play. The Warriors led the conference in turnover margin (+5.2) and steals per game (10.0), averaging nearly three more steals than any other team. Merrimack also has the league's best scoring defense at 60.2 points per game including 58.1 in league games. Nationally, Merrimack ranks fourth in steals per game and seventh in turnover margin
THE RETURN OF THE ROAD WARRIORS
With Merrimack's current run, the Warriors became the first NEC team since Wagner in 2017-18 to sweep the daunted "Western PA" trip to Robert Morris and Saint Francis. The Warriors have nine true road victories on the year, sitting in a tie for second in the nation in road wins. Merrimack needs one more win on the road to become the first NEC team since 2015-16 with double-digit road victories. With a win on Tuesday, Merrimack will become the first NEC team since 2015-16 with 10 road wins.
MOST WINS IN MASSACHUSETTS
Merrimack begins the weekend with 18 victories on the season, the most of the eight Division I basketball schools in Massachusetts. The Warriors have two more wins than Boston University and Harvard, who rank second in the state with 16 wins. The Warriors also have the third most victories in all of New England, trailing only Vermont (21) and Rhode Island (19). Merrimack and Yale share the third spot with 18 wins each.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Merrimack is tied with Illinois State and East Tennessee State with eight different leading scorers on the season. Senior
Jaleel Lord leads Merrimack by leading the team in scoring eight times this season. Merrimack has had a different leading scorer in each of the last four games.
1,000 CAREER POINTS
Lord enters Tuesday with 997 career points, needing three more to become the 45th 1,000-point scorer in program history. Lord has been feeling it of late, hitting at least two 3-pointers in his last nine games, shooting 26-54 (.481) from deep during the run.
Up Next:
The Warriors begin a three-game-in-six-day stretch on Tuesday night when the Warriors visit Bryant University. Tip-off from the Chase Athletic Center in Smithfield, R.I. is set for 7 p.m.
