Monday
NSU at Virginia, 7 p.m., John Paul Jones Arena
TV: ESPN3 (John Sadak - Play-by-Play; Cory Alexander - Color)
Radio: Hot 91.1 FM (Ross Gordon - Play-by-Play)
Watch Live | Live Stats | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - Norfolk State will face a familiar foe as the Spartan men's basketball team will head to Virginia to take on the Cavaliers for a Monday night affair two days before the Christmas holiday. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.

Media Coverage: The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, with John Sadak and Cory Alexander on the call. Spartan fans can also listen to the game live on Hot 91.1 FM, with Ross Gordon providing play-by-play. Live stats will be available here. It will mark NSU's first game on TV this year.

Series History: This will mark the third-ever meeting between the two programs, with all three meetings coming within the past four seasons. Last year, the Spartans fell to the Cavaliers, 67-56, in the first round of the NIT after NSU won the MEAC's automatic bid by winning the regular season title. The first-ever meeting came during the 2010-11 season, when a last-second tip-in off a missed free throw allowed Virginia to survive, 50-49.

About Virginia: The Cavaliers stand 8-3 on the year after defeating Northern Iowa at home on Saturday. Virginia gets it done by holding opponents to just 54 points per game while scoring almost 66. Joe Harris and Malcolm Brogdon both score in double figures with 11.4 and 10.5, respectively, Brogdon also averages a team-best 5.4 rebounds, but despite that low number for the team leader the Cavaliers do outrebound opponents by nearly 10 boards a game. Anthony Gill (9.2 points) and Justin Anderson (8.7) also provide scoring punch.

Last Time Out: Trailing for the entire second half, Seattle finally took the lead on a drive to the basket by D'Vonne Pickett Jr. with 20 seconds left, and NSU missed a pair of shots at the end as the Spartans fell by a 70-67 score last Thursday at the ShoWare Center. Seattle trailed by double digits with 11 minutes left in the game, by a 17-of-20 effort from the free throw line in the second half allowed the Redhawks to stay in the game. Malcolm Hawkins led the Spartans with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Anell Alexis and Brandon Goode added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Hawk: Senior Malcolm Hawkins has scored in double figures in every game this year. He had his fifth 20-point game of the year against Seattle with 22 points. His 18.3 per-game average has only been topped by Damian Woolfolk and Michael Deloach in the Division I era (1997-Present).

Dominating the Inside: Norfolk State has outscored opponents 488-347 in points in the paint, an average of 11.8 points per game. Against East Carolina, the Spartans had a 50-16 edge in points in the paint, and against Stillman that margin was 62-26.

Stepping Up: With injuries taking their toll on the team's depth, Riley Maye has stepped up recently, averaging 11.7 points on 13-of-19 shooting off the bench over a three-game stretch from Dec. 5-15.

After a slow start to the year, Marist transfer Anell Alexis has started to catch fire. In five games from Nov. 19-Dec. 5, all starts, he posted 12.8 points on 21-of-39 shooting (53.8 percent), shot 17-of-20 (85 percent) from the foul line and averaged 4.6 rebounds per game. In his last two games, he has posted 13.5 points on 11-of-18 shooting with 5.5 rebounds.

Brandon Goode also overcame a slow start to the year and has now scored in double figures in eight straight. During that time, he is averaging 14.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 50-of-79 (63.3 percent).

Hot Shooting: Thanks to a 35-of-53 effort over a five-game stretch from Nov. 26-Dec. 15, Pendarvis Williams is shooting 52.8 percent (75-of-142) from the floor this year, including 65.0 percent (52-of-80) from inside the arc. Williams also connected on 11-of-23 from the 3-point line and 19-of-21 from the charity stripe during that five-game stretch.

Brandon Goode and Riley Maye, meanwhile, have combined to hit 94-of-153 (61.4 percent) from the floor this year. As a team, the Spartans are shooting 50.3 percent.

The Spartans have shot at least 42 percent from the field in all 12 games this year, the best shooting stretch since hitting at least 40 percent in 15 straight from Jan. 17-March 9, 2011. The Spartans have already topped 60 percent shooting twice this year, the fifth and sixth times during the D-I era they have done so.

Ahead at the Half: NSU had an 11-point lead at the intermission in the loss at Seattle, marking the second time this year  the Spartans have lost after leading at the break. The Spartans are 24-3 since the start of the 2012-13 season when leading or tied at the half and 44-4 dating back to the 2011-12 season.

Hot Hands: Over a seven-game stretch from Nov. 19-Dec. 15, Pendarvis Williams posted 23 assists to just five turnovers, while Jamel Fuentes has a 20-4 assist-turnover ratio in three games from Dec. 5-15.

Taking Care of the Ball: The contest against Seattle marked just the second time in the last nine games NSU had more turnovers than its opponent.

Better as We Go: NSU averages 4.1 more points in the second half compared to the first half, while opponents are scoring on average 8.5 more in the second stanza.

Williams Named Player of the Week: Pendarvis Williams was named the MEAC Player of the Week on Dec. 16 after his 27-point performance at Boston University. It was the second time this year he won the award after. He was named player of the week on Nov. 18 after tallying a career-high 38 points with seven rebounds and four assists against Newberry on Nov. 13 and following that up with 16 points, nine boards and three assists against Virginia Union on Nov. 15.

Beginning the Climb: Sitting at No. 26 right now in the all-time scoring list at NSU with 1,319, Pendarvis Williams needs four more points to move into a tie for 25th with Charles Bonaparte and 31 to get to 24th.

Jamel Fuentes now has 317 career assists, which ranks him in a tie for 10th all-time at NSU. He needs five more to reach ninth place.

With five blocks against Bethune-Cookman, Brandon Goode moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time list. He now has 112 career blocks. Of course, the best Goode can finish is second, as the all-time leader is Kyle O'Quinn, who had 283 in his four-year career.