COMPLETE NOTES / CCSU NOTES
LIVE STATS / LIVE FEED

Staten Island, NY - Wagner (10-10; 6-3 NEC) returns to action today at 3:30 pm when the Seahawks complete a two-game road trip at CCSU (13-7; 6-3 NEC). The winner of the game will claim sole possession of second place in the ultra-competitive Northeast Conference. The game also features the two highest-scoring duos in the league as the Blue Devils' Ken Horton (18.3 ppg, 1st NEC) and Robby Ptacek (15.2 ppg, 8th NEC) are averaging a league-best 33.5 ppg while accounting for 48.3 percent of the Blue Devils' offense. The Green & White counters with Tyler Murray (17.1 ppg, 4th NEC) and Latif Rivers (14.3 ppg, 10th NEC), as the duo is second with 31.4 ppg while accounting for 46.4 percent of Wagner's offensive output.

TIP-OFF TIME
The Wagner Seahawks (10-10; 6-3 NEC) return to action today at 3:30 pm at CCSU (13-7; 6-3) and will be looking for their second-straight win.

WITH A WIN ...
Wagner would assume control of second place in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while picking up the all-important tiebreaker from CCSU as the teams will meet just once this season.

SCOUTING CCSU
CCSU is a stout defensive team that leads the league in scoring defense (64.1 ppg) while ranking second in field goal percentage defense (.416) and three point percentage defense (.311). Offensively the Blue Devils rank third in scoring offense (69.3 ppg), second in field goal percentage (.444), second in turnover margin (+2.4) and second in assist to turnover margin (1.02). Leading the way for CCSU is junior forward Ken Horton, who paces the league in scoring (18.3 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg) while shooting 47.3 percent (9th NEC) from the floor. Classmate guard Robby Ptacek is next up in scoring at 15.2 ppg (8th NEC) while adding 3.8 rpg. Together Horton and Ptacek form the top scoring duo in the NEC at 33.5 points per game while accounting for 48.3 percent of the team's scoring. Rounding out the double-digit scorers for the Blue Devils is senior guard Shemik Thompson, who is averaging 12.8 ppg (19th NEC), 5.0 apg (2nd NEC), 5.0 rpg (19th NEC) and 1.8 spg (t-4th NEC).

STREAKING CCSU
The Blue Devils have won three-straight games and 9-of-11, winning by an average of 16.0 ppg - highlighted by a 92-63 romp of UMass back on January 3 - in those nine victories.

OT ADVOCATES
Wagner and CCSU are a combined 5-0 during NEC play in overtime games with the Seahawks going 3-0 and the Blue Devils 2-0.

WAGNER ADVANTAGES
For Wagner to defeat CCSU, the Seahawks must exploit a pair of Blue Devil disadvantages. The Seahawks are shooting a league-best 40.2 percent from long range while averaging 7.0 three pointers per game, compared to just 33.0 percent and 5.0 threes per game, respectively, for CCSU. The Green & White will need to continue to hit the long range shots as they are a perfect 5-0 when converting at least 10 three pointers in a game this season, including a perfect 4-0 during league games. Another area that Wagner owns the advantage is along the front line as the CCSU doesn't have a starter above 6-6 while the Seahawks boast two that are at least 6-8.

HORTON HORROR SHOW
While Horton didn't play against Wagner a year ago due to injury, the high-powered junior forward averaged 22.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg while shooting 55.6 percent (15-27) from the floor, 50.0 percent (3-6) from beyond the arc and 77.3 percent (11-15) from the line over a pair of wins in 2008-2009. He has notched at least 20 points in three of his four games against the Seahawks while owning a career scoring average of 18.5 ppg, on 56.5 percent (26-46) shooting, against the Green & White.

ALSO ...
Over the last three meetings, Shemik Thompson is averaging 15.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.7 apg and 3.3 spg against Wagner.

THE SERIES
CCSU holds a 15-14 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to the 1939-1940 season. Since the Blue Devils moved to the Division I ranks in 1997-1998 campaign, the CT-based school holds a 13-10 advantage, including 7-4 at home. Since the beginning of the 2005-2006 season, CCSU has captured seven of the eight meetings, including all four in New Britain by an average of 20.0 ppg with each win coming by at least 10 points.

