ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - The top-seeded Merrimack men's basketball team plays ninth-seeded Sacred Heart on Friday at 6 p.m. in Boardwalk Hall.
Sacred Heart (14-18, 9-11 MAAC) defeated Iona 91-80 in the First Round on Thursday night. The Warriors (21-10, 17-3 MAAC) won the conference's regular season championship and swept the Pioneers during the regular season.
THE LATEST
• Merrimack won its fourth conference regular season championship in 7 years playing Division I basketball with an outright MAAC Championship in its second season in the conference. The Warriors defeated every team in the league this season.
• Merrimack cleaned up on MAAC Postseason Awards with freshman Kevair Kennedy becoming the first-ever MAAC men's basketball Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Joe Gallo was named MAAC Coach of the Year and KC Ugwuakazi was named Defensive Player of the Year. Kennedy and Ernest Shelton were both named First-Team All-MAAC. Merrimack women's coach Kelly Morrone also won Coach of the Year, the 8th time in 44 years that a MAAC school has swept the Men's & Women's Basketball Coach of the Year Awards.
 • The Warriors have the best MAAC conference record since joining the league last season, with a 31-9 conference record, 4 games better than Quinnipiac (27-13) and 6 games better than Marist (25-15). The Warriors have entered 34 of the 40 MAAC regular season games they have played, in first place in the standings.
• MAAC Player and Rookie of the Year Kevair Kennedy was named the conference's Player of the Week twice and Rookie of the Week seven times. Kennedy leads the league in scoring at 18.5 ppg and averaged a league-best 20.7 ppg in conference games. Kennedy has scored 20 points or more in 5 of the last 6 games and 10 of the last 13. He has scored in double-figures in all but one collegiate game - including 29 straight. Kennedy leads Merrimack and is 3rd in the conference in assists (4.5 apg) and ranks 2nd in the league in steals (2.2 spg). He is 2nd in the nation in FTs and FT attempts (212-260).
• First-Team All-MAAC selection Ernest Shelton, a high school teammate of Kevair Kennedy at Philadelphia's Father Judge High School, is second on the team and 5th in the MAAC in scoring at 15.9 points per game. Shelton has scored 20 or more points 6 times and in double figures in 28 of the 31 games. He has made a 3-pointer in every game and is 3rd in the MAAC and 45th in the nation in 3FG per game (2.90).
• The Warriors have won 9 of the last 10 and are 19-4 in the last 23 games.Â
• The Warriors are 13-0 when they scores 70 points or more. Merrimack leads the MAAC and is 31st in the nation in turnover margin (+3.00) and is 2nd in the MAAC and 49th in the nation in steals (8.10).Â
• The Warriors continue to #MakeChaos with their zone defense. Merrimack is 31st in the nation in scoring defense (67.5 ppg) and 29th in the nation in 3FG defense (30.5%). The Warriors are 19th in the country in blocks per game (4.9) and have allowed over 66 points in regulation only 6x in the last 23 games.
