1/31/2016 12:00:00 AM

Saint Peter's Men's Basketball Opens Second Half Of League Schedule Against Iona At The Yanitelli Center On Monday

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(Chris Radecke calls the action on MAAC.TV)

IONA (11-9, 8-3 MAAC) AT SAINT PETER'S (8-11, 6-4 MAAC)
Monday, February 1, 2016, 7 p.m.
Jersey City, N.J./Yanitelli Center

GAME 20: ITEMS OF NOTE
>> Monday's game between Saint Peter's and Iona marks 113th meeting in the all-time series dating back to 1946-47 season.
>> The Gaels lead the series 62-50, including taking four of the last five tilts.
>> Iona defeated the Peacocks 10 days ago in New Rochelle 64-58 on Jan. 22 while the Peacocks will be looking for its second-straight win against the Gaels at the Yanitelli Center after winning the regular season finale last season in Jersey City 68-60 on Mar. 1, 2015.
>> Saint Peter's is 8-12 under head coach John Dunne against the Gaels, including a 4-5 mark in Jersey City.
>> Junior Quadir Welton paced the Peacocks in the game 10 days ago with 12 points and 13 rebounds while freshman Antwon Portley added 12 points and junior Trevis Wyche chipped in 10 points in the loss.
>> Senior Isaiah Williams powered Iona in the last matchup with 19 points while sophomore Deyshonee Much posted 17 points and senior A.J. English registered 11 points in the contest.
>> Saint Peter's came into the game against Iona on Jan. 22 riding a season-best three-game winning streak, but the squad has lost its last three games that started with the loss in New Rochelle.
>> Saint Peter's comes into the contest 8-11 overall and 6-4 in league play after falling 73-57 at Monmouth on Saturday night on ESPN3.
>> Welton paced the Peacocks with 16 points and 11 rebounds against the Hawks while Portley chipped in 10 points in the loss.
>> Portley leads the team with 14.6 points per game this season.
>> Saint Peter's is 6-4 in the league at the midway point of the schedule. The Jersey City team sits in fourth place, a half game against of Fairfield (6-5) and one game ahead of Manhattan (5-5). The Top-5 teams in the standings receive a bye in the first round of the MAAC Tournament.
>> The Gaels comes into the contest 11-9 overall and 8-3 in league play after defeating Manhattan 70-56 on Friday.
>> Williams and senior Ibn Muhammad each had 15 points against the Jaspers while junior Jordan Washington added 13 points and freshman Jahaad Porter registered 10 points in the winning effort.
>> English is one of four Gaels scoring double figures, leading the way with a team-best 22.4 points per game.
>> The Peacocks travel to Siena on Friday on ESPNU at 9 p.m. Saint Peter's defeated the Saints 72-68 on Dec. 6 in Jersey City.
>> Saint Peter's then will have four-straight games at the Yanitelli Center, including the rescheduled game against Manhattan on Feb. 17.
>> The squad returns to home to start a four-game homestand against Quinnipiac on February 8. The two teams have split its season series in the last two years.
>> After the tilt against the Bobcats Niagara, Canisius and Manhattan will come to town to complete the homestand.
>> Saint Peter's will have seven of its last 10 games in Jersey City after having seven of its first 10 games played on the road.

