2/18/2016 12:00:00 AM

Saint Peter's Men's Basketball Faces Quick Turnaround With Road Game At Quinnipiac On Thursday Night On ESPN3

Box Score

ESPN3 BROADCAST
(Doug Sherman and Rob Kennedy on the call for ESPN3)

SAINT PETER'S (12-13, 10-6 MAAC) AT QUINNIPIAC (8-17, 5-11 MAAC)
Thursday, February 18, 2016, 8 p.m.
TD Bank Arena/Hamden, Conn.

GAME 25: ITEMS OF NOTE
> Thursday's game between Saint Peter's and Quinnipiac marks the eighth meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1955-56 season.
>> The Peacocks lead the series 5-2 after the two teams have split each season series since the Bobcats joined the league in 2013-14 while Saint Peter's will looking to sweep the season series for the first time after taking a 68-52 decision on Feb. 8.
>> Each team won on its home floor in 2013-14 before the road team was victorious in each contest last season. Saint Peter's defeated Quinnipiac in Hamden 66-60 on Jan. 2, 2015 before the Bobcats took a 62-55 decision in Jersey City 19 days later.
>>The Peacocks are 3-2 against the Bobcats under head coach John Dunne, including 1-1 at the TD Bank Arena.
>> Freshman Antwon Portley paced the Peacocks with 25 points while junior Quadir Welton tallied 10 points and a career-high 14 points and junior Chazz Patterson added 11 points in the meeting 10 days ago. Junior Trevis Wyche missed the game with an ankle injury for the only game he has missed in his collegiate career.
>> Sophomore Chaise Daniels led the Bobcats with 12 points while seniors Giovanni McLean (11 points) and Daniel Harris (10 points) also found double figures in the loss.
>> Saint Peter's comes into the contest 12-13 overall and 10-6 in league play after defeating Manhattan 70-69 on Wednesday.
>> Patterson keyed a 13-0 run with eight points plus two assists to have a hand on all five baskets during the decisive run. The junior finished the game with 11 points.
>> Portley paced the team with 15 points against the Jaspers while sophomore Elisha Boone added 13 points Welton and Wyche each had 12 points in winning effort.
>> Portley leads the team with 14.7 points per game.
>> Quinnipiac comes into the matchup 8-17 overall and 5-11 in league play after falling 78-59 to Iona on Monday.
>> Daniels and freshman Abdulai Bundu paced the Bobcats against the Gaels with 12 points apiece while senior James Ford chipped in 10 points.
>> McLean leads the team with 13.7 points per game.
>> Saint Peter's will play two of its last three games at home after Thursday's game at Quinnipiac.
>> Saint Peter's returns home to face Monmouth on Sunday. The Hawks downed the Peacocks 73-57 in West Long Branch on Jan. 30.
>> The Peacocks then head to Manhattan to conclude the season series in a span of six days in Riverdale on Tuesday. The Jersey City edged the Jaspers 70-69 on Feb. 17.
>> Saint Peter's wrap up the regular season at home against Fairfield on Feb. 27. The Peacocks downed the Stags 77-71 on Jan. 19.
>> The MAAC Tournament begins on Mar. 3 in Albany, N.Y. The Peacocks are currently fighting for a Top-5 spot in the tournament and a first round bye.

WHERE WE STAND
>> Saint Peter's is 10-6 with four games to play. The squad is in fourth place and a full game ahead of Fairfield (9-7) and two games ahead of Manhattan (8-8) in the standings in a fight for a Top-5 spots and a first round bye.
>> The Peacocks magic number to clinch a Top-5 spot is down to three.
>> Saint Peter's has clinched its first non-losing season in league play since the 2010-11 season when the squad finished fourth with an 11-7 mark on its way to winning the MAAC Tournament
>> With a win, the Peacocks will clinch a winning league record for the first time since the 2010-11 season and the 15th time in league history and the third time under head coach John Dunne.

PEACOCKS ON BACK-TO-BACK
>> Saint Peter's will be playing back-to-back games in a non-tournament setting for the first time in the MAAC era.
>> The Peacocks are 7-9 when playing in consecutive days under head coach John Dunne.
>> The squad played back-to-back dates twice last season and went 2-2 in those contests after winning the first game of the two-straight games each time.
>> Last season, Saint Peter's defeated Tennessee State 66-58 on Nov. 28 and then was edged 60-58 by Norfolk State in the Barclays Classic Saint Peter's Division. In the MAAC Tournament, the Peacocks downed Rider 68-59 in the quarterfinals on Mar. 7 before falling 65-48 to Manhattan the next day.
>>The squad's did win the 2011 MAAC Tournament after winning three-straight games on three-consecutive days.

