Monday
NSU at Howard, 7 p.m., Burr Gymnasium
TV: ESPNU - Matt Schick (Play-by-Play), Stan Lewter (Color) | Watch Live
Radio: WNSB Hot 91.1 - Ross Gordon (Play-by-Play) | Listen Live
Live Stats | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - Following a second-half comeback victory at UMES, the Norfolk State men's basketball team will play its first TV game of the season Monday night at Howard. Game time is 7 p.m. at HU's Burr Gymnasium in front of an ESPNU audience.

Media Coverage: Matt Schick will provide play-by-play and Stan Lewter will have the color commentary on ESPNU and WatchESPN.com. The game also can be heard live on WNSB Hot 91.1, with Ross Gordon on the call. Live stats will be available for the game as well.

Last Time Out: NSU scored just 15 first-half points but found its offense in the second half of a 63-58 come-from-behind victory at UMES on Saturday. The Spartans hit seven 3-pointers in the second half to spark the win after getting outscored by a 22-15 margin in the first half.

Malcolm Hawkins had 14 points, all in the second half, to lead NSU. Pendarvis Williams and Marese Phelps added 12 and 10 points, respectively, for NSU, which shot just 21-of-63 (33.3 percent) for the game compared to a 22-of-49 effort (44.9 percent) for UMES. Kevin Mays added a game-high 27 points, including 17 in the second half to help UMES cut the deficit to as little as two points late in the second half.

Series History: NSU leads the all-time series with Howard, 35-9, and has won the last six in a row. NSU has knocked the Bison out of the MEAC tournament in each of the last two seasons.

About Howard: The Bison own a 4-13 overall record this year, including 1-2 in conference play after dropping a tight contest against Hampton at home on Saturday by two points. Howard owns Division I victories this year over American and Liberty and also defeated Coppin State on the road last weekend. Mike Phillips and Calvin Thompson lead the way for the Bison with 12.6 and 12.1 points per game, respectively, although Thompson has missed five games this year. Phillips also has a team-best 6.4 boards, while Simuel Frazier has added 8.8 points and 4.4 assists for a Bison squad that scores just 54 points a game.

Breaking Out of a Slump: Pendarvis Williams has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games after failing to do so in three of the previous four. He's averaged 15.4 points, 4.8 boards and shot 45.9 percent (28-of-61) from the field and 41.7 percent (15-of-36) from 3-point range over the last five games alone.

Also breaking out of a slump has been Rob Johnson and Malcolm Hawkins. Johnson has posted 12.0 points and 5.3 rebounds the last three games after failing to score more than eight in the previous four games. Hawkins, meanwhile, has scored 15.3 points on 15-of-32 field goals (46.9 percent), including 9-of-17 from 3-point land (52.9 percent) in the last three games as well.

Heating Up from 3-Point Range: After failing to top 37 percent in 3-point shooting in eight of the prior nine games, NSU has now done so in four of the past five games, hitting 42-of-110 (38.2 percent) over that stretch. Included in there was a 9-of-15 effort in the first half against Navy, the most 3-pointers in a half since hitting 10 in the first half of a home game against Hampton on Feb. 28, 2009. The Spartans have connected on eight or more 3-pointers in four of the last five games.

NSU had 12 3-pointers at Iona to start the streak, the most in a game since the Spartans had 12 against Hampton on Feb. 28, 2009, and one off the school record of 13 against North Carolina A&T on Feb. 24, 2007.

In those same five games, opponents have also connected on 42 3-pointers on 42-of-107 shooting (39.3 percent).

Road Warriors: NSU will have played 16 of its first 19 games of the season on the road after Monday's contest, including all four of its conference games. The Spartans end the year with eight of 12 games at home and also play the MEAC tournament at the Norfolk Scope, just 1.6 miles from their home arena.

First Half Slump: NSU scored just 15 points in the first half at UMES, the fewest points in a half for the Spartans since going for 13 in the first half against Coppin State on Jan. 30, 2012.

First Half on Fire: NSU hit 15-of-24 (62.5 percent) in the first half against Navy, just the second time all season the Spartans connected on better than 60 percent in a half. The other came against St. Francis Brooklyn, when the Spartans shot 69.2 percent (18-of-26) in the second half.

NSU hit 54.5 percent against Navy for the entire game, the best shooting percentage since connecting on 56.8 percent (21-of-37) against Howard on March 7, 2012 in the MEAC tournament. NSU led for the entire game against the Midshipmen.

The Rebounding Edge: After getting out-rebounded by an average of 11.0 boards over the prior four games, NSU has fared better in three of the last four games. The Spartans held the edge on the glass against East Carolina (39-35) and Ball State (36-28) while tying Navy in the rebounding column (29-29).

The MEAC, NCAA Leaderboard: Several players stand in the top 5 in the MEAC statistics, including Pendarvis Williams and Jamel Fuentes. Williams ranks first in free throw percentage at 89.7, and Fuentes ranks second in assists (5.5) and assist-turnover ratio (2.2). Fuentes also sits 31st in the nation in assists per game.

Rashid Gaston ranks third in offensive rebounds with 3.2 per game. Rob Johnson sits fifth in defensive rebounds (4.4), and Williams does the same in 3-point field goals per game (1.9). The Spartans rank second in 3-point field goal percentage (33.9).

March to 1,000: Now with 875 career points, Pendarvis Williams needs just 125 more to become NSU's 30th all-time 1,000-point scorer. He is on course to accomplish the feat late in the season.

Good From the Line: Pendarvis Williams ranks first in the MEAC and had been in the top 20 in the nation in free throw shooting before dropping out of the rankings because of a lack of attempts. So far this year, Williams is hitting 89.7 percent of his charity stripe attempts (35-of-39).

Halftime Lead: The Spartans have had a halftime lead just four times so far this year, all wins for NSU. The Spartans have overcome halftime deficits of seven points (UMES), five points (Rhode Island), three points (Savannah State) and one (St. Francis Brooklyn) this year in their other victories.