Wagner: Roster / Game Notes / Listen Live
Princeton: Roster / Game Notes / Watch Live

Princeton, NJ - The Wagner Seahawks begin year two of the Dan Hurley regime against Princeton on Saturday, November 12 at 5:00 pm at Jadwin Gym. This season all Wagner road games will be broadcast by WFAN update anchor Joey Wahler for free via Red Zone Media. Click HERE to listen to the broadcast, which will start at approximately 4:50 pm. Live Stats can be accessed by clicking HERE. Those wanting to following along via Twitter can do so by clicking HERE. The hash tag for the game will be (#Wag-PU).

QUICK HITS
* Wagner opens up its 91st season of intercollegiate basketball at Princeton on Saturday, November 12 at 5:00 pm.

* The season-opening match-up marks the third-straight season the teams have met

* In the all-time series, the Tigers hold a 3-0 lead. Last year, Princeton bested Wagner 69-57

*The teams have met twice in Jadwin Gym, most recently on December 30, 2009 as the Tigers dropped the Seahawks 45-42

* The Green & White were slated to finish fourth this year in the NEC according to the annual coaches poll ... Up from 11th the previous season

* Senior Tyler Murray was named to the preseason All-NEC Team

*Last year, he averaged 16.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 3.5 apg en route to All-NEC First Team Honors

* Murray is the first Seahawk to earn preseason All-NEC accolades since 2002-2003 when Jermaine Hall was lauded by the conference

* Murray begins his senior season as the fourth leading returning scorer in the NEC with 844 points

* The Canadian native also ranks second among all active NEC players with 227 assists and 10th with 279 rebounds. Addtionally, Murray has nine career 20-point games

* Wagner will be aiming for its second-straight season-opening win and is 52-38, all-time, in lidlifters. The Green & White will also be in search of its first road-opening win since the 2008-2009 season against Stony Brook

* The Seahawks will be gunning to snap a five-game losing streak against Ivy League competition and are 18-24, all-time, against the Ancient 8. Wagner's last win against an Ivy League team came by a 78-66 score against Brown on December 21, 2008

* Today's game will be on FIOS1 in the Princeton area and will be the first of at least 11 games to appear on television.

* The Green & White will also be hosting seven games that will appear on tv, including the school's first-ever ESPN regular season telecast against Long Island on Saturday, January 21 at 7:00 pm on ESPNU. The game will also be Wagner's first on ESPN since the 2005 NEC Championship at Fairleigh Dickinson. Click HERE for the entire release

* Wagner returns all five starters from last year's squad that improved its win total by eight games from the previous season

* The eight-win improvement in the regular season spearheaded by head coach Hurley was the most by any first-year coach in the nation

* Returning for his sophomore year is Latif Rivers. The sharpshooting guard averaged 13.9 points per game a year ago en route to garnering NEC All-Rookie Team accolades

* Rivers recorded a school-record six NEC Rookie of the Week accolades and shot a league-best 89.1 percent from the charity stripe, highlighted by connecting on his first 31 collegiate free throws

* Despite playing just one season, Rivers ranks ninth among returning NEC players with six career 20-point games and one 30-point game

* Rivers and Murray have been named team captains for the upcoming season by Hurley

* Wagner was ranked 10th out of 23 teams in the first NYC Buckets New York Power Poll. NEC foe Long Island was tabbed sixth ... Click HERE for the poll

* Head coach Dan Hurley will be looking to spoil Mitch Henderson's head coaching debut, one year after besting Lafayette 63-58 in his first game as a collegiate coach

* Princeton is the reigning Ivy League Champion and returns four starters from last year's team that went 25-7 and won the Ivy League title

* The Seahawks will be looking to snap the Tigers' 16-game home winning streak, which dates back to the 2009-2010 season. A year ago, Princeton was a perfect 12-0 at Jadwin Gym.

* Sophomore center Naofall Folahan had his best game of last year against Princeton, notching a career-best 19 points, seven blocks and two assists en route to earning NEC Rookie of the Week accolades

* Senior Chris Martin enters the year with the sixth-most points (817) and the eighth-most assists (162) of any NEC player. Last year he averaged 9.8 points per game and 3.7 assists per game, which ranked ninth in the NEC

* Wagner ranked seventh in the NCAA a year ago from the free throw line (77.2 %)

* Sophomore Orlando Parker averaged 7.5 points and a team-best 4.9 rebounds as a freshman and was second in the NEC in shooting (52.8 %).

* Besides returning all five starters (Martin, Murray, Rivers, Parker, Folahan) from last year, Wagner also brings back last year's sixth man junior Josh Thompson (7.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and classmate Ryan Schrotenboer (1.2 ppg, 1.0 rpg).