WHAT'S TRENDING
>> Saint Peter's have ended two streaks against head coaches this season. With its 70-53 win against Canisius on Jan. 9, the Peacocks notched their first win against Golden Griffins head coach Jim Baron, who had one the first six meetings since becoming head coach of the Buffalo program. Wednesday marked the first win against Manhattan since Steve Masiello took over as head coach in 11 attempts.
>> Freshman Antwon Portley has fueled the team in scoring in three of the last four games and is averaging 19.5 points per game in that stretch to help the Peacocks go undefeated during the four-game homestand. The freshman has registered double figures in 16 of his last 18 games. The freshman maybe the key to success for the team with Portley averaging 18.1 points per game in the Peacocks 12 wins and just 11.5 points per game in the 13 defeats. The freshman has registered 12 of his 20 double-digit point performances in Saint Peter's wins, including five 20+ games.
>> Sophomore Elisha Boone notched his second double-digit scoring performance this season, including hitting the mark twice in the last six games after posting a career-high 15 points against Iona on Feb. 1 and 13 points on Wednesday. Boone also had six rebounds in the tilt against Manhattan and has grabbed at least five boards in a game nine times this season.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche has scored double digits in two-straight tilts after posting 17 points against Canisius on Sunday and 12 points against the Jaspers.Wyche has posted double figures in 12 of his last 16 games and is averaging 13.6 points and 4.9 assists per game in that span. The junior has already bested his season total for points (299) and needs eight assists to surpass the 120 assist total that he dished out in his freshman campaign.
>> Junior Quadir Welton has posted double figures in 11 of his last 12 games after being held to single digits on Sunday. Welton is averaging 12.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in his last 12 contests.
>> Junior Chazz Patterson has posted double figures in points in consecutive games for the second time this season and the first since scoring 10+ in the first three games of the season. The junior has posted 10 points in a game in three of his last four contests. Patterson has registered at least 10 points in a game eight times this season, eight points 13 times and hauled in five rebounds or more 11 times.
>> There has only been three times this season when two of three-headed monster of Portley, Welton, Wyche have not reached double figures. Saint Peter's is 12-11 when two of three reach 10+ in a game and 0-3 when only one or all three are held to single digits.
>> Saint Peter's ended a five-game losing streak with its win against Quinnipiac on Feb. 8 and have posted a season-best four-game winning streak. Last season, the Peacocks lost four-straight in February before going 3-1 in the final four games of the year to earn a spot in the MAAC Semifinals. In 2013-14, the Jersey City team lost five-straight league games before Saint Peter's closed the year by winning seven of the last 10 games.
>> St. Peter's posted a 4-0 homestand for the first time in team history since joining the MAAC. >> The Jersey City team is looking for its first five-game winning streak since the end of the 2013-14 season when the squad won the final four regular season games and the first round of the MAAC Tournament.
>> The Peacocks, who have two of their last four at home, are 12-2 once February starts in the last three seasons at home.

SCORING LEADERS
>> Saint Peter's has had six different players lead the team in scoring this year.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche has led the team in points eight times this season. The junior has 16 double-figure games this season, including three 20-point performances in his career.
>> Freshman Antwon Portley has paced the team in scoring eight times this season. The freshman has eight 20+ games this season and has posted double figures in points in 20 games this year.
>> Junior Quadir Welton has led the team in scoring eight times, including five of the last seven contests. Welton has posted 17 double-figure point games this season, including one 20-point output.
>> Junior Chazz Patterson has led the team in points one time this year. The junior has eight double-digit scoring games this season.
>> Freshman Cameron Jones' only 20-point performance and double-digit game powered the Peacocks in scoring during that tilt.
>> Senior Elias Desport paced the Peacocks in points once and has one 10-point game this season.
>> Sophomore Rodney Hawkins has three double-digit point games and sophomore Elisha Boone has two this season.

