HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team looks to return to its winning ways when Central Connecticut State comes to town on Thursday evening.

The Knights (10-13, 8-4 NEC) have dropped three straight games but still sit tied in second place with Saint Francis U (11-12, 8-4 NEC). Both teams trail first-place Mount St. Mary's (12-13, 10-2) by two games with six to play in the NEC regular season.
 
Thursday night's game against CCSU (5-18, 3-9 NEC) will air on ESPN3. This is the second meeting between the squads this season as the Knights came away with a 59-47 victory up in New Britain, Conn. back on January 14.
 
Notes:
FDU – CCSU

Additional Content:
NEC Weekly Release 
FDU Men's Basketball Report 2/8

Game Information:
Fairleigh Dickinson University (10-13, 8-4 NEC) vs. Central Connecticut St. (5-18, 3-9 NEC)
Where: Stratis Arena inside the Rothman Center – Hackensack, N.J.
When: Thursday, February 9 – 5:04 p.m.
Series History: Tonight is the 41st meeting on the hardwood between the Knights and Blue Devils. FDU leads the all-time series 23-17.
First Meeting:  Dec. 14, 1988 (FDU W, 75-74)
Last Meeting: Jan. 14, 2017 at CCSU– (FDU W, 59-47) The Knights overcame a slow start to breeze past the Blue Devils at Detrick Gymnasium. The Knights held the Blue Devils to just 19 points in the second half. Darnell Edge and Stephan Jiggetts were the lone Knights to score in double figures with 12 points each as the team extended its win streak to five over CCSU. Edge also corralled a then, career-high seven rebounds, which matched teammate Mike Holloway for the game-high.

Tickets: FDUKnightsTickets.com
Watch: ESPN3 -  John Schmeelk and Tim Capstraw (Color Analyst)
Stats: Live Stats

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Central Connecticut State Blue Devils:
The Blue Devils are coming off their best win of the season as the team rallied from a 15-point second half deficit on the road by reeling off 11 straight points in the final four minutes to upset first-place Mount St. Mary's. Sophomore guard Austin Nehls hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:17 on the clock, and CCSU survived two layup attempts in the waning seconds and a halfcourt heave by the Mount's Chris Wray that was off the mark.
 
After a 13-game losing streak earlier this season, the Blue Devils have played much better of late, with three wins in their last five outings. In addition to the victory at Mount, the Blue Devils have notched wins on the road at second-place Saint Francis U and fourth-place LIU Brooklyn.
 
Head Coach: Donyell Marshall (UConn '94)
Record at Wagner: 5-18 (.277) – (First Season)

Team Leaders:
Points: Austin Nehls 14.1 ppg
Rebounds: Tidell Pierre 7.2 rpg
Assists: Eric Bowles 3.3 apg

Last Time Out for the Knights:
The Knights fell to Wagner College 68-59 at Stratis Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
It was the third straight loss for the Knights, while the Seahawks have now won three in a row.
 
Stephan Jiggetts led the Knights with 13 points, seven rebounds, and two assists, while Earl Potts Jr. narrowly missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
 
The Knights only made 19 baskets in the loss, which is their second lowest output of the season. Their 19 field goals came on 60 attempts (31.7%) and they knocked down 5-of-18 (27.8%) from behind the arc. The 31.7 percent performance matched their season-low, which came back on December 17 against Cincinnati.
 
Despite the struggles from the field, the team converted 16-of-18 (88.9%) from the free throw line.
 
Wagner, who entered the game ranked ninth in the country in rebounding margin at +8.5, saw the Knights match them on the glass, 37-37.
 
Both teams struggled to make shots in the first half as the game went into the break knotted at 23-23. The teams combined to shoot 2-for-15 from behind the arc as Wagner went 1-of-7 and FDU hit 1-of-8 from 3-point land. FDU connected on just 9-of-28 (32.1%) and Wagner made 9-of-23 (39.1%) in the half. The Seahawks knocked down 3-of-5 from downtown in the second stanza.
 
Herenda's Take: 
"Give credit to Wagner. They were just very consistent the entire game and simply, we were not.
 
"We are just missing shots that we normally make. It is frustrating, but every team in America goes through it. We just need to keep fighting and we will be fine."
 
"We lost three straight last year -- and quite honestly -- that catapulted us to win a championship. We need to regroup, get some rest, and bounce back. I am very confident that we will do just that."


News and Notes: 
 
Grind Out the Win: The last time these two teams met, the 47 points is the second lowest permitted by FDU this season. The Knights followed that performance by holding St. Francis BK to just 40 points in their next outing.
 
Backcourt Scoring: The Knights' starting backcourt of Darian Anderson and Stephan Jiggetts has led the team in scoring in 20 of the team's 23 games this season. The duo has started every game for FDU this season and leads the team in scoring. Additionally, Anderson has nine 20-point games on his ledger, while Jiggetts has five.
 
Darting Darian: Anderson wreaked havoc on opposing ballhandlers with 60 steals last season. The 60 thefts rank 5th all-time in Knights' single-season history. He now has 154  career steals, which is 3rd most in FDU history. Anderson has come up with at least one steal in the last 14 games and has a theft in 20 of the team's 23 games this season. His 1.87 steals per game is also tops in the NEC.
 
Stealing Wins: The Knights are 7-1 when they nab eight or more steals this season. 
 
Another Key Number: The Knights are also 7-1 when they hold their opponent to under 35 rebounds in the game. 
 
Mike's Makes: Sophomore forward Holloway has made 60.7 percent of his shots in conference play this season. Holloway is an impressive 51-for-84 in conference games, which is 3rd best in the NEC.
 
Steph's Starring: After tallying a triple-double in the Knights' win over Lipscomb earlier this season, Jiggetts broke out with another career-day at St. Francis on 1/26. The junior point guard poured in a career-best 28 points and nailed all 10 of his free throws. He also scored the Knights' final nine points to help complete the season-sweep of the Terriers.
 
Charitable Donations: All season long the Knights have thrived at the free throw line. The team has posted a 76.2 percent clip overall, including a 79.5 percent effort in NEC play. Both figures are tops in the conference while the 76.2 percent overall number is 23^rd best in the nation. Darnell Edge's 90.5 percent effort leads the team as the sophomore guard has only missed four times (48-of-52) at the charity stripe this season.
 
Be My Guest: Tune in every Sunday to "The Greg Herenda Show" on WFDU and iHeartRadio. All broadcasts can be found at fduknights.com/herendashow. This week's guest is actor Steve Schirripa.
 
Next up:
The Knights return to the road this Saturday, February 11 when they visit LIU Brooklyn at 4:30 p.m.