Games 20/21
Saint Peter's (11-8, 8-6 MAAC) vs. Rider (4-13, 4-10 MAAC)
Date: Friday-Saturday, Feb. 26-27
Time: Fri- 4 p.m., Sat- 8 p.m.
Location: John Moore Athletics Center, Jersey City, NJ
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GAME NOTES
Opening Tip
- For the fourth consecutive series and final time during the 2020-21 campaign, the Saint Peter's men's basketball team will be tipping in Jersey City, this time facing hOURglass Rival Rider University on Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27.
- The sides will meet at NJCU in the John Moore Athletics Center at 4pm on Friday and 8pm on Saturday.
- Following last weekend's results, Saint Peter's sits in third place in the MAAC standings with an 8-6 mark and 11-8 overall record as a result of a series split against Marist.
- The Peacocks took the series opener by way of a 59-55 win on Friday, but the Red Foxes weathered the storm in game two, edging SPU 51-50 for the split.
- KC Ndefo stuffed the stat sheet and led the team in scoring in both games during the series averaging 17.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, 2.0 assists, and 1.0 steal per game.
- Daryl Banks III also scored in double-digits during both games and he currently leads the team with five straight contests in double-figures.
- The Rider Broncs enter the weekend with a 4-10 MAAC record and 4-13 overall tally.
- Rider was most recently swept by Quinnipiac last weekend and has dropped its last three.
Things to Know Before the Series
Series History
- The Peacocks and Broncs will go head-to-head in the 70th and 71st all-time meetings this weekend.
- Saint Peter's trails its hOURglass Rival Rider 31-38 all-time dating back to the 1942-43 season, and 21-34 since 1998-99 when the Broncs joined the conference.
- Last season, the New Jersey foes split their series, each snagging home victories.
- On Jan. 24, Rider knocked off SPU 70-66 in Lawrenceville; then in a pivotal rematch late in the 2019-20 season, SPU manhandled Rider with a 73-54 win in Jersey City on Feb. 23.
- Over the past 15 meetings, the Peacocks are 6-9 to the Broncs.
- In Jersey City against Rider, SPU is 3-7 dating back to 2010-11.
Down the Homestretch
- Since every MAAC team will not fulfill the required 20-game league schedule this year, conference seeding will be determined by total MAAC wins.
- With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Saint Peter's sits in third place with eight wins.
- First place Monmouth (10-6) sits idle this weekend, while second place Siena (9-3) has a home series with Manhattan.
- The Peacocks can tie Monmouth in the standings with a weekend sweep and if Siena is swept by Manhattan, SPU will jump into first place.
- If Saint Peter's sweeps this weekend but Siena were to win at least one game against Manhattan, the Peacocks would move into second place with one weekend left.
Inching Closer to the Records
- Heading into the weekend series, the nation's top shot blocker in KC Ndefo sits at 72 total blocks this season and 195 for his career.
- Ndefo's 72 rejections are the second most in a single-season at Saint Peter's.
- He needs just one more block to tie the program's single-season record of 73, done by Ryan Bacon in 2008-09.
- Moreover, for career blocked shots, Ndefo is three swats away from tying Sowell for second place all-time, five away from becoming only the second Peacock to hit 200 blocks, and 14 rejections off of the all-time record.
Next Up
- After another round of schedule adjustments due to COVID related issues throughout the league, Saint Peter's series against Iona has been canceled and the team will now head to Hamden, CT for the regular season series finale against Quinnipiac on Thursday (Mar. 4) and Friday (Mar. 5).
- The 2020-21 schedule, however, remains fluid and is subject to change.
