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Staten Island, NY - Wagner (18-4; 9-2 NEC) will look for its fourth-straight win tonight at 7:00 pm against Saint Francis (PA) (5-17; 4-7 NEC) at the Spiro Sports Center. Fans can follow today's action through for a nominal fee through the athletic deparment's video stream or watch live via
Time Warner Cable (channel 76 Staten Island / channel 199 Manhattan). Wayne Fidelman will handle the play-by-play duties with Tim Gannon and Joe Nugent providing the color and Alexa Datt the sideline reporting.
QUICK HITS
* Following a convincing victory over perennial Northeast Conference (NEC) powerhouse Robert Morris, Wagner (18-4; 9-2 NEC) will look to extend their winning streak to four games against Saint Francis (PA) (5-17; 4-7 NEC) tonight at 7:00 pm.
* The Seahawks are 9-2 in television games, including going a perfect 5-0 on
Time Warner, after besting RMU 80-69 on Thursday.
* During its five
Time Warner games, the Green & White are beating the opposition by an average of 19.8 points per game, while posting a +10.0 rebounding margin and holding opponents to just 59.8 points per game. Junior
Jonathon Williams is averaging a team-best 17.8 points per game during that time while shooting 61.4 percent (27-44) from the floor.
* Wagner is in the midst of a three-game winning streak and has won 11-of-12 after defeating Sacred Heart (1/26) (73-54), Quinnipiac (1/28) (51-50) and RMU (2/2) (80-69).
* In the win over RMU (2/2), sophomore
Latif Rivers' notched 17 of his game-high 28 points in the first half while converting a career-best 15 free throws. The 15 from the charity stripe are the fifth-highest single-game total by a Seahawk student-athlete and the most since 2011 NEC Hall of Famer
Terrance Bailey drained a school-record 18 at Marist on February 1, 1986.
* The smooth-shooting sophomore now has 750 career points (14.4 ppg) in just 52 games and deposited 28 points in both Green & White MSG telecasts this year (Monmouth (1/7); RMU (2/2)). In those games, Rivers shot 56.5 percent (13-23), 46.7 percent (7-15) from long range and 88.5 percent (23-26) from the line.
* On the year, Wagner is 4-0 when Rivers notches at least 20 points and 9-1 over the last two seasons. He has also paced the squad in scoring a team-best 11 times.
* The Seahawks used a 14-2 run to start their game against RMU (2/2) by forcing the Colonials into just 1-of-12 shooting over the first 10-plus minutes of the game.
* Wagner also scored 44 first-half points against RMU (2/2), which were the most allowed by RMU this year. Coming into the game, the Colonials had the NEC's top scoring defense, yielding an average of just 63.0 points per game. Additionally, Velton Jones and Coron Williams were held to just 17 points, on 4-of-21 shooting. Last year in the NEC Tournament, the duo combined for 45 points, on 12-of-17 shooting while helping eliminate the Green & White.
* In Wagner's current three-game winning streak, the Seahawks are shooting a blistering 52.5 percent (21-40) from long range while forcing the opposition into just 21.3 percent (10-47), including just 5-for-30 after halftime. Additionally, the 54 points allowed to Sacred Heart (1/26) and the 50 to Quinnipiac (1/28) were season-lows for each team.
* The Seahawks lead all of Division I with 10 road victories and are 11-2 (3rd most road/neutral wins) away from the Spiro Sports Center.
* The Green & White is the NEC's top-ranked team in the RPI rankings at 81 and have resided in the
CollegeInsider.Com Mid-Major poll for each of the last six week. In the most recent rankings released on Monday, Wagner was tabbed 24th with fellow league member LIU Brooklyn checking in at #23.
*
Dan Hurley picked up his 30th career win against Quinnipiac (1/28) in just his 51st game with the Seahawks. He is the second-fastest Wagner coach to 30 victories and the quickest in the Division I era (since 1976-1977). Over his two-plus seasons, Hurley is 31-21 (18-11 NEC).
* The 51 points scored in the win over Quinnipiac (1/28) was the fewest notched in a Green & White win since Wagner bested Robert Morris 51-48 on February 6, 1993.
* The Seahawks' 18 wins match their total for the last two years combined.
* Wagner's nine league victories match last year's total and the Seahawks' 9-2 NEC start matches the 2002-2003 and the 2007-2008 teams for the best NEC start through 11 games.
* The Seahawks have won seven of its nine NEC games by at least 11 points and own a conference-best +11.9 scoring margin during league play.
