| Matchup |
Merrimack (19-11, 13-4 NEC) vs. Central Connecticut (4-25, 3-13 NEC) |
| Date/Time |
Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 // 7 p.m. |
| Venue |
North Andover, Mass. // Hammel Court (Tickets) |
| Multimedia |
NEC Front Row | Live Stats |
| Social |
Twitter // Instagram |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team has its eyes set on a NEC Regular Season Championship when the Warriors host Central Connecticut State University at Hammel Court on Thursday night at 7 p.m. With a win, Merrimack will secure a share of the NEC's top spot; the Warriors will win the outright regular season crown with a win and a loss by Saint Francis University in either of its final two games.
Thursday will also be Senior Night as Merrimack will honors its winningest class in school history - seniors
Juvaris Hayes, Idris Joyner and
Jaleel Lord. The trio boasts 80 victories as a class, and a resume that includes three NCAA Division II Tournament berths, a 2019 Northeast-10 Conference Championship – the first for the program in 19 years – and a potential NEC Regular Season title with a win tomorrow night.
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
- A general admission ticket for Thursday's game costs $7
- All faculty/staff, military, senior and youth tickets cost $5
- Seating at Hammel Court is all general admission
- Tickets can be purchased in person or online here
- Game day promotion: SENIOR NIGHT - Join us as we honor the careers of seniors Juvaris Hayes, Idris Joyner and Jaleel Lord before Thursday night's tip-off against Central Connecticut State University!
SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS
Thursday will be the penultimate game of the year for Central Connecticut as the Blue Devils play Merrimack Thursday and St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon at home. CCSU has been eliminated from NEC Tournament contention. The Blue Devils had its modest two-game winning streak snapped in their most recent game at Wagner. Prior to that, Central had beaten Bryant (75-70) and Fairleigh Dickinson (76-75) at home.
HISTORY AGAINST CCSU
The Warriors and Blue Devils will play for the 19th time on Thursday, and for the second time as Division I adversaries. CCSU owns a 13-5 lead in the all-time series, which resumed for the first time in 35 years in January in New Britain. Merrimack topped CCSU, 58-46, in one of two games this season that the Warriors have held a Division I foe under 50 points.
Matchup Comparison:
| Category |
Merrimack (19-11, 13-4 NEC) |
CCSU (4-25, 3-13 NEC) |
| Scoring Offense |
62.6 |
62.8 |
| Scoring Defense |
60.3 |
77.3 |
| Field-Goal % |
41.9% |
39.9% |
| Field-Goal % Defense |
42.5% |
46.2% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % |
34.0% |
36.0% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % Defense |
30.4% |
37.0% |
| 3-PT Field Goals (Made-Attempts) |
238-700 |
192-533 |
| Free-Throw Percentage |
68.6% |
66.2% |
| Winning Percentage |
.633 |
.138 |
| Rebounding Margin |
-7.8 |
-8.7 |
| Assists/Game |
12.9 |
10.3 |
| Steals/Game |
10.0 |
6.6 |
| Turnovers/Game |
12.1 |
14.0 |
| Blocks/Game |
2.9 |
3.3 |
| Total Fouls |
511 |
537 |
MOST WINS EVER!
Via its win on Thursday, Feb. 13 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. Eighteen of the Warriors' 19 wins are against DI competition; last year, Cal Baptist only had 12 triumphs over DI foes. Merrimack now focuses on becoming the second first-year Division I program to win a regular season conference championship, joining Birmingham Southern 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 SETS THE STEALS RECORD
Senior point guard
Juvaris Hayes set a new NCAA all-time steals record on Sunday at Mount St. Mary's, finishing the game with 452 career thefts. He bested a record previously held by Tennyson Whitted of Ramapo College (DII), who finished his career with 448. Hayes leads all of DI with 116 steals (3.9/game) this season.
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 941 career helpers. He moved into the NEC lead recently, and now has a conference-leading 193 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 (116), the Warriors' defense has dominated during NEC play. The Warriors led the conference in turnover margin (+5.3) 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 60.3 points per game including 58.6 in league games. Nationally, Merrimack ranks first in steal rate, fourth in steals per game and turnover rate.
THE RETURN OF THE ROAD WARRIORS
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 third in the nation in road wins.
MOST WINS IN MASSACHUSETTS
Merrimack begins the week with 19 victories on the season, the most of the eight Division I basketball schools in Massachusetts. The Warriors have one more win than Harvard, who sits in second with 18 triumphs. The Warriors also are tied for the third most victories in all of New England, trailing only Vermont (22) and Yale (20). Merrimack and Rhode Island share the third spot at 19 wins
THE THREE BALL IS FALLING
Junior
Devin Jensen is enjoying a career season, ranking second in the NEC with a 42.8 3-point shooting percentage. Jensen and teammate
Jaleel Lord are also two of seven players in the NEC averaging 2.0 or more 3-pointers made per game in 2019-20.
THE 20-WIN PLATEAU
Merrimack also has a chance at its third straight 20-win season with a win against Central Connecticut, a feat that has never been accomplished in school history. The Warriors have 11 seasons of at least 20 victories in school history, but never in three consecutive campaigns. The Merrimack record for wins in a year is 22, which has been accomplished four different times.
Up Next:
Stay tuned as more is expected from the Warriors this season. Merrimack is expected to continue play in the postseason in March, with more details to come on what college basketball postseason tournament that Merrimack will play in.