ON TH ROAD
>> Freshman Antwon Portley is averaging a team-best 14.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in the squad's 13 road games this season. The freshman has 11 double-figure games and five 20-point performances on the road, including 25 points against Rider on Dec. 2.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche is averaging 13.0 points along with 3.2 rebounds per game away from Jersey City, including posting double figures nine times. Wyche has eclipsed his career-high twice on the road this season, including 26 points at George Washington on Dec.19.
>> Junior Quadir Welton is averaging 11.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game on the road. He has posted double figures in eight games, including each of his last five tilts. Welton registered 17 points against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 28.
>> The Peacocks are averaging 65.8 points per game on the road and are shooting 42.4 percent from the floor while the opponent is averaging 70.2 points per game and shooting 44.6 percent per game.
>> Saint Peter's is 4-9 on the road after falling 69-52 at Siena on Feb. 5.
>> The Peacocks are 4-4 on the road in conference play, but have lost three-straight games away from Jersey City.
>> The Jersey City team will be looking for its second-straight win against Quinnipiac at TD Bank Arena.
>> After the game against Quinnipiac, Saint Peter's will only have the Feb. 23 game against Manhattan on the road before the tournament.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
>> Junior Trevis Wyche leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3), third in field goal percentage (52.2) and fourth in assists (4.7 pg.).
>> Junior Quadir Welton ranks third in rebounds (7.9 pg.), fourth in offensive rebounds (3.1), sixth in defensive rebounds (4.8 pg.), sixth in blocks (1.0) and 10th in field goal percentage (47.5).
>> Junior Chazz Patterson ranks ninth in steals (1.4) and 10th in the defensive rebounds (4.4 pg.).
>> Freshman Antwon Portley is seventh in free throw percentage (82.3), seventh in minutes played (33.8 pg.), ninth in 3-pointers made (2.4) and 14th in scoring (14.7 ppg.).

PORTLEY HONORED THREE TIMES
>> Freshman Antwon Portley was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week for the first weekend of the season and then received the honor again for the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 6. He was also named the Corvias ECAC Rookie of the Week for the Nov. 30-Dec. 6 time frame before nabbing the honor for the third time for the week of Dec. 14-20.
>> Portley averaged 19.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in his first two collegiate games to earn the honor for the first time, including posting a career-high 30 points in a 77-65 win against Brown on Nov. 13. The freshman posted 23 of his 30 points in the second half and powered a decisive 30-9 run in the final frame with 13 points. Portley then scored nine points against Lafayette on Nov. 15, including posting two baskets in the closing minutes of regulation to force overtime.
>> The freshman then averaged 18.0 points per game to lead Saint Peter's to its first 2-0 league start since 2010-11. Portley scored 25 points in a 73-61 win at Rider on Dec. 2 and then added 11 points against Siena on Dec. 6.
>> Portley scored 21 points against No. 21 George Washington on Dec. 19 to earn the honor for the third time this season.
>> Portley is the first player under head coach John Dunne to earn the honor three times. Wesley Jenkins won the award twice during the 2006-07 season.

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A CAREER DAY
>> Junior Quadir Welton has reset his career high four times this season, including 24 points against Niagara on Feb. 12. Welton also hauled in a career-best 14 rebounds against Quinnipiac on Feb. 8.
>> Sophomore Elisha Boone posted a career-best 15 points against Iona on Feb. 1.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche posted a career-high 26 points against No. 21 George Washington on Dec. 19.
>> Junior Chazz Patterson scored a career-high 17 points against the Saints on Dec. 6. The junior registered 16 points twice this season before his 17 points against Siena.
>> Freshman Cameron Jones notched a career-high 21 points off the bench against Princeton on Nov. 21.
>> Freshman Antwon Portley recorded a career-high 30 points in his collegiate debut against Brown on Nov. 13. He is the first freshman to score 30 points in a game under head coach John Dunne and is just the second player to post 30 points in his Saint Peter's debut after Marvin Dominique tallied 31 points against LIU Brooklyn in the 2013-14 season opener.

MILESTONE WATCH
>> Junior Quadir Welton ranks sixth in program history in blocked shots with 94 rejections. Welton moved into sixth place with one block against Niagara on Feb. 12. He can move into third place with three rejections.
>> Welton became the 17th player in program history to haul in 500 rebounds with eight boards against Siena on Feb. 5. The junior, who now has 533 rebounds to rank 13th in team history after hauling in 11 boards against Niagara on Feb. 12, can move into 12th place with nine boards.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche became the ninth player in program history to dish out 300 assists after handing out nine dimes against Marist on Jan. 17. Wyche, who has 347 assists, moved into sixth place after dishing out four helpers against Fairfield on Jan. 19, can move into fifth place with 30 assists.
>> Wyche notched his third-straight season with 100 helpers with two assists against Siena on Feb. 5. He is the first Peacocks player to record consecutive 100 assist seasons since Keydren Clark did it all four years of his career. Wyche had 120 assists as a freshman and 114 last year.