* Wagner's lucky number 70 was again on display against RMU (2/2) as the Seahawks improved to 15-0 when holding the opposition under 70 and 13-1 when hitting for 70. Additionally, the Green & White moved to an incredible 18-1 when leading with five minutes to play.
* Hurley's assistant and brother
Bobby Hurley was recently named as one of the 35 greatest McDonald's All-Americans in the 35-year history of the game. Joining the former Duke All-American on the list were his former teammates Christian Laettner and Grant Hill. Hurley helped the Blue Devils to a pair of National Titles and three Final Fours.
* Sophomore
Kenneth Ortiz provided the difference against the Quinnipiac (1/28), when the sophomore point guard split a pair from the line with just 4.6 seconds remaining. Ortiz made the play possible with an offensive rebound off senior
Tyler Murray's missed shot from the left corner that was eerily similar to the Santa Clara (12/30) game, in which the Newark native hit an improbable shot from the left corner following a Murray miss. Ortiz also converted a pair of go-ahead free throws with just over 28 seconds remaining in Wagner's 87-83 victory over NCCU (11/16).
* Ortiz's rebound that set up the game-winning play also was his team-best sixth of the game. The 6-0 point guard has paced the squad on the glass on eight different occasions with Wagner going a perfect 8-0 in those games. On the year, Ortiz leads team and ranks 20th in the NEC in rebounding (4.8 rpg) while also pacing the team with 2.0 steals (2nd NEC) and 3.9 assists (8th NEC) per game.
* With the one-point victory over Quinnipiac (1/28), the Seahawks are 8-3 in games decided by 10 points or less, including going 4-2 in games decided by five points or fewer. Over the last two years,
Dan Hurley's teams are 14-9 in five-point games.
* After halftime, the Green & White's 11 NEC opponents have been forced into just 19.7 percent (15-76) shooting from long range, compared to 38.8 percent (38-98) in the first half.
* In the win at Sacred Heart (1/26), Murray drained a career-best seven en route to a season-best 21 points. The Canadian native is converting a NEC-best 52.9 percent (54-102) and would rank second in the NCAA if he had the required 2.5/game. Murray also ranks sixth in the NEC in free throw percentage (.815) and 15th in field goal percentage (.479). The reigning First Team All-NEC performer was recently profiled by the NEC. Click
HERE to see the entire video.
* Additionally, he has gone over 20 points on 11 occasions in his career while recording double-figures in 53 of his last 58 games.
* Murray been red-hot of late, draining 21-of-35 (.600) from long range his last seven games.
*The Canadian native has also converted a school-record 44.1 percent (169-383) from long range over his four years en route to 1,122 career points (28th all-time at Wagner).
* Over the last two games, the Wagner backcourt of sophomore Ortiz, Murray and Rivers, Murray and Ortiz have pressured their counterparts into just 16.7 percent (9-54) shooting.
* The Seahawks have won seven of its nine NEC games by at least 12 points, while ranking first in the league during conference play with a +11.9 scoring margin.
* In the win over RMU (2/2), senior
Chris Martin returned after missing the previous two games and deposited nine points, leaving him just 38 away from becoming the 39th member of the school's 1,000-point club.
* The Green & White's 73-61 victory over St. Francis (NY) (1/19) was its eighth-straight, while giving Wagner its longest winning streak since ripping off 16-straight under
P.J. Carlesimo in the 1978-1979 season. Additionally, the Seahawks' current 18-4 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.
* Wagner leads the NEC and rank 20th in the nation with a +3.6 turnover margin and has posted a positive differential in 16-of-22 game. The Seahawks also paces the league in scoring margin (+9.4) (44th NCAA), fewest turnovers (13.0) (99th NCAA), field goal percentage defense (.402) (56th NCAA), scoring defense (63.7 ppg) (90th NEC), blocked shots (4.2) (80th NCAA), three point percentage (.379) (42th NCAA) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.0) (141st NCAA).Wagner is also second in the league in scoring offense (73.1 ppg) (75th NCAA) and free throw percentage (.753) (22nd NCAA).
* Rivers (15.2 ppg) (11th NEC), Williams (12.8 ppg) (14th NEC) and Murray (12.6 pp) (16th NEC) lead the team in scoring and have accounted for 54.7 percent (880/1608) of the team's scoring.
*Wagner has won eight of its last 10 games with Saint Francis (PA), including five-straight at home. However, the Red Flash lead the all-time series by a 32-27 count.
* Last year, Murray averaged 18.5 points per game while shooting 53.8 percent (14-26) from the floor, including 50.0 percent (5-10) from long range over two games against SFPA.
