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Staten Island, NY - Wagner (15-3; 6-1 NEC) returns to action on Saturday, January 21 against LIU Brooklyn (13-6; 7-0 NEC) at 7:00 pm in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The Seahawks will be attempting to avenge their lone conference loss of the season while also snapping the Blackbirds' 20-game winning streak against league competition.  The twitter hash tag for the game will be (WAGLIU).

QUICK HITS
* Wagner (15-3; 6-1 NEC) returns to the Spiro Sports Center for arguably the biggest regular season game in school history on Saturday, January 21 at 7 pm against reigning league champion LIU Brooklyn. The match-up will be televised live on ESPNU with Adam Amin providing the play-by-play and Brooke Weisbrod serving as the analyst.

* The telecast marks the first-ever regular season home appearance on the ESPN family of networks for the Seahawks and just the second-ever. The first came just under a month ago when the Green & White bested #15 Pitt 59-54. Providing the play-by-play in that game was Amin.

* This also marks the first-time Wagner will be appearing on ESPN at home since defeating St. Francis (NY) 78-61 on March 12, 2003 for the Seahawks' first and thus far only NEC Championship.

* On television this year Wagner has won seven-straight games while posting a robust 8-1 record. The Seahawks will play each of their remaining six home games on TV.

* Wagner's 73-61 victory over St. Francis (NY) (1/19) was its eighth-straight, giving the Seahawks their longest winning streak since ripping off 16-straight under P.J. Carlesimo in the 1978-1979 season. Additionally, the Seahawks' 15-3 start is their best since 1955-1956 (20-2 start) and the NEC's best since CCSU began 1999-2000 with a 19-2 mark.

* The Green & White are ranked 20th in the most recent Mid-Majority Mid-Major poll, have garnered one vote in each of the last four Associated Press (AP) Top-25 polls and is the highest rated conference team according the NCAA RPI rankings at #79.

* With its victory over the Terriers, Wagner is tied with #10 Murray State and Cleveland State for the most true road wins (8) in the nation. The Seahawks have claimed sixth-straight away from Staten Island for the first time since claiming eight in a row during the  1978-1979 season.

* In the win over St. Francis (NY) (1/19), the Green & White forced 23 turnovers leading to a 28-6 advantage in points off turnovers. Additionally, all seven of the Terriers' first-half miscues resulted in Wagner points, leading to a 15-2 advantage in points off turnovers.

* The Seahawks swept the season-series from St. Francis (NY) for the first time since the 2004-2005 season and just the ninth time in series history, thanks to outscoring the Terriers by a combined 93-47 margin after halftime. During that time, Wagner shot 55.1 percent (27-49) from the floor and 43.8 percent (7-16) from long range while limiting SFNY to just 32.6 percent (14-43) shooting and 15.4 percent (2-13) from beyond the arc.

* After halftime in the Green & White's six NEC victories (all in a row), Wagner outscored its opposition by 11.0 points per game while shooting a blistering 51.3 percent, compared to just a combined 38.4 percent for its six opponents, and 38.9 percent from long range, compared to 22.5 percent for the opposition. Leading the charge has been the trio of senior Tyler Murray (7.5 ppg, 72.7 FG % (16-22), 68.8 3pt % (11-16)), junior Jonathon Williams (7.2 ppg, 56.5 FG % (13-23)) and sophomore Kenneth Ortiz (7.0 ppg, 60.0 FG % (12-20)).

* Murray led the way against the Terriers with a game-high 19 points, on 6-of-10 shooting, including converting 3-of-6 from long range. He led the squad in scoring for just the third time this season after doing so a team-best 17 times a year ago. Over the last three games, Murray is averaging 14.7 points per game while shooting 56.5 percent from the floor (13-23) and 62.5 percent (10-16) from long range.

* Murray will also be honored prior to the game for scoring his 1,000th point in a Seahawk uniform. He achieved the mark at Santa Clara (12/30) and now has 1,071 for his career. Recently he notched his 1,000th point since the start of sophomore year and now has 1,007 since 2009-2010.

* In the first meeting with LIU Brooklyn (12/1) - a 78-73 Blackbird victory - Murray led all scorers with a game-high 19 points, while converting 5-of-7 from long range.

* Over the last three games with the Blackbirds the Canadian native is averaging a team-best 16.7 points per game while converting on 8-of-15 from deep.

* Head coach Dan Hurley has defeated every Northeast Conference (NEC) institution except LIU Brooklyn and is 28-20 (15-10 NEC) in his two-plus years on Staten Island.