ASSISTING WYCHE
>> Junior Trevis Wyche has fueled the team in assists in 66 of the 90 games in his career.
>> Wyche became the first player since Keydren Clark against Marist on Jan. 25, 2006 to hand out 10 assists in a game when he had 10 dimes against Boston University on Dec. 6. It was also the first time a player reached the feat on the road since Clark did it in 2004.
>> The junior has dished out at least five assists in a game 34 times in his three seasons and seven or more 14 times, including five times in 2015-16. Wyche has posted three games with eight assists and one nine-assist game this season.
>> He also fueled the team in steals 36 times and notched a personal-best four thefts against Siena on Jan. 25, 2015.
>> Wyche recorded double figures in points 31 times in his career, including three 20-point performances.
>> The junior notched a career-high 26 points against George Washington on Dec. 19.

WELTON THE ROAD WARRIOR
>> Junior Quadir Welton has posted 32 games with at least 10 points and 13 games with at least 10 rebounds.
>> Welton, who has posted double figures in 17 of the first 23 games this season, scored double digits 11 times as a sophomore.
>> The junior set a new career-best with 24 points against Niagara on Feb. 12.
>> He has reached double figures 20 times on the road and 12 times at home.
>> Welton has scored double figures in 10-straight games after posting four-consecutive games with double digits earlier this season.
>> He has recorded 10+ points in consecutive games five times in his career.
>> Welton has also posted nine double-doubles in his career, including seven in 2015-16.
>> After posting 13 rebounds three times in his career, Welton established a new career in boards with 14 caroms against Quinnipiac on Feb. 8.

STARTING PATTERSON
>> Junior Chazz Patterson has started 32 games in his career over the last two years and has registered nine of his nine double-digit performances in those games.
>> This season, Patterson has registered double digits in points eight times, including two 16-point games, a career-high 17 points against Siena on Dec. 6 and 14 points against Niagara on Jan. 7.
>> Patterson posted double figures three times as a sophomore and only his 10-point game against Canisius on Feb. 15 came when he started the tilt on the bench.
>> This season he has posted at least eight points in a game 11 times and at least five rebounds 10 times this season.

HALL OF FAME
>> The Saint Peter's Hall of Fame was held on Feb. 6 at the Mac Mahon Student Center on campus.
>> Among the inductees for this year's class was the 1967-68 Peacocks men's basketball team that advanced to the National Invitational Tournament semifinals.
>> The team nicknamed "Run, Baby Run" after the offense that legendary head coach Don Kennedy ran. Saint Peter's defeated Marshall 102-93 in double overtime and then downed top-ranked Duke 100-71 to reach the semifinals.
>> The squad then lost to Kansas 58-46 and Notre Dame 81-78 (in the consolation) to finish fourth.
>> The team is considered by many the greatest team in Saint Peter's history.

HELLO MY NAME IS
>> Head coach John Dunne added 10 players to the roster in 2015-16.
>> Senior Cavon Baker (Houston) and juniors Nnamdi Enechionyia (Samford) and Nick Griffin (George Washington) each transferred to Saint Peter's and will have to sit out the season due to NCAA Division I transfer regulations.
>> Freshman Samuel Idowu, Cameron Jones, Mamadou Ndiaye and Antwon Portley each signed NLI's to join the team in 2015-16 and each made their collegiate debut against Brown on Nov. 13.
>> Portley posted the best collegiate debut among the bunch with 30 points and scored the first basket of the season for the team. Jones also registered his first collegiate points against the Bears while Ndiaye had his first points against Lafayette on Nov. 15. Idowu registered his first career points against Seton Hall on Dec. 13.
>> Junior Chris Williams, sophomore J.R. William and freshman Jaquan Robertson also joined the team this season and each made their collegiate debut in the tilt against Rider on Dec. 2.

GARDEN STATE OF MIND
>> Saint Peter's will play five of the seven teams in the Garden State in 2015-16.
>> The Peacocks traveled to Princeton (L, 72-75), Fairleigh Dickinson (L, 62-77) and Seton Hall (L, 46-72) in non-conference play.
>> Saint Peter's will also continue its hOURglass Rivalry with Rider (W, 73-61, L, 45-76) and Monmouth (L, 57-73, Feb. 21).
>> The Jersey City team went 5-4 in the games last season against teams from New Jersey.
>> NJIT and Rutgers are the only two teams not on the squad's regular season slate this season. The Peacocks battled the Highlanders in preseason while the Scarlet Knights did not return to the schedule in 2015-16. Saint Peter's has won its last two matchups against its Big Ten counterpart. >> The Peacocks have never played all seven New Jersey teams in the same season.

PRESEASON POLL
>> Two-time defending MAAC regular season champion Iona was tabbed as the preseason favorite after receiving 10 of the 11 first place votes. Monmouth was picked second while the two-time defending MAAC Tournament champion Manhattan grabbed the final first place vote to finish tied for third in the poll with Rider while Siena, Canisius, Quinnipiac, Fairfield, Saint Peter's, Marist and Niagara round out the 11-team poll.