WHAT'S TRENDING
>> Junior Quadir Welton has scored double figures in six-straight games for the first time in his career, including registering three double-doubles in his last four games. The junior is averaging 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in the last six tilts. In the six games prior to his current streak, Welton averaged 7.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Welton now has five double-doubles on the year, but the Peacocks are 1-4 when he posts the trick in a game. The junior continues his career trend of scoring more on the road than at home after posting eight of his 12 double-digit performances away from Jersey City.
>> Freshman Antwon Portley registered 10 points for the second-straight game. The freshman has posted double figures in points in nine-straight games and 15 of the 19 tilts this season. Portley is averaging 14.2 points per game in his last nine tilts, including four games with at least 15 points with two 20-point performances. Portley has scored in all 10 conference games to start out his career. The squad is 6-3 this season when the freshman scores at least 15 points in a contest.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche finished the game against Monmouth with eight points and seven assists to mark the first time in 2016 the junior did not post double figures in points. Wyche is averaging 15.4 points per game in 2016 with six games of 15 points or more. Wyche is averaging 9.5 points per game in the eight games that he has started and 14.9 points per game in 11 contests off the bench. >> Wyche has also dished out seven assists in five of the last seven games, including a season-high nine assists against Marist on Jan. 17 to narrowly miss his first career double-double after finishing with 20 points and nine assists.
>> Saint Peter's is off to the third-best start under head coach John Dunne with a 6-4 mark. Both the 2009-10 and 2010-11 teams posted a 7-3 mark in the circuit.
>> Saint Peter's will be playing its third game in five days with its contest against Iona on Monday. It will be the first of two times this season the team will play three times in five days. Thanks to the rescheduling of the Manhattan game, the Peacocks will play Feb. 14 (Canisius), Feb. 17 (Manhattan), Feb. 18 (Quinnipiac).
>> Saint Peter's lost three-straight conference games for the first time this season. Last season, the Peacocks lost four-straight in February before going 3-1 in the final four games of the year to earn a spotin the MAAC Semifinals. In 2013-14, the Jersey City team lost five-straight league games before Saint Peter's closed the year by winning seven of the last 10 games.
>> With the three-game losing streak, the Peacocks are now in fourth place in the standing. Saint Peter's is a half game ahead of Fairfield (6-5) for fifth place and a game ahead of Manhattan (5-5) , who is in sixth place. The Top-5 teams in the league receive a first round by in the postseason. Monmouth (9-2) leads the league and are two and a half games ahead of the Peacocks while Siena (8-3) and Iona (8-3) are both a game and a half ahead of Saint Peter's.

SCORING LEADERS
>> Saint Peter's has had six different players lead the team in scoring this year.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche has led the team in points seven times this season, including seven of the last nine games. The junior has 11 double-figure games this season, including three 20-point performances in his career and all three games have come in the last eight days.
>> Freshman Antwon Portley has paced the team in scoring five times this season. The freshman has six 20+ games this season and has posted double figures in points in 15 games this year.
>> Junior Quadir Welton has led the team in scoring six times. Welton has posted 12 double-figure point games this season.
>> Junior Chazz Patterson has led the team in points one time this year. The junior has five double-digit scoring games this season.
>> Freshman Cameron Jones' only 20-point performance and double-digit game powered the Peacocks in scoring during that tilt.
>> Senior Elias Desport paced the Peacocks in points once and has one 10-point game this season.
>> Sophomore Rodney Hawkins has three double-digit point games.

HOME SWEET HOME
>> Freshman Antwon Portley is averaging a team-best 14.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game in the squad's seven home games this season. The freshman has five double-digit performances at the Yanitelli Center, including a career-high 30 points against Brown in the season opener on Nov. 13.
>> Junior Quadir Welton is averaging 12.6 points and 8.3 rebounds at home this season. The junior has posted double digits five times this season in Jersey City, including a career-high 18 points against Siena on Dec. 6.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche is averaging 10.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in Jersey City this year. The junior has four 10+ games this season, including a career-high 20 against Marist on Jan. 17.
>> The Peacocks are averaging 64.9 points per game at home and are shooting 39.7 percent from the floor while the opponent is averaging 64.7 points per game and shooting 39.6 percent per game.
>> Saint Peter's is 4-3 at home after falling 76-45 to Rider on Thursday.
>> The squad is 2-1 in league play after defeating Siena 72-68 on Dec. 6 and the Red Foxes on Jan. 17.
>> The Peacocks are looking for their second-straight win against Iona at the Yanitelli Center
>> Saint Peter's will have seven of its final 10 games at the Yanitelli Center, including a four-game homestand.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
>> Junior Trevis Wyche leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6) and ranks fourth in assists (4.8 pg.) and sixth in field goal percentage (51.7).
>> Junior Quadir Welton ranks second in rebounds (7.8 pg.), third in offensive rebounds (3.4), sixth in blocks (1.0) and ninth in defensive rebounds (4.4).
>> Junior Chazz Patterson ranks eighth in the defensive rebounds (4.6 pg.).
>> Freshman Antwon Portley is eighth in minutes played (33.6 pg.), eighth in 3-pointers made (2.3), ninth in free throw percentage (80.9) and 14th in scoring (14.6 ppg.).