* A win tonight would give Wagner just its third-ever 7-1 NEC start while matching the 2002-2003 and 2007-2008 squads.

* The Blackbirds lead the all-time series by a 53-37 count and have won six of the last seven meetings between the teams. Additionally, the Seahawks have lost three-straight and five-of-seven at home to their borough-rival. The last home victory over the defending NEC Champions came in the First Round of the 2008 NEC Tournament by a 71-62 score.

* LIU Brooklyn has won 20-straight games against conference competition dating back to last year with its last loss coming on January 22, 2011 to Saint Francis (PA). Additionally, since dropping its NEC-opener to Robert Morris last season the Blackbirds are 27-1 against NEC member schools.

* Today's game falls during a weekend in which ESPN is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the three pointer. Ironically, Murray is Wagner's all-time leader in three-point percentage with a 43.4 percent (158-364) conversion rate from long range while both he and senior Chris Martin rank among the Seahawks' top-10 in three point field goals with 158 (10th) and 189 (5th). 2009 graduate Joey Mundweiler holds the school record with 312 three point field goals.

* 2003 graduate and former three-point field goal leader Dedrick Dye, who had his record of 270 three pointers surpassed by Mundweiler, will be in attendance today as Wagner will be holding its annual Men's Basketball Alumni Day.

* In keeping with the three-point theme, head coach Dan Hurley ranks 15th in Seton Hall history with 107. His brother assistant coach Bobby Hurley graduated as Duke's all-time leader with 264 threes and was a 40.5 percent shooter from deep. Fellow assistant coach Bashir Mason converted 103 triples at Drexel as all three also notched 1,000 career points in college.

* Wagner has 15 wins while topping last year's total of 13 and with three more would match the school's win total of the two previous years combined. Its eight road victories supersede the total of seven accrued over the last two years.

* No slouch at home, the Green & White are 6-1 in the Spiro Sports Center while outscoring its opponents on Grymes Hill by an average 15.3 points per game.

* With its nine-point win over CCSU (1/14), Wagner improved to 7-2 in games decided by 10 points or less and are an eye-popping 15-1 when leading with five minutes to play.

* Both the Seahawks and Blackbirds have eight-game winning streaks while using the same starting line-up in all but one game this season.

* During their current eight-game winning streak, the Seahawks are shooting a blistering 37.3 percent from long range while outscoring its opponents by an average of 11.3 points per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the floor.

* Leading the charge during the streak has been sophomore Latif Rivers, who is averaging a team-best 17.5 points per game while shooting 46.4 percent (45-97) from the floor, 40.7 percent (22-54) from long range and 90.3 percent (28-31) from the line. Additionally, the smooth-shooting guard has paced the team in scoring in five of the Green & White's eight wins. On the year, Rivers leads the team in scoring at 14.9 points per game (11th NEC) and has led the squad in scoring a team-best eight times while recording at least 20 three times.

* Lost amid the shuffle of Rivers' outstanding performance during the Green & White's current hot streak has been the play of Ortiz. The 6-0 point guard has paced the Green & White in rebounding four times and is averaging 9.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game while posting an impressive + 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. On the year, Ortiz is averaging 4.2 assists (4th NEC) and 4.8 rebounds (18th NEC) per game while recording a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio (6th NEC).

* During non-conference play, the Seahawks defeated teams from seven different conferences (BIG EAST, CAA, Ivy, MEAC, MWC, Patriot and WCC).

* Despite losing the turnover battle in the win at Monmouth (1/7) for the first time in 11 games, the Green & White still leads the NEC and rank 13th in the nation with a +4.4 turnover margin. #1 Syracuse paces the nation with a + 7.4 turnover margin. All told, Wagner has won the turnover battle in 16-of-18 this year.

* Besides leading the NEC in turnover margin, Wagner also paces the league in scoring margin (+10.1) (47th NCAA), fewest turnovers (12.8) (77th NCAA), field goal percentage defense (.409) (85th), blocked shots (4.2) (85th NCAA) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.05) (97th NCAA). 

* The Seahawks are also second in the league in scoring offense (74.3 ppg) (63rd NCAA) and scoring defense (64.2 ppg), (106th NCAA) while ranking in the upper half of the NEC in all 15 team rankings.

* Today's key match-up will be the LIU Brooklyn offense vs. the Wagner defense as the Blackbirds are converting a league-best 45.9 percent from the floor while Seahawks have the NEC's top-ranked defense while limiting opponents to just 40.9 percent shooting.