* The seven returning letterwinners accounted for 89.5 percent of the team's offense and 77.4 percent of the team's rebounding.

* The Seahawks welcome five new players to the fold in junior Jonathon Williams (CC of San Francisco), sophomore Kenneth Ortiz (Southern Mississippi), freshman Marcus Burton (David W. Butler), Hugo Naurais (Elan Chalon (France) and Mario Moody (East Orange Campus).

* Today's game comes on the one year anniversary of Wagner's season-opening 63-58 victory over Lafayette a year ago.

* In 2010-2011, the Seahawks won a NEC-best 10 games by five points or less, finishing up 10-7 in such affairs.


* Click HERE for a gallery of Wednesday's Photo Day

SETTING THE SCENE
Wagner will look to make it season-opening wins in back-to-back seasons when the Seahawks play at Princeton on Saturday, November 12 at 5:00 pm in Jadwin Gym. The game will be the opener for both teams as the Tigers will be raising their 2010-2011 Ivy League Championship Banner prior to the tip.

LISTEN LIVE
Wagner has partnered with Red Zone Media to bring every Seahawk game to your computer. The Green & White have announced that Joey Wahler will broadcast all 16 road games free of charge over the internet. Check the Wagner Basketball Schedule/Results page starting at 4:50 pm.

COACH DAN HURLEY
Head coach Dan Hurley went 13-17 (9-9 NEC) in his first year on Grymes Hill a year ago. He initiated an eight-win improvement last year, marking the best regular season turnaround in America. His Seahawks also matched St. John's coach Steve Lavin for the best conference-win improvement (+6) by a first-year coach.

SCOUTING PRINCETON
Princeton won 25 games last year en route to the NCAA Tournament where the Tigers dropped a tough 59-57 decision to eventual Final Four participant Kentucky. Gone are 2011 Ivy Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-League selection Kareem Maddox, Second Team All-Ivy pick Dan Mavraides and head coach Sydney Johnson - who left for the head job at Fairfield.  With the loss of the two standouts, Princeton must replace 39 percent of its offense from a year ago. However, the Tigers return four starters from last year's team, including Douglas Davis, who has 1,110 career points.

PRINCETON SOLID VS. THE NEC
Princeton has won four-straight games against the NEC, having defeated Monmouth and Wagner in each of the last two years and is 9-2 all-time in Jadwin against the conference.

JADWIN GYM
Princeton won all 12 home games in Jadwin Gym a year ago, including five non-conference tilts, and currently own the 13th longest active home winning streak at 16 games.

OWN THE GLASS
One point of emphasis during the preseason for Wagner has been rebounding. The Seahawks ranked 322nd in the NCAA in rebounding margin a year ago and will be going up against a Princeton team that was 46th nationally, while grabbing 73.4 percent of its opponent's misses (5th NCAA).

HEIGHT PROBLEMS
The average height of the 17 Princeton players is 6-7 as nine of the student-athletes are 6-8 or taller.

LAST YEAR
Princeton shot 54.3 percent (25-46) from the floor while owning the glass (32-23) en route to a 69-57 win at the Spiro Sports Center. Sophomore Naofall Folahan had a big game, scoring a career-high 19 points, on 6-of-8 shooting, with five rebounds and seven blocks. Unfortunately, the rest of the team combined for just 38 points, on 11-of-36 shooting (.306). The departed All-Ivy duo of Maddox and Mavraides combined for 35 points, on 12-of-21 shooting.

NCAA HISTORY
Both coaching staffs are inundated with NCAA post-season experience. Head coach Dan Hurley helped his Seton Hall teams to three NCAA Tournaments, highlighted by a trip to the Sweet 16 in 1991-1992 while assistant coach Bobby Hurley guided Duke to four tournament berths, three Final Fours and two National Titles from 1989-1993. Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson was a member of two NCAA Tournament teams, including the 1995-1996 Princeton squad that engineered a legendary 43-41 upset of defending National Champion UCLA in the NCAA Tournament. Assistant coach Brian Earl was on that that Tigers team as well as two other NCAA squads.

BROTHERS IN ARMS
While everyone knows about the Hurley brother tandem many people don't know about Brian Earl and his brother Dan Earl. Brian Earl was a fixture of three NCAA Tournament teams at Princeton while his brother Dan Earl guided Penn State to a NCAA Tournament apperance and Top-10 ranking during the 1995-1996 season. Dan, like his brother, is an assistant coach in the collegiate ranks at Navy. Both Hurleys and both Earls scored over 1,000 points in their careers.

SCOUTING PRINCETON
Princeton figures to be led by junior forward Ian Hummer, who averaged 13.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game last year and senior guard Douglas Davis, who notched 11.9 points per game while connecting on 38.5 percent (69-179) from long range.

