Men's Basketball Returns to Mount St. Mary's Saturday

The Blue Devils and Mountaineers tip off at 4 p.m. on NEC Front Row.

January 5, 2018

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team travels to Mount St. Mary's for a 4:00 p.m. contest on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Devils will be looking to bounce back from back-to-back Northeast Conference defeats, while the Mount picked up its first league win on Thursday.

CCSU led by as many as 12 points in the second half before FDU rallied for the 81-77 win. The Mountaineers had six players score in double-figures in its 96-80 win over Bryant.

All CCSU home games and Northeast Conference games are available to watch online, for free, at NECFrontRow.com.

GAMEDAY INFORMATION | Knott Arena (Emmitsburg, MD)

CCSU (8-8, 1-2 NEC) at Mount St. Mary's (7-9, 1-2 NEC) | Saturday, Jan. 6 | 4:00 PM
VIDEO (NECFrontRow) | LIVE STATS | @KizerBlueDevil (In-game Twitter updates)

GAME NOTES | 2017-18 NCAA Rules Review Video

TODAY'S GAME • Central Connecticut faces the defending NEC champ, Mount St. Mary's, on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Devils rallied from a 15-point deficit after the half for a win over the Mountaineers in Emmitsburg last season, 54-52.

SERIES HISTORY • The Blue Devils and Mountaineers are meeting for the 41st time. Central leads the all-time series, 21-19.

LAST TIME OUT • Sophomore Joe Hugley posted his first double-double with 33 points and 12 rebounds, but CCSU lost a second half lead to Fairleigh Dickinson, falling 81-77 on Thursday night at the Rothman Center. CCSU led by as much as 12 points in the second half, before FDU rallied late for the Northeast Conference win. Hugley would score 33 points on 10-of-20 shooting, including 5-of-11 from three-point range. It was the first 30-point game for CCSU since former Blue Devil Matt Mobley scored 31 at Bryant on Feb. 26, 2015. Central led for all but 3:13 after scoring the first five points of the game. The Blue Devils would lead by as many as 11 points in the opening half after hitting 16-of-27 (.593) from the field. Hugley scored five straight points for CCSU to make it 37-26 with 3:02 left in the period. Darian Anderson would hit a trifecta for FDU just before the horn to make it 41-38 at halftime. FDU got within a point at 48-47 with 16:48 to play, but a 10-0 Central run pushed the lead back to double-figures. The Knights would cut the deficit to 65-64 after outscoring Central 13-2 over a four-minute span. A layup by Noah Morgan cut the CCSU lead to one with 6:35 to play. After Nehls hit a layup, Jenkins would tie the game at 67-all on a three-pointer. FDU would take its first lead on two foul shots by Morgan with 3:33 to play to make it 69-67. CCSU would tie the game on a Hugley layup, but the Knights would get four straight from Jenkins to take the lead for good.

HUGLEY'S HUGE NIGHT • Sophomore Joe Hugley had his first double-double with 33 points and 12 rebounds, both career-highs, at Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday. He shot 10-20 overall and 5-11 from the arc. The 33 points, in a career-high 32 minutes, was the first 30-point outing by a Blue Devil since Matt Mobley scored 31 at Bryant on Feb. 26, 2015. Hugley's five three-pointers was just the third time this season a Blue Devil had five or more in a game (Austin Nehls: 6 at Hartford, 5 at ECU).

BLUE DEVILS SIGN TWO FOR 2018-19 • Head coach Donyell Marshall announced the signings of Michael Underwood and Karrington Wallace to join the squad in 2018-19. Underwood is a 6-foot-5 wing from Southwest HS (Fort Worth, TX). A shooter, he earned District 7-5A Offensive MVP as a junior. Wallace, a 6-foot-7 forward from Archbishop Wood (Warminster, PA) helped the Vikings go 28-3 and win a 5A state title in 2017.

UP NEXT • CCSU is in the middle of a three-game road stretch, before it returns home to host Bryant on Saturday, Jan. 13. The Blue Devils will go to St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday, Jan. 11.