WITH A WIN (2) ...
Wagner would finish up the year 4-1 against NEC teams from the Constitution State, having previously swept Quinnipiac and split with Sacred Heart. In each of the previous two seasons, the Seahawks have gone 1-4 against their Connecticut rivals.

THE WIN OVER BRYANT ...
Doubled last year's overall and NEC win totals as the Seahawks now have 10 victories - including six during conference play - while avenging last year's two-point loss to the Bulldogs, which ended up being the only one on the year for Bryant. It was sweet redemption for sophomore Josh Thompson, who fired up a half-court shot with just over four seconds remaining that gave the Bulldogs a second chance, which they converted. The athletic forward scored four of his nine point in OT while grabbing eight rebounds in the 80-75 OT win over the Bryant this year.

FIVE-POINT GAMES
Following the five-point win at Bryant, Wagner is 7-3 in games decided by five points or less, including 4-1 during league play. Last year, the Seahawks went 3-8 in five-point games, including 2-5 during conference play.

EXTRA TIME = SEAHAWK SUCCESS
Wagner improved to a perfect 3-0 in overtime games this season with its 80-75 victory over Bryant ... All three wins have come against NEC opposition (@ Bryant, RMU, @ SHU) and by five points ... In those games, the Seahawks have outscored the opposition 46-31 while shooting 62.5 percent (10-16) from the floor and 82.1 percent (23-28) from the line ... Freshman Latif Rivers has led the way, notching 18 points (6.0 ppg) during extra time while going 3-of-3 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the line. Wagner has now won four-straight overtime games and is 9-2 since the 2007-2008 season.

RESERVES STEP UP
After the Wagner second unit of senior Cliff Spiller, sophomore Danny Mundweiler and classmate Josh Thompson went 0-of-5 from the floor in the first half of Wagner's five-point OT win at Bryant, the threesome rebounded to hit all eight of their shots after halftime en route to scoring 20 of the Seahawks' 44 points after halftime.

THREE-STRAIGHT
Juniors Chris Martin and Tyler Murray as well as freshmen Orlando Parker and Latif Rivers have all notched double-figures in scoring ofthe each of the last four games.

DEFENDING THE GLASS
After losing the battle of the boards over seven-straight games the first eight NEC match-ups, the Wagner Seahawks posted a +13 rebounding margin for their largest positive margin of the year while holding Bryant to just 27 rebounds, highlighted by the fact the Green & White limited the Bulldogs to just three offensive rebounds - including zero in the opening half.

IN EVERY GAME WAGNER HAS WON ...
The Seahawks have converted more three pointers then the opposition. The Green & White are 0-4 when allowing their opponents to drain more triples.

THURSDAY-NIGHT SUCCESS
Wagner is now 4-1 in Thursday games following an 80-75 overtime victory over Bryant.

DOUBLE-DIGITS X5
Wagner placed five players in double-digits in the win over Bryant for the second time in the last three games after previously not doing so since an 82-70 win over Quinnipiac back on February 11, 2008.

NEC'S TOP FRESHMEN MATCH UP
The game against Bulldogs marked a meeting between the league's top two freshmen in Wagner's Latif Rivers and Bryant's Alex Francis. The two players have combined for nine Choice Hotels NEC Rookie of the Week citations and are among the league's leading scorers. After 40 minutes, Francis had 14 points and eight rebounds while Rivers notched just 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting. However in OT, Rivers stole the show while scoring six points - highlighted by the go-ahead three pointer. Francis, meanwhile, had just two points as the players each finished up with 16 points.

FINALLY!!!
Wagner committed a season-low 17 transgressions compared to 23 for Bryant as the Seahawks had fewer fouls then the opposition for the first time all season.

FOUL TROUBLE
The Seahawks did not allow the opposition into the double-bonus (10 fouls) for the second half time all year in the win at Bryant. In 40 halves of play, Wagner has commited at least 10 fouls 33 times. Thus far, the Green & White is committing an average of 5.0 more fouls than the opposition while ranking 335th with a NCAA-high 25.4 fouls per game. For comparison's sake, Florida is averaging a NCAA-low 14.1 fouls per game.

