Men's Basketball Faces Fordham in Thursday Matinee

December 20, 2023

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team plays its final non-conference road game of the game on Thursday at Fordham. The 12:00 p.m. game will be televised on SNY and streamed on ESPN+.

CCSU GAME NOTES | HOME GAME PROGRAM LINKS | FORDHAM GAME NOTES

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The Blue Devils and Rams are meeting for the sixth time overall and the third straight season.

OPENING NOTES
•    Central Connecticut plays its final non-conference road game of the campaign with a Noon tipoff at Fordham on Thursday.
•    Head coach Patrick Sellers is in his third season at the helm of his alma mater and has improved the team's win total over the previous season in each campaign.
•    The Rams lead the all-time series with CCSU, 4-1 and have won four straight matchups.
•    The Blue Devils close out non-conference play at home against Saint Elizabeth (Dec. 30) before opening the Northeast Conference slate at Stonehill on Jan. 4.

WITH A CCSU WIN ...
•    Central would win its 5th non-conference game, its most since the 2018-19 season (6).
•    CCSU would defeat an A10 opponent for the first time since Nov. 18, 2012 (81-74 at La Salle).
•    The Blue Devils would win back-to-back non-conference road games for the first time since 2017 (Nov. 24, 74-73, at Cleveland State; Dec. 2, 68-62, at Brown).

NOTABLES
•    Central's win at UMass Lowell ended the nation's 2nd-longest homecourt win streak. UML had won 20 straight at the Tsongas Center dating back to the 2022-23 season-opener.
•    With UML ranked 89 in the NCAA NET rankings, it marked a Quad 2 win for CCSU. A Quad 2 win is one that either comes at home against a team ranked 31-75 in the NET, on a neutral floor against teams slotted 51-100 or on the road vs. a team ranked between 76-135. By virtue of the victory, CCSU moved up 37 spots in the NET rankings to 244.
•    CCSU limited UMass Lowell to 34.5 percent shooting from the field, the best mark for against a DI opponent since holding LIU to 28.6 percent shooting on Jan. 22, 2023. CCSU also held the River Hawks to 4-19 (.211) from downtown, a season-low vs. a DI rival

•    Jordan Jones has settled into a starting role, averaging 11.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.9 steals in 24.0 minutes on the season.
•    In 9 games as a starter, he has 12.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, a 1.8 assist-to ratio, 2.0 steals and is shooting .500 from the field and .435 on 3-pointers.
•    He leads the Blue Devils with 21 steals and ranks among the NEC leaders in 3fg pct (4th, .423), steals (6th), assists (12th, 2.4), FG pct (12th, .486) and scoring (14th).
•    In 2022-23, he ranked 3rd nationally in the D-2 ranks in steals (2.59) and 6th in assists (6.5) at Coker (SC) University.

•    Tre Breland has been a reliable 6th man for the Blue Devils, posting 8.1 ppg and 3.5 rpg in 22.4 minutes, while scoring 10+ in 6 games.
•    Breland leads the NEC in 3-point accuracy at .533 (16-of-30).
•    He has a 3-pointer in 8 straight games including 2 games with 3+.

•    Joe Ostrowsky has combined to distribute 8 assists, against just 2 turnovers, in the past two games.
•    He had 5 assists against 1 turnover in 33 minutes at UMass Lowell.
•    He's posting s a 1.9 assists-turnover ratio with 3.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg.