Monday
NSU at South Carolina State, 7:30 p.m., S-H-M Memorial Center
Live Audio | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - After a big win over Savannah State on Saturday in the Spartans' conference opener, the Norfolk State men's basketball team will attempt to finish out the trip 2-0 with a Monday night contest at South Carolina State at 7:30 p.m.

Monday's game at the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center between S.C. State and NSU will mark the only MEAC game of the day.

Media Coverage: The game against the Tigers can be heard on WNSB Hot 91.1 online, available at hot91online.com, with Ross Gordon on the call.

Last Time Out: NSU's stifling defense and a pair of 3-pointers late in the game from Pendarvis Williams gave NSU a 55-45 victory over Savannah State Saturday at Tiger Arena. Savannah State, picked to finish first in the MEAC preseason standings, shot just 31.6 percent for the game and committed 19 turnovers.

Williams had a game-high 16 points, while Jamel Fuentes was the only other Spartan player in double figures with 11. NSU outscored Savannah State 30-17 in the second half despite hitting just 7-of-12 from the field in the second stanza. Stephen Wilson and Preston Blackman had 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Tigers.

Series History: South Carolina State holds the slight edge in the all-time series, 16-15, although the Spartans have won three of the last four meetings. NSU won last year's contest by an 82-67 score at Echols Hall, with Pendarvis Williams leading the way with 20 points.

About Savannah State: The Bulldogs own a 4-3 record on the year, although two of those victories occurred against non-Division I schools. Khalif Toombs and Adama Adams lead the offense with 16.0 and 15.3 points per game, respectively. Toombs also has a team-leading 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Matthew Hezekiah chips in with 13.0 points and a team-best 8.3 rebounds as well.

Back From Injury: Pendarvis Williams sat out the previous two games while resting a sore knee and then came back against Savannah State with a vengeance. He added a game-high 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and hit a pair of treys late in the game to extend NSU's lead to what turned out to be an insurmountable eight-point advantage.

Pressure Defense: NSU's pressure defense on Dec. 1 against Savannah State, which consistently double-teamed the Savannah State player with the ball, limited the Tigers to just 17 second half points. It marked the fewest NSU gave up in a half since allowing 12 in the first half against Randolph on Nov. 16, 2011. The last time the Spartans gave up 17 or fewer points in a half against a Division I team was on Feb. 4, 2006, when NSU held Howard to just 17 points in the first half.

That's Offensive: NSU reached the 85-point plateau against St. Francis Brooklyn on Nov. 29. In the previous three seasons, NSU had only topped 85 points in a regulation contest twice, an 86-65 win over Florida A&M on Jan. 10, 2011, and of course the 86-84 victory against Missouri in last year's NCAA tournament.

Fuentes on Fire: Jamel Fuentes handed out 11 assists at Morehead State, the most since Aleek Pauline had 11 at Coppin State on Jan. 31, 2011. Prior to that, the last time someone had more than 11 in a game occurred when Pauline had 12 against Hampton on Feb. 28, 2009. Fuentes followed that up with a 10-assist effort against St. Francis Brooklyn. Since the 2002-03 season, no player had posted two straight games with 10 or more assists until Fuentes this year.

Spartans Stepping Up: Several players have stepped up their production recently. Kris Brown (13) and Malcolm Hawkins (18) each recorded career highs in points against Morehead State. Hawkins scored his most points in a collegiate game, including his time at Delaware. Brown reached double figures for the first time in his career. Rob Johnson also had a big game, nearly posting his second career double double with 10 points and nine boards. He also added career highs of six assists and four steals.

Then against St. Francis Brooklyn, Jamel Fuentes topped his career high with 18 points, while Brandon Goode tied his career best with 13. Both Johnson (18) and Brown (12) came up one point short of tying their career highs as well.

Limiting Those Turnovers: Since the 2002-03 season, NSU has never posted a 2-1 assist- turnover ratio in a game. The closest the Spartans have come since then include a 15-8 ratio at North Carolina A&T on Jan. 27, 2003, a 19-10 ratio against South Carolina State on Jan. 26, 2008, and a 17-9 ratio against Longwood on Feb. 20, 2012. NSU had a 15-8 assist-turnover ratio against St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday.

NSU's eight turnovers marked the fewest since the Spartans had eight in last year's NCAA tournament loss to Florida. The last time the Spartans had less than eight turnovers in a game occurred on Dec. 22, 2008 against UC Irvine, when NSU had seven. Since the 2003-04 season, NSU has had fewer than 10 turnovers in just five games.

The MEAC Leaderboard: Several players cracked the top 5 in the MEAC statistics, including Pendarvis Williams, who ranks second in free throw percentage at 91.3. Brandon Goode sits fourth in field goal shooting at 60.0 percent, while Rashid Gaston ranks fifth in offensive rebounds with 3.0 per game.

March to 1,000: Now with 760 career points, Pendarvis Williams needs just 240 more to become NSU's 30th all-time 1,000-point scorer. He is on course to accomplish the feat in late February.