LAST YEAR VS. CCSU
Wagner dropped a hard-fought 62-60 decision to CCSU in the teams only match-up a year ago, despite a career-best 19 points from junior guard Tyler Murray. Trailing 62-56 with 1:41 left to play in the game, junior Chris Martin drained a pair of free throws to make it 62-58. Following a Blue Devil turnover, Murray drilled a jumper with 52 seconds to go, bringing the Seahawks to within two at 62-60 with 52 seconds left. A tremendous defensive stand by Wagner on the ensuing possession led to a shot-clock violation with 14.8 seconds to go. Unfortunately, the Seahawks were unable to get a shot off as time expired.

RPI UPDATE
Wagner is ranked No. 124 in the RPI rankings while CCSU is No. 160.

COACHING MATCH-UP
Head coach Dan Hurley is 10-10 (6-3 NEC) in his first season and will be squaring off with 4x NEC Coach of the Year and 3x NEC Champion Howie Dickenman, who is 230-203 (150-97 NEC) in 15 years, including 13-10, all-time against Wagner.

RIVERS EARNS SCHOOL-RECORD FIFTH NEC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK ACCOLADE
Freshman Latif Rivers collected his school-record and league-leading fifth Choice Hotels NEC Rookie of the Week after averaging 24.5 points over a pair of games last week. The first-year playmaker shot 52.0 percent (13-25) from the floor and hit at a 50.0 percent clip (6-12) from three-point range. Rivers also made 17-of-18 shots from the line, a sizzling 94.4 percent conversion rate. Rivers poured in 17 of his career-high 30 points in the second half to propel the Seahawks to a 90-80 win over Quinnipiac on Thursday. He dished out four assists, shot 7-of-12 from the field - including 4-of-6 from outside the arc - and was a perfect 12-of-12 from the line to become the first Wagner freshman to score 30 since Courtney Pritchard did so on February 15, 2001 at SFNY. He followed that up with another strong second half, scoring 13 of his 19 points after intermission in a 79-76 setback to Sacred Heart on Saturday. His jumper with 1:16 to play pulled the Seahawks to within one point.

IN ELITE COMPANY
Freshman Latif Rivers' fifth NEC award breaks the school record of four accrued by Art Redmond (1981-1982), Terrance Bailey (1983-1984), Miladin Mutavdzic (1991-1992) and Ryan Reed (1995-1996). The five honors are also the fourth-most in NEC history.

RIVERS GOES OFF
Freshman Latif Rivers led Wagner to a scintillating 90-80 win over Quinnipiac with a career-best 30 points. After scoring just four points, on 2-of-18 shooting, over the last two games, the rookie guard responded with a vengance while becoming the first Seahawk freshman to hit for 30 points in almost 10 years, going 7-of-12 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from long range, while converting all 12 of his free throw attempts.

WAGNER IS ...
4-0 when freshman Latif Rivers leads the team in scoring and 4-1 when the first-year guard scores at least 20 points.  Rivers' five 20-point games are also the most by a Wagner rookie since Jermaine Hall notched eight and Dedrick Dye six during the 1999-2000 season.

THREE-POINT BARRAGE
The Wagner-Bryant game matched the top-two three point shooting teams in the NEC, including the top-five individual three-point shooters. The game did not disappoint as Wagner converted 47.6 percent (10-21) from beyond the arc, including 60.0 percent (6-10) after halftime. While Bryant wasn't as efficient, hitting on just 32.0 percent (8-25) - including missing all three attempts in OT - the Bulldogs did tie the game up and send it to OT following a Cecil Gresham triple at the end of regulation.

MARTIN BREAKS OUT
After not scoring double-digits in back-to-back games all year, junior Chris Martin did so for the first time last week, and is averaging 16.0 ppg while shooting 55.4 percent (12-22) from beyond the arc over the last three games. The junior guard notched his eighth career 20-point game, dropping 15 of his team-best 21 points in the second half while converting 6-of-9 from beyond the arc against Sacred Heart. In the previous game, a 90-80 win over Quinnipiac, Martin had 16 points, on 4-of-6 shooting from long range. In the 80-75 win at Bryant, Martin scored just 11 points but did hand out seven assists, against just two turnovers, with five rebounds over a career-best 42 minutes. He currently ranks third in the NEC in three-point shooting (.438), ninth in assists (3.8 apg), 10th in assist to turnover ratio (1.3) and 15th in threes per game (1.8) while averaging 9.8 ppg.