* The Seahawks are 12-0 when limiting the opposition to under 70 points, 11-1 when scoring at least 70.

SETTING THE SCENE
Wagner (15-3; 6-1 NEC) will look for its ninth-straight victory while trying to snap LIU Brooklyn's (13-6; 7-0 NEC) eight-game winning streak and its 20-game mark against league competition on Saturday, January 21 at 7:00 pm in a game that will be televised by ESPNU.

TODAY'S ...
Game is a rematch of the teams' conference opener won by the Blackbirds on December 1 by a count of 78-73. LIU Brooklyn jumped out to a 15-point second half lead before holding off a late Seahawk rally.

THE LAST TIME ...
These two teams met in Staten Island on February 17, 2011, the Blackbirds escaped with a four-point overtime victory. Down seven with 5:30 to play, the Seahawks rallied to tie the game on a Martin three pointer with just 3.3 seconds remaining. In overtime, the Green & White took a three-point lead only to see LIU Brooklyn rally with a game-ending 9-4 run en route to a 83-79 victory. In defeat, Rivers led five double-figure scorers for Wagner with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. Eventual First Team All-NEC selection Julian Boyd led LIU Brooklyn with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN
The final six Wagner home games and 10 of the last 12 overall will begin at 7:00 pm. On the year, the Seahawks are 10-1 in 7:00 pm tips.

BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG PERFORMANCES
Wagner is an impressive 8-1 in television games this year - including having won seven-straight - and will play on TV in each of its final six home games - highlighted by games on ESPNU (LIU - 1/21) and MSG (Robert Morris - 2/2).

LUCKY NUMBER 70
The Seahawks are a perfect 12-0 when holding the opposition to under 70 points and 11-1 when scoring at least 70 points.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Wagner has posted a sparkling 8-2 record on the road following its win at St. Francis (NY), one season after going just 5-12 away from the friendly confines of the Spiro Sports Center. The eight wins are tied for the third-most road victories in the nation.

15-3
The 15-3 start is the best by a Seahawk team since the 1955-1956 season when the Green & White began 20-2 en route to a 20-3 season.

A WIN TONIGHT
Would give Wagner its first win over LIU Brooklyn since ... January 21, 2010  when the Seahawks bested the Blackbirds by 65-59 count in overtime.

SCOUTING LIU BROOKLYN
The defending NEC Champion LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds are the lone unbeaten team in the conference  and are led by high-scoring junior forwards Julian Boyd (16.3 ppg, 9.2 rpg) and Jamal Olasewere (16.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg) as the Brooklyn-based school is averaging a NEC-best 79.5 points per game. During conference-play, Olasewere has taken his game up a notch, averaging 20.4 points and a NEC-best 9.9 rebounds per game.

LONG TIME COMING
The Seahawks posted five victories in December, which is the most in the month since the 1986-1987 season when the Green & White won six.

NEXT
With Murray notching his 1,000th point against Santa Clara (12/30), the next member of Wagner to hit for 1,000 will most likely be senior Chris Martin, who has 949 career points.

FOLAHAN ASCENDS THE CAREER BLOCKS RANKINGS
Sophomore Naofall Folahan, who leads the NEC and ranks 43rd nationally with 2.1 blocks per game, recently cracked the Seahawks' top-10 list for blocked shots. After notching one swat in the win at St. Francis (NY) (1/19), the Republic of Benin native has 82, ranking ninth in school history. Folahan, who is averaging 4.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, is three off Mark Porter (84) for eighth place. 

CLOSING IT OUT
The Seahawks are 15-1 when leading with five minutes to play thanks to shooting an impressive 82.4 percent (42-51) from the line in the final minute this season.

ADDITIONALLY
In the win over CCSU (1/14), the Green & White displayed its tenacity in the game's final five minutes on defense, limiting the Blue Devils to 0-for-4 shooting.

CLOSING IT OUT PART 2
Wagner 7-2 in games decided by 10 points or less while shooting 76.4 percent (55-72) from the line over the last five minutes of those games.

FIRST TIME
Despite holding the Northeast Conference's best overall record, the Seahawks hadn't won a Choice Hotels Player of the Week citation until Rivers averaged 18.7 points per game while pacing the team in scoring in victories over #15 Pitt (12/23), Air Force (12/29) and Santa Clara (12/30). The reason? Balance. The Seahawks routinely go 10-deep and have three players - Rivers (15.4) (11th NEC), Williams (13.6) (14th NEC) and Murray (12.2) (18th NEC) - averaging double-figures in scoring.

