NORTH ANDOVER, MA - The Merrimack men's basketball team hosts Saint Peter's in a showdown for first place in the MAAC Saturday at 3 p.m.
Saint Peter's took over first-place in the standings after Merrimack's one-point loss at Iona on Thursday night. The Peacocks are 8-1, while Merrimack is 8-2.
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• For the first time this season, Merrimack enters a game not in first place in the MAAC standings, sitting a half-game behind Saint Peter's. The winner of the match-up with the Peacocks will be in sole possession of first place. This is only the seventh time in 31 MAAC regular season games, that Merrimack has not been in first place.
• Merrimack is off to a 8-2 start to MAAC play and is 22-8 in MAAC regular season play since joining the league last season, when it reached the MAAC semifinals.
• Kevair Kennedy matched a career high with 23 points, making 10-of-20 FGs and grabbing eight rebounds, but the Warriors lost on a last-second 3 at Iona on Thursday.,
• Kevair Kennedy has put himself in postion to sweep the MAAC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors. Kennedy, a 4x MAAC Rookie of the Week, is averaging 17.0 points per game, which is second in the MAAC. His 19.8 ppg average in conference games is 2 points better than any other player. Kennedy's has only taken 18 3-pointers this season, making 7. He has made 107 2-point field goals on 221 attempts from inside the arc (46%). He is has scored in double-figures in 20 of his 21 collegiate games - including 19 straight. He leads Merrimack and is 7th in the conference in assists (3.9 apg) and ranks 9th in the league in steals (1.5 spg). He has scorrd 20 or more points in 3-straight games and 5 of the last 7.
• Ernest Shelton, a high school teammate of Kevair Kennedy at Philadelphia's Father Judge High School, is second on the team and fourth in the MAAC in scoring at 15.7 points per game. Shelton, a Division II transfer from Gannon University in Erie, PA, is 2nd on the team in scoring and is 4th in the MAAC (15.9 ppg). He has scored 20 or more points 4 times, and in double figures in 18 of the 21 games. He has made a 3-pointer in every game and multiple 3-pointers in 18 of the 19 games.
• The Warriors have won 6 of the last 8 and 10 of the last 13 games. Merrimack is 6-0 at home this season and 8-1 when playing within New England.
• The Warriors #MakeChaos zone defense has continued to cause problems for opponents. Merrimack has allowed over 66 points only 3x in the last 13 games and held teams to 61 points or less 3x in the last 5 games. In the last two games Merrimack has held Marist 17.5 points below its season average and Iona 13.4 points below its average.
Merrimack is holding opponents to 64.3 points per game in the last 13 games.
• Tye Dorset is averaging 12.3 points per game in conference play, which ranks 20th in the league. He has scored in double-figures in 11 of the last 14 games.
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