RAISE UP
On the strength of a 22-of-24 performance from the line over the last three games, freshman Latif Rivers, who converted his first 31 collegiate free throws, is seventh in the national free throw percentage rankings at 93.2 percent (82-88).

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Also standing out in the rankings for Wagner is junior Tyler Murray, who is 90th in scoring (17.1 ppg). As a team,  the Seahawks are ranked ninth in the nation in free throw shooting (.774) and 12th in three-point field-goal percentage (.402).

IF WAGNER WERE ...
To finish with a three-point percentage of at least 40.0 percent, the Seahawks would become the first conference team since Robert Morris to notch that figure since the 1993-1994 season.

LOOKING FOR CONSISTENCY
Wagner was 10-of-15 (66.7 %) from beyond the arc in the win over Quinnipiac after going just 3-of-21 (14.3 %) over the previous two games, both losses. Against Sacred Heart, the Seahawks made good on just 36.0 percent (9-25) before converting on 47.6 percent (10-21) in the five-point win at Bryant.

TROUBLING TREND
Wagner has unfortunately won the turnover battle in each of the last five games, averaging 4.6 more miscues then the opposition.

TYLER STEPS UP ... IN A DIFFERENT WAY
Despite scoring just 11 points in the win over Bryant, junior Tyler Murray still filled up the stat sheet w/six rebounds and five assists while notching double-figures for the 19th time in 20 games and is fourth in the league in scoring (17.1 ppg).

OP KEEP ITS UP
Freshman Orlando Parker notched double-digits for the fifth-straight game and the sixth time over the last seven match-ups in the win at Bryant while pacing the team in rebounding for a team-best eighth time on the year, finishing with 12 points and a game-high ninerebounds. The rookie forward is averaging 11.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game while shooting an 47.6 percent (20-42) from the floor during that time.

ON A ROLL
In the win over Bryant, Wagner converted eight-straight shots early in the second half while ripping off a 20-4 run - including 11-straight points - that gave the Seahawks their largest lead of the game at 12. In the previous game against Sacred Heart, the Green & White converted six-straight shots while going on a 23-10 run.

TYLER TEARING UP THE NEC
Junior Tyler Murray is fourth in scoring (17.1 ppg) and ranks first in three-point shooting (.483) (43-89). He is also among the league leaders in three pointers made (2.2 3's/game) (7th NEC), free throw shooting (.833) (10th NEC), field goal percentage (.455) (13th NEC), assists (3.3 apg) (14th NEC), assist to turnover ratio (1.0), (15th NEC) defensive rebounds (4.1 drpg) (10th NEC) and minutes played (37.1 mpg) (2nd NEC).

MURRAY ALL-TIME LEADER
Junior Tyler Murray leads NEC in three-point percentage at 48.3 percent (43-89). For his career, he is the all-time Wagner leader in the same category (min. 100 three point attempts), converting on a blistering 43.4 percent (99-228).

LATIF NO SLOUCH
Freshman Latif Rivers might not be the main headliner on the Wagner Seahawks but he is drawing the attention of the league, leading a strong freshman class in scoring (14.3 ppg) (10th NEC) while leading the league and ranking seventh nationally in free throw percentage (.932). He is also among the league leaders in three's per game (2.1 3's/game) (8th NEC), three point percentage (.3782) (9th NEC) and minutes played (32.8 mpg) (10th NEC).

DAN HURLEY QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“He's a freshman and sometimes there are freshman issues ... But Latif reminds me of kids like Corey Stokes and J.R. Smith, who I had the opportunity to coach ... He can be a prolific scorer.”
Head coach Dan Hurley on freshman Latif Rivers, who scored six of his team-high 16 points in the win over Bryant.

UP NEXT
Wagner returns home to host Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday, February 3 at 7:00 pm.