DURING NEC PLAY
Wagner is outscoring the opposition by an average of 15.3 points per game while posting five double-digit wins. Additionally the Seahawks are shooting 47.1 percent from the floor, including 37.3 percent from beyond the arc while limiting opposing teams to just 40.3 percent shooting, including 28.4 percent from long range.

STAT COMPARISON
Wagner: Scoring Offense (74.3 ppg) / Scoring Defense (64.2 ppg) / FG% (.445) / FG%D (.409)
LIU: Scoring Offense (79.5 ppg) / Scoring Defense (76.2 ppg) / FG% (.459) / FG%D (.436)

DON'T FORGET TO STRETCH
The Green & White will broadcast tonight's game through Stretch Internet free. Check the MBB schedule/results page on the Wagner Athletics website beginning at 6:50 pm (EST).

COACH DAN HURLEY
Head coach Dan Hurley is 28-20 in this his second year. Last year, Hurley initiated an eight-win improvement marking the best regular season turnaround in America for a first-year coach while also matching Steve Lavin of St. John's for the best conference-win improvement (+6) by a rookie coach.

TWITTER
Fans wishing to follow and comment on this weekend's action they can use the hash tag #WAGLIU.

SECOND-HALF SUCCESS
Since early December, the Green & White have opened the second half with some impressive scoring runs:
St. Francis (NY) (12/3) - 22-4 ~ Hofstra (12/6) - 6-0 ~ Lehigh (12/10) - 8-2 ~ #15 Pitt (12/23) - 15 -8 ~
Air Force (12/29) - 13-4 ~ Santa Clara (12/30) - 9-0 ~ Monmouth (1/7) - 9-0 ~ SFNY (1/19) - 20-7

HOME SWEET HOME
At home this season, Wagner has been outscoring its opposition by an average of 15.3 points per game at home. No one player has contributed to that number more than Williams. The Junior College transfer has led the Seahawks in scoring in five of the Seahawks' seven home games while posting a team-best 17.8 points per game while shooting a blistering 60.0 percent (42-70) from the floor. On the year, Williams is second on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg) (14th NEC) and first in rebounding (4.9 rpg) (19th NEC).

MILESTONE WATCH
Murray (1071 points) is just 10 points behind Arnold Obey (1,081 points) for 32nd on the all-time Green & White scoring list. Martin is three triples behind Bobby Hopson (192) for fourth on the all-time three-point list. 

DOUBLE-DOWN
Murray has recorded double-figures a team-best 16 times this year and in 51-of-55 games since the end of his sophomore year.  Rivers, meanwhile, has notched double-figures 14 times this year and 35 times in 48 career games. Murray (10) and Rivers (9) have also recorded at least 20 points in a game a combined 19 times.

BIG THREE
Rivers (14.9 ppg), Williams (13.4 ppg) and Murray (12.6 ppg) have accounted for 54.1 percent (724-1265) of Wagner's offense while giving the Seahawks an array of offensive options.

DID YOU KNOW?
Despite standing just 6-0, Ortiz has the top two individual rebounding performances for the Green & White this season. The Wagner starting point guard grabbed a career-best 12 in the win over Santa Clara (12/30) - including seven on the offensive end, surpassing his previous best of 11 notched in the win over NCCU (11/16).  He has paced the team on the glass in six games with the Seahawks going 6-0 during that time.

CHANGING IT UP
The Green & White changed their starting line-up against Hofstra (12/6) for the first and only time this year due to an injury to Williams. Parker rose to the challenge, posting season-highs in points (11), rebounds (9), blocks (4) and minutes (31). The Florida native then hit for double-figures for the second time this year with 10 points and six rebounds in a 73-61 victory at St. Francis (NY) (1/19).

20/20
The Seahawks has forced seven opponents into at least 20 turnovers this season. The Green & White pressured Princeton (11/12) into 28, which are the most caused by Wagner since December 4, 2001 when Iona turned it over 28 times. In the win over Lafayette (11/19), the Leopards turned it over 20 times before SFNY (12/3) committed 21 miscues in a 40-point setback. Most recently, the Seahawks forced 23 FDU (1/19) turnovers in a nine-point win.

UP NEXT
Wagner will hit the road for its only games of the year against Sacred Heart (1/26) and Quinnipiac (1/28). Both games will be broadcast by Joey Wahler through RedZoneMedia.Com.