SCOUTING WAGNER
Wagner, which returns all five starters from a year ago, will again be paced by their strong guard trifecta of Martin, Murray and Rivers while also adding a pair of high-profile transfers in Williams and Ortiz.  Also arriving in the backcourt is Burton, who could see time at either the point or two. Additionally, last year's frontcourt of Parker and Folahan is a year older and will also be bolstered by the arrival of Moody and Naurais. All five newcomers should figure prominently in the rotation.

NON-CONFERENCE NOTES
Head coach Dan Hurley is gearing up for his second season with yet another tough non-conference slate. Last year after defeating Lafayette 63-58 in the opener, Wagner took to the road for seven-straight games - six of which were of the non-league variety. This year, while the quantity of road games isn't as high, the competition level is on par if not higher. The Seahawks take on six teams that played in the postseason, including five of which that won at least 20 games. After playing at defending Ivy League Champion Princeton (11/12), the Green & White head to defending National Champion UConn (11/14). Wagner will then host North Carolina Central (11/16) in its home-opener before playing at Lafayette (11/19) and Penn (11/22). Following Thanksgiving, the Seahawks will cap a brutal six-game, two week stretch with a home contest against Delaware State (11/25). After a pair of NEC games, Wagner hosts Hofstra (12/6), which reached the CAA Title Game a year ago and Lehigh (12/10) before breaking for finals. The Seahawks then travel to defending BIG EAST Regular Season Champion Pitt (12/23) before heading to the Cable Car Classic (12/29-12/30), which will be hosted by defending CIT Champion Santa Clara.

DID YOU KNOW?
That at least one team from 31 of the 44 Cable Car Classics has advanced to the NCAA Tournament?

TONIGHT'S GAME MARKS ...
The first time since the 2005-2006 season that Wagner will open its season against a team other than Lafayette. The teams will renew their rivalry one week from today, Nov. 19, at the Kirby Sports Center.

WITH A WIN
The Seahawks would win their first-ever game against Princeton while snapping the Tigers' 16-game home winning streak.

SOPHOMORES
The highly acclaimed sophomore trio of Folahan, Parker and Rivers will now be joined by one more second-year student-athlete in Ortiz. Folahan, Parker and Rivers started 82 out of a possible 90 games as freshmen while accounting for 38.3 percent of the Wagner's offense and 36.9 percent of its rebounding. Ortiz helped Southern Mississppi to 20 wins in 2009-2010.

NEED FOR 3 ... LITERALLY
Wagner's strength lied in its guard play a year ago, as the Seahawks went 0-6 when failing to hit at least three three pointers.

TYLER CONSISTENTLY CONSISTENT
Murray has upped his scoring average by 8.1 ppg from his sophomore year to his junior thanks to hitting for double-figures in 29 games (out of 30) and ranked third in the circuit in scoring at 16.8 ppg.

KILLING IT FROM THE LINE
As a team, Wagner ranked seventh nationally with a school-record conversion rate of 77.2 percent in 2010-2011, after making just 61.1 percent the previous year.

CLOSE GAMES = THE HURLEY WAY
A year ago, Wagner's stout free throw shooting and clutch play helped the Seahawks to 10-7 record in games decided by five points or less, including 7-4 during NEC play.

HEAVY LIFTING
Each starter in the Wagner backcourt ( Murray (37.1 mpg) (2nd), Rivers (32.7 mpg) (11th) and Martin (29.0 mpg) (23rd)) ranked among the league leaders in minutes played a year ago. This season the additions of Burton, Ortiz and Williams figure to reduce the wear and tear among the perimeter players.

MAGIC NUMBER 14
Wagner went 11-4 a year ago when handing out at least 14 assists. On the year, the Seahawks averaged ... 14.0 assists per game per game, ranking fourth in the league. 

EXTRA TIME = SEAHAWK SUCCESS
Wagner went 3-1 in overtime games last season with all three wins have coming by exactly five points. In the four OT games, the Seahawks outscored the opposition 54-43 while shooting 58.3 percent (14-24) from the floor and 76.7 percent (23-30) from the line. Rivers led the way, notching 20 points (5.0 ppg) during extra time while going 4-of-4 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the line. Wagner is 9-3 in OT games since the 2007-2008 season.

TAKING IT DOWN A NOTCH
Wagner committed fewer fouls than the opposition just three times last season.

RIVERS = KEY TO SUCCESS
When Rivers hit for at least 20 points a year ago, the Seahawks went 5-1. His six 20-point games were also the most by a NEC rookie and the most by a first-year Seahawk since Jermaine Hall notched eight and Dedrick Dye six during the 1999-2000 season.