PORTLEY HONORED THREE TIMES
>> Freshman Antwon Portley was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week for the first weekend of the season and then received the honor again for the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 6. He was also named the Corvias ECAC Rookie of the Week for the Nov. 30-Dec. 6 time frame before nabbing the honor for the third time for the week of Dec. 14-20.
>> Portley averaged 19.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in his first two collegiate games to earn the honor for the first time, including posting a career-high 30 points in a 77-65 win against Brown on Nov. 13. The freshman posted 23 of his 30 points in the second half and powered a decisive 30-9 run in the final frame with 13 points. Portley then scored nine points against Lafayette on Nov. 15, including posting two baskets in the closing minutes of regulation to force overtime.
>> The freshman then averaged 18.0 points per game to lead Saint Peter's to its first 2-0 league start since 2010-11. Portley scored 25 points in a 73-61 win at Rider on Dec. 2 and then added 11 points against Siena on Dec. 6.
>> Portley scored 21 points against No. 21 George Washington on Dec. 19 to earn the honor for the third time this season.
>> Portley is the first player under head coach John Dunne to earn the honor three times. Wesley Jenkins won the award twice during the 2006-07 season.

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A CAREER DAY
>> Junior Trevis Wyche posted a career-high 26 points against No. 21 George Washington on Dec. 19.
>> Junior Quadir Welton has posted a career-high performance in two of his last three games. The junior posted 18 points against Siena on Dec. 6 to reset his career high that he set after scoring 17 points against Fairleigh Dickinson.
>> Junior Chazz Patterson scored a career-high 17 points against the Saints on Dec. 6. The junior registered 16 points twice this season before his 17 points against Siena.
>> Freshman Cameron Jones notched a career-high 21 points off the bench against Princeton on Nov. 21.
>> Freshman Antwon Portley recorded a career-high 30 points in his collegiate debut against Brown on Nov. 13. He is the first freshman to score 30 points in a game under head coach John Dunne and is just the second player to post 30 points in his Saint Peter's debut after Marvin Dominique tallied 31 points against LIU Brooklyn in the 2013-14 season opener.

MILESTONE WATCH
>> Junior Quadir Welton ranks ninth in program history in blocked shots with 83 rejections. Welton moved into ninth place with one block against Fairfield on Jan. 19. He can move into seventh place with two rejections.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche became the ninth player in program history to dish out 300 assists after handing out nine dimes against Marist on Jan. 17. Wyche, who has 326 assists, moved into eighth place after dishing out four helpers against Fairfield on Jan. 19, can move into seventh place with five assists.
>> Wyche, who needs eight assists to reach 100 for the third-straight season, is the first Peacocks player to record consecutive 100 assist seasons since Keydren Clark did it all four years of his career. Wyche had 120 assists as a freshman and 114 last year.

ASSISTING WYCHE
>> Junior Trevis Wyche has fueled the team in assists in 63 of the 84 games in his career.
>> Wyche became the first player since Keydren Clark against Marist on Jan. 25, 2006 to hand out 10 assists in a game when he had 10 dimes against Boston University on Dec. 6. It was also the first time a player reached the feat on the road since Clark did it in 2004.
>> The junior has dished out at least five assists in a game 32 times in his three seasons and seven or more 13 times, including six times in 2015-16. Wyche has posted three games with eight assists and one nine-assist game this season.
>> He also fueled the team in steals 36 times and notched a personal-best four thefts against Siena on Jan. 25, 2015.
>> Wyche recorded double figures in points 28 times in his career, including three 20-point performances.
>> The junior notched a career-high 26 points against George Washington on Dec. 19.

