Men's Basketball Makes Short Trip to Sacred Heart on Thursday
The teams will meet again on Feb. 4 this season.
Central Connecticut men's basketball plays in-state rival Sacred Heart on Thursday night in Fairfield, CT. Tipoff at the Pitt Center will be at 7:00 p.m. This will be the first of two meetings between the squads this season. They will meet again at Detrick Gymnasium on Feb. 4. Although fans will not be in the stands, the games will stream for free on NEC Front Row.
GAME LINKS: GAME NOTES (CCSU) | GAME NOTES (SACRED HEART) | VIDEO (NEC Front Row) | AUDIO | LIVE STATS | GAMEDAY PROGRAM (HOME GAMES)
OTHER INFORMATION: 2020-21 CCSU RECORD BOOK | NORTHEAST CONFERENCE HOMEPAGE | NEC INDIVIDUAL STATS (ALL GAMES) - (NEC GAMES) | NEC TEAM STATS (ALL GAMES) - (NEC GAMES)
CCSU will look to bounce back from a pair of losses at Bryant last week. Junior Zach Newkirk averaged 14.0 ppg, including a career-high 17 points in Friday's loss. Sophomore Greg Outlaw, who leads the team in scoring on the year (13.1 ppg), posted a team-high 15.0 ppg last week. Central's offense continues to rank third in the league's statistical rankings in both field goal percentage (.451) and three-point shooting (.347). Defensively, the Blue Devils became just the second team to hold Bryant to fewer than 80 points when it gave up 76 points in Friday's tilt.
SHU finds itself at 3-4 overall and 3-3 in the Northeast Conference following a split at Merrimack last week. Tyler Thomas, a sophomore guard, and Matas Spokas, a first-year forward, each earned NEC honors as Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively last week. Thomas averaged 29.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg and 4.0 apg, while Spokas put up 13.5 ppg and 4.5 rpg against the Warriors last week. The Pioneers rank second in the conference, hitting 9.1 three-pointers per game thus far.
WITH A CCSU WIN THIS WEEK...
• Central would earn its first win vs. Sacred Heart since Feb. 21, 2015 (10 games).
• CCSU could end a 2-game losing streak and earn its 2nd road win of the year.
QUICK HITTING NOTES
• Karrington Wallace posted 11 points, 10 rebounds on Friday for his first career double-double and the second by a Blue Devil in 2020-21.
• Zach Newkirk scored career-highs in successive games last week. He had 17 points on Friday.
• Nigel Scantlebury had 6 assists (0 turnovers) on Friday and has posted at least 5 assists in a game on five occasions this season.
• CCSU held Bryant to 76 points on Friday, just the 2nd game Bryant has scored 80 points or fewer.
UP NEXT:
The two teams are meeting once this week and will play again on Feb. 4 when Sacred Heart visits New Britain. The Blue Devils will return to Detrick Gymnasium and host Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 21-22.
