Men's Basketball Hosts Pair of Home Games; "Blue Out" on Thursday

February 12, 2025

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team has a pair of Northeast Conference home games this weekend. CCSU will host Mercyhurst for a "Blue Out" at Thursday's game sponsored by A&A Office Systems. Fans are encouraged to wear blue to the game. Central hosts Saint Francis U on Saturday, which is sponsored by Tilcon. Both games will be streamed on NECFrontRow.

CCSU GAME NOTES | HOME GAME PROGRAM LINKS | MERCYHURST NOTES | SAINT FRANCIS U NOTES

MERCYHURST - LIVE STATS | WATCH | AUDIO | TICKETS

SFU - LIVE STATS | WATCH | AUDIO | TICKETS

The Blue Devils and Lakers will be meeting for the second time this season and the second time ever - CCSU won the first matchup. CCSU and the Red Flash are meeting for the second time this season. Central won the first matchup and the all-time series is 28-28.

OPENING NOTES
•    Central Connecticut hosts Mercyhurst and Saint Francis U this week in a pair of home tilts.
•    Head coach Patrick Sellers is in his 4th season in charge of his alma mater.
•    The Blue Devils heads to Chicago State on Feb. 20 before hosting its final two home games of the regular season.

WITH A WIN THURSDAY ...
•    CCSU would win its 7th straight game for the 1st time since Jan. 20-Feb. 5, 2011 (7).
•    Central Connecticut would improve to 16-3 since Nov. 24, 2024.
•    Central would have 18+ wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since '05-06, '06-07.

LOOSE ENDS...
•    CCSU leads the NEC in offensive (108.3) AND defensive (91.1) efficiency.
•    CCSU is committing 11.2 fouls per game, which ranks 2nd nationally (Creighton, 10.4). The Blue Devils are on pace to shatter the NEC mark of 13.0 (Monmouth, 1989-90).
•    In 17 wins, Central has led for 635:50 while trailing for just 86:02.
•    Dating back to 2021-22, CCSU has won 7 straight 1-point games (1/21/22, 67-68 loss at SFU).
•    CCSU is shooting 55.9% (476-of-852) from inside the 3-point arc in all contests. In NEC games, Central is 209-of-381 (.549).
•    When scoring 70+ points under Patrick Sellers, CCSU is 47-13 (.783).
•    With 9 non-conference wins, Central set a program-mark for non-league victories and is just the 6th NEC school to win 9 true non-conference games in a season
•    CCSU and Fairfield combined for just 3 free throws (CCSU 1-1, FFD 2-2). It was the fewest combined foul shots in a CCSU game since Feb. 14, 2015 at Robert Morris (RMU 2-2).
•    With 20 wins last season, CCSU surpassed its win total from the prior 2 seasons combined. In the 10 seasons since its last winning season (2010-11, 19-12) until Patrick Sellers was head coach, CCSU was just 86-207 (.294).

NOTABLES
•   Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll (1st place votes):
    1T. CCSU (5)
    1T. Wagner (4)
    3. FDU
    4. Le Moyne
    5. LIU
    6. Chicago St.
    7. Mercyhurst
    8T. Saint Francis U.
    8T. Stonehill
•    The Preseason All-NEC Team: Malachi Davis (LIU), Jo'el Emanuel (FDU), Darrick Jones Jr. (Le Moyne), JORDAN JONES (CCSU), Jeff Planutis (Mercyhurst).