Minnesota Basketball Game Notes

Series History: This marks the first meeting between Fairfield University and the University of Minnesota. The Stags have played eight games against Big Ten opponents, including Wisconsin (0-1), Penn State (0-1), Northwestern (1-0), Michigan (0-3), Indiana (0-1), and Illinois (0-1). The Illinois game came in the 1985-86 NCAA tournament, while the Stags were the first NCAA tournament opponent for Indiana in their 1986-87 NCAA championship season.

Last Game: The Stags were able to overcome two double-digit deficits in each half, but could not come back from a third as Fairfield dropped an 80-72 decision against Providence College. In the first half, Fairfield trailed 19-6 with 13 minutes remaining in the opening half, before rallying to take the lead at halftime by a 30-29 count. Once again, the Friars managed to regain its double-figure lead at 47-37 early in the second half but saw that advantage disappear with a 12-2 run that tied the game at 49-49. Providence answered with 11 straight points to gain control of the game at 60-49. Rakim Sanders led all Fairfield scorers with 25 points, one of four Fairfield starters in double figures. Vincent Council was the game’s top scorer with 26 points in addition to dishing off seven assists.

Player of the Week: Maurice Barrow picked up the first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) player of the week award on November 14. The sophomore earned the honor after scoring a careerhigh 19 points which led the Stags to a 72- 60 win over Quinnipiac University. Barrow netted eight of 11 shots from the floor and added six rebounds with three steals to his totals.

Seven-Fe e t  From 20-Fe e t:  Ryan Olander, a 7-foot center, is the Stags top three-point shooter through the first two games. The center is shooting 57 percent from behind the three-point arc, netting four of seven attempts to date. He started the season by hitting three of five long-range jumpers, and followed up by making one of two three-point tries in the Providence game. Last season, Olander made four of 21 three-point attempts, and has not shot better than 30 percent from three-point range in any of his first three seasons.

Nearly A Point Per Minute: Senior Rakim Sanders has 41 points in 53 minutes of work this season. After scoring 16 points in 25 minutes in the opener, the forward tallied 25 points in 26 minutes against Providence. Sanders is currently the team’s top scorer with 20.5 points per game.

Consistently Consistent: It would be hard for the Stags to be any more consistent through two games. Fairfield tallied 72 points in each of the two games and shot 49.0 percent against Quinnipiac and 49.2 percent versus Providence. Fairfield turned the ball over 15 times in each game, and had four of its five starters reach double figures in each of the two games.

Rotten Ratio: Fairfield has forced the opposition into a negative assist-to-turnover ratio so far, allowing 18 assists against 30 turnovers. No student-athlete had more assists than turnovers in the Quinnipiac game while Vincent Council (7 assists, 5 turnovers) and Bryce Cotton (two assists, one turnover) were the only players with a positive ratio in the Providence game. Currently, Fairfield has four student-athletes wi th  a  pos i t ive   r a t io  for   the  season  - Maurice Barrow (6 assists, 4 turnovers), Derek Needham (9 to 6), Desmond Wade (5 to 2), and Jamel Fields (7 to 4).

Off The Bench: The Stags went scoreless off the bench against Providence as the reserves combined for 0 for 8 in thegame. The bench has tallied eight points this season with Jamel Fields leading theway with three points. Adam Jones (twopoints), Colin Nickerson (two points), and Sean Crawford (one point) have also scoredoff the bench this season.