Men's Basketball Returns to Action at Quinnipiac Friday
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team faces in-state foe Quinnipiac on Friday afternoon. The game is slated for a 4 p.m. tipoff and will be carried on ESPN+. The teams will meet for the third straight season.
CCSU GAME NOTES | LIVESTATS | WATCH | AUDIO
Central will be facing Quinnipiac for the third straight season, and the 72nd time in the series. The schools did not meet from February, 2013 until November, 2021.
OPENING NOTES
• Central faces in-state rival and former NEC-rival Quinnipiac on Friday afternoon.
• Head coach Patrick Sellers is in his third season at the helm of his alma mater.
• The Blue Devils and Bobcats are meeting for the 72nd time in the series history. The schools were members of the NEC together from 1998-2013. One of their most memorable meetings came for the 2002 conference title when CCSU won 78-71 to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
• CCSU will play its home opener on Nov. 13 against Framingham State.
WITH A CCSU WIN ...
• Central would move its record to .500 on the season.
• The Blue Devils would record their first road win since Feb. 11, 2023 at FDU (3 games).
• CCSU would end a two-game losing streak to Quinnipiac and post its first win in the series since Feb. 25, 2013.
NOTABLES
• Patrick Sellers is one of 50 head coaches nationally to currently be head coach at their alma mater. Sellers played at CCSU from 1987-91.
• Sellers played for the Blue Devils from 1987-91 and was team captain (1991) and ECC Defensive Player of the Year (1991) in his career.
• NEC coaches; Sellers, Joe Gallo (Merrimack), Chris Kraus (Stonehill), Rob Krimmel (SFU) and Nate Champion (Le Moyne) lead their alma mater.
• 242 straight games with a three-pointer. The last game CCSU had without a made 3-pointer: Jan. 31, 2015 at Wagner (0-for-6).
• Central has posted 2 of its top 10 single-season three-point totals in the first two seasons under coach Sellers, including 204 in 2022-23.
• At Wagner on Jan. 20, 2023, Central had one three-pointer for the first time since going 1-for-8 on Jan. 7, 2017 vs. Mount St. Mary's.
• Kellen Amos is the second-highest returning scorer in the NEC (14.1 ppg). He started all 32 games and scored 20+ points in 7 games
• Had a career-high 36 points against SFBK on Dec. 31, going 6-6 on 3fg. He became the 1st player in the nation since 2013 with 2 games of 6+ 3fg in a game without a miss, twice in one season.
• Allan Jeanne-Rose scored 21 points (8-10 fg, 3-4 3fg) with 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists in 24 minutes at URI in his first game with CCSU.
• Jeanne-Rose and Jayden Brown started in the CCSU frontcourt and combined to play 47 minutes, while committing 0 turnovers.
• Central recorded 7 blocked shots at URI, including three in the opening four minutes. The Blue Devils ranked 3rd in the league in blocked shots last season.
• CCSU rejected 122 shots as a team last season, the 7th best single-season mark in program history.
• The Blue Devils had 9 players log at least 11 minutes in the season-opener at URI. Kellen Amos (26:53) and Jay Rodgers (26:45) were the only athletes to log more than 25 minutes in the game.