HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson returns home to face the Monmouth Hawks on Wednesday night after a seven-day hiatus since facing Howard on November 28. Tip is scheduled ofr 7 p.m. inside the Rothman Center.
QUICK HITTERS
Fairleigh Dickinson plays three games over the next five days -- most condensed part of the schedule for the Knights this season.
Fairleigh Dickinson had not made 10 3-pointers in a game in over three seasons prior to hitting 10 against Longwood and 11 at Howard in its last two games.
FDU leads the NEC in; assist:turnover ratio, field goal percentage, FG% defense, scoring defense, scoring margin, 3-point FG defense, rebounding defense, and rebounding margin.
Fairleigh Dickinson has been atop the NEC Standings every day so far this season.
The Knights won five games in the month of November, most in the last two seasons in a single month.
SERIES SCORE
Wednesday marks the 76th meeting between FDU and Monmouth. Monmouth is 51-24 over the previous 75 encounters. The two sides are meeting for the fourth straight season. Fairleigh Dickinson is 14-17 all-time on its home floor against Monmouth.
LAST TIME OUT
Fairleigh Dickinson tired to erase a 25-point third-quarter deficit at Howard on last Tuesday but came up three points short in a 68-65 loss to the Bison. Fairleigh Dickinson hit five of its 11 3-pointers in the fourth to get back into the game. Howard helped by hitting just 7-of-16 from the free throw line in the final 10 minutes. Madelynn Comly led FDU with 16 points, grabbed six rebounds and had three assists--despite committing six turnovers. Natalie Zamora and Amina Markovic added 11 points. Lauren Francillon chipped in nine points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Howard scored 23 points off 23 FDU turnovers.
ABOUT MONMOUTH
The Hawks sit at 2-6 on the season and are coming off a 56-38 loss at Robert Morris on Sunday. Monmouth's two wins this season have come against North Florida (67-57) and Sacred Heart (69-64). Kayla Shaw is the top option on offense for the Hawks at 16 points per game on 49-percent shooting from the field and 41-percent from 3-point range. Rhaiah Spooner-Knight also averages in double figures at 10.5 a game. Both Alexa Middleton and Erica Balman average over 6.0 rebounds per game. Middleton leads the team at 6.4. The leading passer on Monmouth is Alaina Jarnot at 3.3 assists per game.
CLOSING IN 400
Head coach Peter Cinella is one win away from reaching the 400-win plateau. There are 49 active coaches in DI college basketball with 400 or wins.
TOP 30
FDU is 27th in America in 3-point field goal defense at 25-percent.
Top 35
The Knights are 33rd in scoring defense. FDU is allowing 56.1 points per game this season.
TOP 50
FDU is 48th in 3-point field goal percentage at 37.7-percent from deep.
Top 100
FDU is also inside the 100 nationally in blocks per game (87th, 4.3), field goal percentage defense (76th, 36.7%), and scoring margin (88th, 9.1).
FOR THREE!
The Knights set a program record for three-pointers made (169) and attempted (634) in a single season in 2016-17. The previous record for makes was 161 back in the 2003-04 season.
FDU is on pace to break the record again this season it makes. the knights are making 6.6 per game compared to 5.6 last year. FDU is hitting 37.7-percent of its threes this season, which would be a new school record by over 2-percent.
