Monday
NSU at Seton Hall, 7 p.m., Prudential Center
Live Video | Live Stats | Game Notes | Seton Hall Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - After a victory over Rhode Island on Friday, NSU's first season opening win in four seasons, the Norfolk State men's basketball team will complete the road trip and the first half of the 2012 Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament at Seton Hall Monday at 7 p.m. at the Prudential Center.

The Hall of Fame tournament will conclude next Saturday and Sunday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., where the Spartans will face Loyola (Md.) and then either Albany or UMKC on the second day.

Media Coverage: The game against Seton Hall will be broadcast on the Pirate Sports Network, available at www.shupirates.com. Along with that live video feed, live stats will also be available at the online home of Seton Hall athletics.

Last Time Out: Following the team's historic run to a MEAC Championship and its NCAA tournament upset of No. 2 seed Missouri last year, the new-look Spartans kicked off their 2012-13 season with a 67-55 victory at Rhode Island on Friday.

Four players scored in double figures, led by junior center Brandon Goode with 13 points and 13 rebounds. NSU outscored the Rams by 17 in the second half and had the edge in points in the paint (36-16) as well as in second-chance points (22-12).

Series History: NSU and Seton Hall have met just one other time in their history, a 97-87 Pirate victory on Dec. 4, 2000. The last time NSU faced a BIG EAST opponent, the Spartans nearly pulled off the upset of then-No. 16 Marquette on Nov. 21, 2011. NSU missed a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining to fall by two, 59-57, at the Paradise Jam a week after the Golden Eagles had won by 31 at their place.

Stepping Up: Faced with the challenge of having to live up to the standards of last year's MEAC Player of the Year, Kyle O'Quinn, junior Brandon Goode held up his own on Friday. He led NSU in scoring and had his first career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Nice Debut: Freshman Rashid Gaston proved why the coaches were high on him entering the year, as he posted seven points, seven rebounds and two blocks in just 16 minutes of action coming off the bench at Rhode Island.

More Bench Production: Junior Jamel Fuentes played plenty last year in leading NSU in assists, but he certainly stepped up his game against the Rams in the season opener, going for a career-high 11 points off the bench. He also tied his career high with seven boards while adding five assists.

Big-Time Defense: NSU held Rhode Island to 28.3 percent shooting, the lowest by a Spartan opponent since Howard shot just 27.3 percent on Jan. 9, 2012. It also marked the first time NSU held an opponent under 30 pecent shooting in both halves since TCU on Nov. 20, 2011 in the Paradise Jam.

In fact, outside of Nikola Malesevic's 26 points on 7-of-15 shooting, the rest of the Rhode Island players combined for just 8-of-38 shooting and 29 points.

New-Look Spartans: NSU had its most successful season ever last year in 15 years in Division I, finishing 26-10 overall and 13-3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), both program records for the school's D-I era. NSU will have to reload this year, though, as the team lost four of its five starters from last year as well as one of its top reserves from off the bench.

All-together, NSU lost 64.2 percent of its scoring (1,594-of-2,482 points) and 57.6 percent of its rebounding (752-of-1,305 boards) from last year.

The Pendarvis Willliams Show: With All-MEAC performers Kyle O'Quinn and Chris McEachin gone from last year's team, it is now Pendarvis Williams' time to lead the Spartans. He finished third on the team last with with 11.9 points per game. NSU lost five of its top seven scorers from a year ago.

In fact, Wiilliams came into the season with 674 career points, while the rest of the team had combined for just 464 career points during their Spartan careers. Heading into the year, NSU's returning players had combined for 46 career starts, and Williams owned 42 of those.

March to 1,000: Now with 686 career points, Pendarvis Williams needs just 314 more to become NSU's 30th all-time 1,000-point scorer. He is on course to accomplish the feat in mid-to-late February.

The Mighty O'Quinn: Of all the scoring lost from last year, the biggest, of course, was losing MEAC Player of the Year and MEAC Defensive Player of the Year Kyle O'Quinn. The Lou Henson Award winner as the nation's top mid-major player, O'Quinn did it all last year for the Spartans. He became the first player to sweep the MEAC player and defensive player awards in the same year.

He topped off his record-breaking year by being picked in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft. O'Quinn's NBA Debut: Selected with the 49th overall pick in the Draft by the Orlando Magic, O'Quinn made his NBA debut on Nov. 2 against the Denver Nuggets, grabbing one rebound in a little more than three minutes of action. He scored his first career points two days later against the Phoenix Suns with a pair of free throws.

In his latest game, he added three rebounds, two blocks and two points against Brooklyn on Nov. 9.