Games 18/19
Saint Peter's (10-7, 7-5 MAAC) vs. Marist (9-7, 7-7 MAAC)
Date: Friday-Saturday, Feb. 19-20
Time: 8 p.m.
Location: John Moore Athletics Center, Jersey City, NJ
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GAME NOTES
Opening Tip
- For the third consecutive series, Saint Peter's men's basketball will be hosting a MAAC foe in Jersey City, this time welcoming Marist College on Friday, Feb. 19 and Saturday, Feb. 20.
- Both meetings will tip at 8pm at NJCU in the John Moore Athletics Center.
- Saint Peter's currently holds a 7-5 MAAC mark and 10-7 overall record, good for third place in the MAAC standings after splitting last weekend's series with Fairfield.
- After winning the first six straight home games of the season, the Peacocks fell to the Stags 55-50 on Saturday, before toppling them 66-49 on Sunday to earn the split.
- KC Ndefo had the best overall week for SPU, scoring a career-high 20 points in Sunday's win, while also averaging 6.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game during the week.
- Both Matthew Lee and Daryl Banks III posted double-digit points in both games, being the only Peacocks to do so over the weekend.
- The Marist Red Foxes bring a 7-7 MAAC record (9-7 overall) to Jersey City.
- Marist has split its last three consecutive MAAC series, last going 1-1 with Siena on Jan. 30-31, before going on pause due to a positive COVID test within the program.
Things to Know Before the Series
Series History
- Since first squaring off in 1980, Saint Peter's and Marist will be meeting for the 58th and 59th times in the series history this weekend.
- The Peacocks lead the Red Foxes 33-24 overall, and 31-23 as MAAC institutions.
- 2019-20 produced a split between the sides, with each winning on its respective home floor.
- SPU won the first battle in Jersey City, 66-40 on Jan. 5, while Marist avenged the loss with a 72-61 win in Poughkeepsie on Feb. 7.
- Saint Peter's has dominated the series over the past 15 meetings, winning 11 of the clashes.
- In Jersey City, the Peacocks are even more superior, going 9-1 against the Red Foxes at home during the last decade.
- Saint Peter's only defeat of the 2010s at home to Marist came in 2012.
Inching Closer to the Records
- Heading into the weekend series, the nation's top shot blocker in KC Ndefo sits at 67 total blocks this season and 190 for his career.
- Ndefo's 67 rejections are tied for second place on the single-season charts, matching his total from a season ago and Todd Sowell's mark from 2007-08.
- He needs just six more blocks to tie the program's single-season record of 73, done by Ryan Bacon in 2008-09.
- Moreover, for career blocked shots, Ndefo is eight swats away from tying Sowell for second place all-time, 10 away from becoming only the second Peacock to hit 200 blocks, and 19 rejections off of the all-time record.
Tarojae Brake's 1k
- With his first made basket against Fairfield (Feb. 13), graduate guard Tarojae Brake eclipsed 1,000 career points.
- Prior to joining Saint Peter's this season, Brake played two seasons at Lock Haven (2016-18) where he scored 510 points, and one season at Kutztown (2019-20) where he tallied 432 points.
- Brake is the first Peacock to surpass 1,000 career points since 2017.
Next Up
- After three straight home series, Saint Peter's will head to Hamden, CT for a single contest against Quinnipiac on Wednesday, Feb. 24.
- The 2020-21 schedule, however, remains fluid and is subject to change.