THE 20-POINT CLUB
>> Despite coming into the season with no players that had a 20-point game, freshman Antwon Portley became the first player on the roster to register a 20-point contest with 30 points against Brown in the season opener on Nov. 13. Portley now has eight 20-point games this season.
>> Fellow freshman Cameron Jones became the second player this season to reach 20 points when he posted a career-best 21 points against Princeton on Nov. 21.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche became the first upperclassmen to reach 20-points when he posted a career-high 26 points against No. 21 George Washington on Dec. 19. The junior has three 20-point outputs this season.
>> Junior Quadir Welton became the latest player to reach 20 points when he posted a career-high 24 points against Niagara on Feb. 12.
>> The Peacocks have had a player reach 20 points 10 times this season, including three games when two players have notched the total.
>> Saint Peter's is 50-42 when a player has a 20-point performance under head coach John Dunne.
>> A player has scored at least 30 points in a game six times under Dunne.

BOARDS UP
>> Junior Quadir Welton and sophomore Elisha Boone are the only two players on the team to reached double-figures in rebounds in their career.
>> Welton has done it 13 times, including 10 times this season. He has a career-best 13 boards three times in his career, including against Lafayette (Nov. 15) and Iona (Jan. 22) this season. >> Boone reached double-digits in rebounds for the first time in his career with 11 caroms against Princeton on Nov. 21 and then had 10 boards against Cornell on Dec. 28.

DOUBLE VISION
>> Junior Quadir Welton is the only player on the roster that have posted double-doubles in his career.
>> Welton has nine double-double in career after posting the trick once in each of his first two seasons and five in 2015-16. .
>> The junior notched his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds against Lafayette on Nov. 15 and then had 12 points and 11 rebounds in his next game against Hartford on Nov. 19 to post consecutive double-doubles for the first time in his career. Welton then had 13 points and 10 rebounds against Fairfield for his first double-double in 14 games on Jan. 19, posted 12 points and 13 rebounds against Iona on Jan. 22, 16 points and 11 boards against Monmouth on Jan. 30, 10 points against a a career-high 14 rebounds against Quinnipiac on Feb. 8 and 24 points and 11 caroms against Niagara on Feb. 12.

IN THE PROS
>> Former Saint Peter's standout Marvin Dominique is playing professionally in Spain with Viten Getafe.
>> Dominique posted 986 points and 521 rebounds in his two seasons in Jersey City. He was named to the All-MAAC third team in 2013-14 and to the All-MAAC second team in 2014-15.

AGAINST THE BIG DOGS
>> Head coach John Dunne has wins against Alabama, Rutgers and Seton Hall in four of the last five seasons.
>> The Peacocks defeated Alabama 50-49 on Nov. 22, 2010 during the USVI Paradise Jam. The squad then opened the 2012-13 season with a 56-52 win against Rutgers on Nov. 9, 2012, won a thriller 83-80 in overtime against Seton Hall on Dec. 14, 2013 and then posted a 68-50 win against Rutgers on Nov. 25, 2014.
>> The squad has beat Rutgers in back-to-back games for the first time in team history and improved to 3-3 under Dunne against the Scarlet Knights.
>> Saint Peter's is 5-12 under Dunne against big name programs and 4-2 against those opponents in games decided by under 10 points.
>> Seton Hall is the only "Big Name" program on the schedule this year.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
>> Junior Quadir Welton has a relative that has played in the professional ranks.
>> Welton's uncle is former NBA star Rasheed Wallace. Wallace played 16 seasons in the NBA for Washington (1995-96), Portland (1996-04), Atlanta (2004), Detroit (2004-09), Boston (2009-10) and New York Knicks (2012-13). Wallace, a four-time All-Star won an NBA title with Detroit in 2004.

QUICK HITS ON DUNNE
>> Head coach John Dunne is in his 10th season at Saint Peter's.
>> He led the team to the 2011 MAAC Tournament title and berth in the NCAA Tournament.
>> Dunne has coached seven 1,000-point scorers, three All-MAAC second-team selections, four All-MAAC third-team honorees, two MAAC All-Rookie selections, a MAAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, three MAAC All-Tournament selections and an All-MAAC Academic honoree.

ABOUT THE COACHING STAFF
>> Assistant Coaches Matt Henry and Serge Clement each return to the bench for head coach John Dunne.
>> Henry and Clement both return for their third season season in Jersey City.
>> Alex Stone joins the staff in 2015-16 as and assistant coach while Chris Mongilia and JK Schneiderman both join the staff as co-directors of basketball operations.