WELTON THE ROAD WARRIOR
>> Junior Quadir Welton has posted 27 games with at least 10 points and 11 games with at least 10 rebounds.
>> Welton, who has posted double figures in 12 of the first 19 games this season, scored double digits 11 times as a sophomore.
>> The junior set a new career-best with 18 points against Siena on Dec. 6.
>> He has reached double figures 17 times on the road and eight times at home.
>> Welton has scored double figures in six-straight games after posting four-consecutive games with double digits earlier this season.
>> He has recorded 10+ points in consecutive games five times in his career.
>> Welton has also posted six-double-doubles in his career, including four in 2015-16.
>> The junior has posted a career-high 13 boards three times in his career after reaching the total as a junior against Quinnipiac on Jan. 2, 2015 and then matched the total twice this season against Lafayette on Nov. 15 and against Iona on Jan. 22.

STARTING PATTERSON
>> Junior Chazz Patterson has started 25 games in his career over the last two years and has registered six of his seven double-digit performances in those games.
>> This season, Patterson has registered double digits in points five times , including two 16-point games, a career-high 17 points against Siena on Dec. 6 and 14 points against Niagara on Jan. 7.
>> Patterson posted double figures three times as a sophomore and only his 10-point game against Canisius on Feb. 15 came when he started the tilt on the bench.

HALL OF FAME
>> The Saint Peter's Hall of Fame will be held on Feb. 6 at the Mac Mahon Student Center on campus starting at 6 p.m.
>> Among the inductees for this year's class is the 1967-68 Peacocks men's basketball team that advanced to the National Invitational Tournament semifinals.
>> The team nicknamed "Run, Baby Run" after the offense that legendary head coach Don Kennedy ran. Saint Peter's defeated Marshall 102-93 in double overtime and then downed top-ranked Duke 100-71 to reach the semifinals.
>> The squad then lost to Kansas 58-46 and Notre Dame 81-78 (in the consolation) to finish fourth.
>> The team is considered by many the greatest team in Saint Peter's history.

HELLO MY NAME IS
>> Head coach John Dunne added 10 players to the roster in 2015-16.
>> Senior Cavon Baker (Houston) and juniors Nnamdi Enechionyia (Samford) and Nick Griffin (George Washington) each transferred to Saint Peter's and will have to sit out the season due to NCAA Division I transfer regulations.
>> Freshman Samuel Idowu, Cameron Jones, Mamadou Ndiaye and Antwon Portley each signed NLI's to join the team in 2015-16 and each made their collegiate debut against Brown on Nov. 13.
>> Portley posted the best collegiate debut among the bunch with 30 points and scored the first basket of the season for the team. Jones also registered his first collegiate points against the Bears while Ndiaye had his first points against Lafayette on Nov. 15. Idowu registered his first career points against Seton Hall on Dec. 13.
>> Junior Chris Williams, sophomore J.R. William and freshman Jaquan Robertson also joined the team this season and each made their collegiate debut in the tilt against Rider on Dec. 2.

GARDEN STATE OF MIND
>> Saint Peter's will play five of the seven teams in the Garden State in 2015-16.
>> The Peacocks traveled to Princeton (L, 72-75), Fairleigh Dickinson (L, 62-77) and Seton Hall (L, 46-72) in non-conference play.
>> Saint Peter's will also continue its hOURglass Rivalry with Rider (W, 73-61, Jan. 28) and Monmouth (Jan. 30, Feb. 21).
>> The Jersey City team went 5-4 in the games last season against teams from New Jersey.
>> NJIT and Rutgers are the only two teams not on the squad's regular season slate this season. The Peacocks battled the Highlanders in preseason while the Scarlet Knights did not return to the schedule in 2015-16. Saint Peter's has won its last two matchups against its Big Ten counterpart. >> The Peacocks have never played all seven New Jersey teams in the same season.

PRESEASON POLL
>> Two-time defending MAAC regular season champion Iona was tabbed as the preseason favorite after receiving 10 of the 11 first place votes. Monmouth was picked second while the two-time defending MAAC Tournament champion Manhattan grabbed the final first place vote to finish tied for third in the poll with Rider while Siena, Canisius, Quinnipiac, Fairfield, Saint Peter's, Marist and Niagara round out the 11-team poll.