COMEBACK KIDS
In four of Wagner's nine NEC wins last year, the Seahawks trailed by at least four points with under four minutes on the clock.

NEC ON THE UP-AND-UP
The NEC finished up last year ranked 18th in the RPI rankings. That mark was the league's highest ranking since the 1995-1996 season when the conference checked in at 18. Wagner ended up at 170 after being in the 300s the previous season.

WAGNER LEADS THE WAY
Last season the Seahawks led the NEC in free throw shooting (.772) and three point shooting (.371), and ranked seventh and 55th on the national level respectively

ALSO IN THE RANKINGS
Rivers led the league in free throw percentage and was 17th nationally at 89.1 percent while Murray was 104th in scoring at 16.9 points per game.

CLOSE GAMES
21 of the Green & White's 30 games were decided by 10 points or less with Wagner going 11-10.

DID YOU KNOW?
It had been almost 20 years since Wagner swept the weekly NEC men's basketball awards until Murray (NEC POTW) and Rivers (NEC ROTW) were honored last January. The last time it occurred was on December 9, 1991 when Bobby Hopson was named Player of the Week and Miladin Mutavdzic earned Rookie of the Week accolades. Murray was just over 15 months old while Rivers was just over three months old.

TYLER ALL OVER THE NEC
Murray's name was affixed to numerous NEC category leaderboards last year as the Canadian native ranked third in the NEC in scoring (16.9 ppg), third in three-point percentage (.415) (59-142), sixth in free throw percentage (.828) (135-163), ninth in three pointers (2.0 3's/game), 13th in steals (1.3 spg), 13th in assists (3.5 apg) and second in minutes (37.1 mpg).

TOP DUO
The duo of Murray (16.9 ppg) and Rivers (13.9 ppg) was the second-ranked scoring tandem in the NEC a year ago, averaging 30.8 points per game while shooting 40.2 percent (276-687) from the floor, 37.8 percent (115-304) from beyond the arc and 85.7 percent (257-300) from the charity stripe. The duo also accounted for 45.5 percent of the team's offense.

STRAIGHT TO THE POINT
Martin struggled at first when taking control of the team's point guard duties before settling into a nice grove and ranked ninth in the NEC with 3.7 assists per game and 14th with a 1.3 assist to turnover ratio.

EVEN BETTER
Wagner's NEC-leading free throw percentage jumped to 78.2 percent in the last five minutes of games a year ago, as the Seahawks are connected on 154-of-197. Rivers led the way at 88.2 percent (45-51) while Murray converted 86.3 percent (44-51).

RECRUITING PAYING DIVIDENDS
Hurley's first recruiting class of Folahan, Parker and Rivers yielded seven NEC Rookie of the Week citations and almost 40 percent of the team's offense and rebounding a year ago.

RAISING THE BAR
In games decided by 10 points or less, the Green & White hit on a remarkable 79.1 percent (345-436) from the free throw line in 2010-2011.

AFTER HALFTIME
Wagner connected on 76.8 percent (288-375) from the line in the second half of games last year, highlighted by an 89.3 percent (25-28) showing in a10-point win over Quinnipiac ... The Seahawks are also converted on 80.8 percent (244-302) from the line in their 13 victories, including 80.9 percent (148-183) after halftime in those games.

NO KEYSTONE STATE TRIP
In 2011-2012, Wagner will not be making its annual Robert Morris/Saint Francis (PA) trip as due to the league's unbalanced schedule the Seahawks will be playing the teams just once apiece at home. Wagner has faced each team in back-to-back games on 26 occasions. Just twice (2002-2003 & 1992-1993) have the Seahawks swept the annual trip while splitting nine times and dropping both the other 15 times.  All-time in the history of NEC-play, Wagner has gone 8-20 in Loretto and 7-22 in Moon Township. Additionally, since the Seahawks' 2002-2003 NEC Championship season in which they swept the trip, Wagner is just 3-12 on the road against the two schools. Wagner, will however, make the jaunt to Pittsburgh as the Seahawks will square off with defending BIG EAST Champion Pitt on December 23, 2011 at 8:00 pm on ESPNU. The last time the teams met was in the 2003 NCAA Tournament with the Panthers coming out on top 87-61.

UP NEXT
Wagner will head to UConn on Monday, November 14 for a 7:30 pm tilt at Gampel Pavillion.

CORE FOUR
Back for a second year on coach Dan Hurley's staff is Bobby Hurley, Bashir Mason, Scott Smith and Andrew Duffy. Smith was promoted to assistant coach this past summer after spending last year as the director of basketball operations. Bobby Hurley also had an eventful offseason as he was inducted into the Duke Hall of Fame in September while Mason and Duffy recently completed Half Marathons.