2/11/2016 12:00:00 AM

Saint Peter's Men's Basketball Welcomes Niagara To The Yanitelli Center On Friday Night For ESPN3 Bout

LIVE AUDIO (FREE)
(Glenn Crooks and Chris Radecke calls the action on MAAC.TV)

ESPN3 BROADCAST
(Jonathan Yardley and Rob Kennedy on the call for ESPN3)

NIAGARA (6-19, 4-10 MAAC) AT SAINT PETER'S (9-13, 7-6 MAAC)
Friday, February 12, 2016, 7 p.m.
Jersey City, N.J./Yanitelli Center

GAME 23: ITEMS OF NOTE
> Friday's game between Saint Peter's and Niagara marks the 80th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1936-37 season.
>> The Purple Eagles lead the all-time series 49-30, including 36-16 since joining the league in 1990-91.
>> Niagara defeated the Peacocks 63-61 up in Western New York on Jan. 7. Saint Peter's will be looking to split the season series for the third-straight year with the Purple Eagles after each team won on its home floor in 2013-14 before the road team was victorious last season in both tilts.
>> Head coach John Dunne is 6-13 against Niagara, including a 3-6 record at the Yanitelli Center.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche paced the Peacocks in the January bout with 18 points and eight assists. Junior Chazz Patterson added 14 points and freshman Antwon Portley chipped in 10 points.
>> Junior Jeremy Satchell powered the Purple Eagles with 22 points while redshirt junior Emile Blackman added 14 points and sophomore Matt Scott chipped in 10 points.
>> The Peacocks come into the contest 9-13 overall and 7-6 in MAAC play after defeating Quinnipiac 68-52 on Monday.
>> Portley paced the Jersey City team with 25 points while junior Quadir Welton tallied 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and Patterson recorded 11 points in the win against the Bobcats.>> Portley leads the team with 14.3 points per game.
>> Going into play on Thursday, Saint Peter's sits in fourth place with a 7-6 league record, a half a game ahead of both Fairfield (7-7) and Manhattan (6-6). The Peacocks have seven games left with three of them coming against the Stags (Feb. 27) and Jaspers (Feb. 17, Feb. 23) in a fight for a Top-5 spot in the tournament.
>> Niagara comes into the tilt 6-19 overall and 4-10 in league play after falling 75-61 to Iona on Sunday.
>> Satchell led the Purple Eagles against the Gaels with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Blackman added 12 points and Scott produced 11 points and nine rebounds.
>> Scott leads the team with 16.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this season.
>> Niagara head coach Chris Casey was an assistant coach at Saint Peter's when the Peacocks won the 1991 and 1995 MAAC Tournaments and went to the NCAA Championships. Both of those teams are members of the Saint Peter's Hall of Fame.
>> Canisius comes to town on Valentine's Day in the second part of a doubleheader.
>>Saint Peter's ended a six-game skid against the Golden Griffins with a 70-53 win on Jan. 9.
>> Manhattan completes the homestand on Jan. 17 in the first meeting of the year between the two teams after the matchup on Jan. 25 was postponed. The Jaspers have won 10 straight in the series.
>> After the game against Manhattan, the Peacocks conclude the series against Quinnipiac on ESPN3 on Feb. 18 in Hamden, Conn.
>> Saint Peter's returns home to face Monmouth on Feb. 21. The Hawks downed the Peacocks 73-57 in West Long Branch on Jan. 30.

WHAT'S TRENDING
>> Junior Quadir Welton has been on a tear since the second game of the Western New York trip against Canisius on Jan. 9 when he posted double figures for the first time in five games. Since that game against the Golden Griffins, the junior has posted double figures in points in nine-straight games, led the team in points in five of those games and posted four double-doubles in that stretch. Welton is averaging 14.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in his last night games, including 15.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in his last five games when he has led the team in points in four of those tilts. He hauled in a career-high 14 rebounds after had three games with 13 boards in his career, including against Iona on Feb. 1.
>> Prior to his 25 points in Monday's game, the last time freshman Antwon Portley registered 20 points in a game was when he had 23 points in a 77-71 win against Fairfield on Jan. 19. The freshman averaged 8.8 points per game in the Peacocks five-game losing streak. The freshman maybe the key to success for the team with Portley averaging 18.2 points per game in the Peacocks nine wins and just 11.5 points per game in the 13 defeats. The freshman has registered nine of his 17 double-digit point performances in Saint Peter's wins, including four 20+ games. Portley has posted double figures in 11 of the last 13 games and is averaging 12.7 points per game in that span.
>> Junior Chazz Patterson added 11 points against the Bobcats for his first double-digit performance in nine games when he posted 14 points against Niagara on Jan. 7. The junior registered at least six points in his last six games and at least five boards four times in that stretch.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche missed the game against Quinnipiac due to an injury to mark the first game in his career that he has missed. Prior to the game on Monday, Wyche has posted double figures in 10 of his last 12 games, including three 20-point performances. The junior was averaging 13.8 points per game in that span. Wyche has also dished out seven assists in six of the last nine games and reached 100 assists for the third-straight season after handing out two dimes against the Saints. Keydren Clark is the last player to have consecutive 100-assist seasons and he did it all four years of his career.
>> Freshman Cameron Jones made his first career start in the game against Quinnipiac. The freshman finished the game with six points on two field goals from inside the 3-point line and two free throws. Jones has posted 121 points in his first season, but has recorded 102 of those points on 3-pointers. It was the second time in his career that he made more baskets from inside 3-point land than behind the arc and the first time that happened was when he notched a career-high 21 points against Princeton on Nov. 21. The freshman has posted at least six points in a game 12 times this season and has made at least one 3-pointer 19 of the 22 games and at least two treys in 11 contests this season.
>> Sophomore Elisha Boone has posted his three-highest point totals in his last three games and is averaging 9.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in that stretch. The sophomore registered a career-high 15 points against Iona on Feb. 1. Boone has hauled in at least five rebounds in his last three games and eight times this season.
>> Saint Peter's ended a five-game losing streak with its win against Quinnipiac. Last season, the Peacocks lost four-straight in February before going 3-1 in the final four games of the year to earn a spot in 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.
>> The squad is in the midst of a four-game homestand that started on Monday against Quinnipiac, Saint Peter's has a four-game homestand. It will be the longest homestand in league play since the 2007-08 season when the Peacocks had four-straight games at the Yanitelli Center. >> The Peacocks, who have five of their last seven at home, are 9-2 once February starts in the last three seasons at home.
>> Saint Peter's went 2-6 last season on ESPN3 while the team is 1-3 this season, including 0-3 in MAAC produced games.