THE 20-POINT CLUB
>> Despite coming into the season with no players that had a 20-point game, freshman Antwon Portley became the first player on the roster to register a 20-point contest with 30 points against Brown in the season opener on Nov. 13. Portley now has five 20-point games this season.
>> Fellow freshman Cameron Jones became the second player this season to reach 20 points when he posted a career-best 21 points against Princeton on Nov. 21.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche became the first upperclassmen to reach 20-points when he posted a career-high 26 points against No. 21 George Washington on Dec. 19 and then added his second 20-point game with 20 points against Marist on Jan. 17.
>> Saint Peter's is 46-43 when a player has a 20-point performance under head coach John Dunne.
>> A player has scored at least 30 points in a game six times under Dunne.

BOARDS UP
>> Junior Quadir Welton and sophomore Elisha Boone are the only two players on the team to reached double-figures in rebounds in their career.
>>Welton has done it 11 times, including seven times this season. He has a career-best 13 boards three times in his career, including against Lafayette (Nov. 15) and Iona (Jan. 22) this season.
>> Boone reached double-digits in rebounds for the first time in his career with 11 caroms against Princeton on Nov. 21 and then had 10 boards against Cornell on Dec. 28.

DOUBLE VISION
>> Junior Quadir Welton is the only player on the roster that have posted double-doubles in his career.
>> Welton has seven double-double in career after posting the trick once in each of his first two seasons and five in 2015-16. .
>> The junior notched his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds against Lafayette on Nov. 15 and then had 12 points and 11 rebounds in his next game against Hartford on Nov. 19 to post consecutive double-doubles for the first time in his career. Welton then had 13 points and 10 rebounds against Fairfield for his first double-double in 14 games on Jan. 19, posted 12 points and 13 rebounds against Iona on Jan. 22 and then had 16 points and 11 rebounds against Monmouth on Jan. 30.

IN THE PROS
>> Former Saint Peter's standout Marvin Dominique is playing professionally in Spain with Viten Getafe.
>> Dominique posted 986 points and 521 rebounds in his two seasons in Jersey City. He was named to the All-MAAC third team in 2013-14 and to the All-MAAC second team in 2014-15.

AGAINST THE BIG DOGS
>> Head coach John Dunne has wins against Alabama, Rutgers and Seton Hall in four of the last five seasons.
>> The Peacocks defeated Alabama 50-49 on Nov. 22, 2010 during the USVI Paradise Jam. The squad then opened the 2012-13 season with a 56-52 win against Rutgers on Nov. 9, 2012, won a thriller 83-80 in overtime against Seton Hall on Dec. 14, 2013 and then posted a 68-50 win against Rutgers on Nov. 25, 2014.
>> The squad has beat Rutgers in back-to-back games for the first time in team history and improved to 3-3 under Dunne against the Scarlet Knights.
>> Saint Peter's is 5-12 under Dunne against big name programs and 4-2 against those opponents in games decided by under 10 points.
>> Seton Hall is the only "Big Name" program on the schedule this year.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
>> Junior Quadir Welton has a relative that has played in the professional ranks.
>> Welton's uncle is former NBA star Rasheed Wallace. Wallace played 16 seasons in the NBA for Washington (1995-96), Portland (1996-04), Atlanta (2004), Detroit (2004-09), Boston (2009-10) and New York Knicks (2012-13). Wallace, a four-time All-Star won an NBA title with Detroit in 2004.

QUICK HITS ON DUNNE
>> Head coach John Dunne is in his 10th season at Saint Peter's.
>> He led the team to the 2011 MAAC Tournament title and berth in the NCAA Tournament.
>> Dunne has coached seven 1,000-point scorers, three All-MAAC second-team selections, four All-MAAC third-team honorees, two MAAC All-Rookie selections, a MAAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, three MAAC All-Tournament selections and an All-MAAC Academic honoree.

ABOUT THE COACHING STAFF
>> Assistant Coaches Matt Henry and Serge Clement each return to the bench for head coach John Dunne.
>> Henry and Clement both return for their third season season in Jersey City.
>> Alex Stone joins the staff in 2015-16 as and assistant coach while Chris Mongilia and JK Schneiderman both join the staff as co-directors of basketball operations.