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. The junior has 14 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 six times this season. The freshman has seven 20+ games this season and has posted double figures in points in 17 games this year. >> Junior Quadir Welton has led the team in scoring seven times, including four of the last five contests. Welton has posted 15 double-figure point games this season.
>> Junior Chazz Patterson has led the team in points one time this year. The junior has six 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 and sophomore Elisha Boone has one this season.

HOME SWEET HOME
>> Freshman Antwon Portley is averaging 14.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in the squad's nine home games this season. The freshman has six double-digit performances at the Yanitelli Center, including three 20-point outputs and a career-high 30 points against Brown in the season opener on Nov. 13.
>> Junior Quadir Welton is averaging 13.0 points and 8.8 rebounds at home this season. The junior has posted double digits seven times in Jersey City, including his two best offensive outputs this season after registering 18 points against Siena on Dec. 6 and 19 points against Iona on Feb. 1.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche is averaging 11.0 points and 3.6 rebounds in eight games in Jersey City this year. The junior has five 10+ games this season, including a career-high 20 against Marist on Jan. 17.
>> The Peacocks are averaging 65.4 points per game at home and are shooting 40.2 percent from the floor while the opponent is averaging 64.4 points per game and shooting 39.3 percent per game.
>> Saint Peter's is 5-4 at home after defeating Quinnipiac 68-52 on Monday.
>> The squad is 3-2 in league play and ended a two-game skid with the win against the Bobcats. >> The Peacocks are looking for its second win against Niagara at the Yanitelli Center in the last three years.
>> Saint Peter's will have five of its final seven games at the Yanitelli Center and are in the midst of a four-game homestand.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
>> Junior Trevis Wyche leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.5) and ranks fourth in assists (4.8 pg.) and sixth in field goal percentage (51.6).
>> Junior Quadir Welton ranks second in rebounds (8.0 pg.), third in offensive rebounds (3.3), sixth in blocks (1.1) and seventh in defensive rebounds (4.7 pg.).
>> Junior Chazz Patterson ranks ninth in the defensive rebounds (4.4 pg.) and ninth in steals (1.4).
>> Freshman Antwon Portley is eighth in minutes played (33.6 pg.), sixth in free throw percentage (82.9), 10th in 3-pointers made (2.2) and 17th in scoring (14.3 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 Quadir Welton has reset his career high three times this season, including 19 points against Iona on Feb. 1. Welton also hauled in a career-best 14 rebounds against Quinnipiac on Feb. 8.
>> Sophomore Elisha Boone posted a career-best 15 points against Iona on Feb. 1.
>> Junior Trevis Wyche posted a career-high 26 points against No. 21 George Washington on Dec. 19.
>> 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 seventh in program history in blocked shots with 88 rejections. Welton moved into seventh place with two blocks against Siena on Feb. 5. He can move into sixth place with four rejections.
>> Welton became the 17th player in program history to haul in 500 rebounds with eight boards against Siena on Feb. 5. The junior, who now has 516 rebounds to rank 15th in team history, can move into 14th place with three caroms and 13th place with 11 boards.
>> 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 335 assists, moved into sixth place after dishing out four helpers against Fairfield on Jan. 19, can move into fifth place with 42 assists.
>> Wyche notched his third-straight season with 100 helpers with two assists against Siena on Feb. 5. He 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 64 of the 85 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 33 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 31 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 30 games with at least 10 points and 12 games with at least 10 rebounds.
>> Welton, who has posted double figures in 15 of the first 22 games this season, scored double digits 11 times as a sophomore.
>> The junior set a new career-best with 19 points against Iona on Feb. 5.
>> He has reached double figures 20 times on the road and 10 times at home.
>> Welton has scored double figures in nine-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 eight double-doubles in his career, including six in 2015-16.
>> After posting 13 rebounds three times in his career, Welton established a new career in boards with 14 caroms against Quinnipiac on Feb. 8.

STARTING PATTERSON
>> Junior Chazz Patterson has started 29 games in his career over the last two years and has registered seven of his eight 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.
>> This season he has posted at least eight points in a game 11 times and at least five rebounds 10 times this season.

HALL OF FAME
>> The Saint Peter's Hall of Fame was held on Feb. 6 at the Mac Mahon Student Center on campus.
>> Among the inductees for this year's class was 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, L, 45-76) and Monmouth (L, 57-73, 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 seven 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 12 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 eight 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, 16 points and 11 boards against Monmouth on Jan. 30 and 10 points against a a career-high 14 rebounds against Quinnipiac on Feb. 8.

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.