Saturday
NSU vs. Bethune-Cookman, 6 p.m., Joseph Echols Hall
Live Video/Audio | Live Stats | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State men's basketball team will look to keep a pair of win streaks alive on Saturday as Bethune-Cookman comes to Joseph Echols Hall. Game time is 6 p.m. or approximately 25 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game that starts at 4.

Media Coverage: The game can be heard live on WNSB Hot 91.1 FM with Ross Gordon on the call. Fans can also listen to the game and watch the live video stream at the same time with the Spartan Showcase Video Streaming portal. Live stats will be available as well here.

Series History: Norfolk State leads the all-time series with Bethune-Cookman, 16-11. The Wildcats won the last meeting 70-68 in overtime in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 MEAC tournament at Scope Arena. Each of the last five meetings has been decided by three points or less.

About Bethune-Cookman: The Wildcats own a 2-8 overall record this year, with both victories coming against a pair of non-Division I schools. Most recently, they lost a 56-52 contest at Stetson on Tuesday. Mikel Trapp leads the way with 12.6 points per game, with Clemmye Owens second on the team with 10.3. Malik Jackson (9.3 points, 4.6 rebounds) and Daquan Brown (7.3, 5.1) also contribute for an offense that scores about 68 points per game while giving up 74. Ricky Johnson, the team's top returning scorer from last year, averaged 11.0 in five games before having to sit out the last several games.

Last Time Out: NSU attempted just three field goals in the last 7:20 of the game, but some clutch free throw shooting late gave the Spartans a 91-87 victory over Florida A&M on Thursday night at Echols Hall. The teams combined to shoot 100 free throws, with NSU setting school records in both free throws made (41) and attempted (62). The teams were whistled for 73 fouls. Malcolm Hawkins hit 13-of-14 from the line and finished with 20 points. Pendarvis Williams added 16, and four other Spartans also reached double figures. NSU won its 10th game in a row over FAMU.

Home, Sweet Home: NSU is currently riding a 15-game home win streak, dating back to a loss to Delaware State on Feb. 15, 2012. It marks NSU's longest home win streak since tallying 22 victories in a row from Dec. 11, 1987-Feb. 15, 1989.

Conference Win Streak: In fact, that setback against Delaware State was also the last time the Spartans lost a regular season conference game. NSU has won 20 in a row, which includes last year's 16-0 record. The Spartans are currently tied with Memphis for the longest active conference win streak in the nation at 20.

Best D-I Start: With a win against Bethune-Cookman, NSU can secure its best 10-game start to a season since starting the 1995-96 campaign 9-1.

Ahead at the Half: NSU had a two-point lead at the intermission in the loss at LIU Brooklyn, marking just the second time in the last two years the Spartans have lost after leading at the break. The Spartans are 22-2 since the start of the 2012-13 season when leading or tied at the half and 42-3 dating back to the 2011-12 season.

Going to the Line: NSU broke school records for free throws and free throw attempts in Thursday's win over Florida A&M. The Spartans hit 41-of-62, breaking the previous records of 38 and 58 set against West Virginia State on Nov. 30, 1991 at home. NSU's 41 free throws are tied for the third most in a Division I game this season, while its 62 attempts and FAMU's 43 fouls both rank as the second most this season and the most in a regulation game.

Malcolm Hawkins hit 13-of-14 from the foul line, the most free throws made in a game by an NSU player since Corey Lyons had 14 at Hampton on Jan. 31, 2009.

Join the Fun: Six different Spartans scored in double figures against Florida A&M, the first time the program has had six double-figure scorers in one game since Feb. 19, 1994 against Elizabeth City State.

High Scoring: NSU has scored at least 90 points in a game four times this year and at least 100 points twice. The only other season in the Division I era the Spartans did so was in 1998-99, when they scored 90 in 11 games and 100 points in three games.

Hot Hands: In his last five games, Pendarvis Williams has posted 17 assists to just one turnover.

Nationally Ranked: The Spartans rank 11th in the nation in field goal percentage at 51.8 (through last Sunday's games). They also stand in the top 25 in assists per game (16th, 17.4) and scoring offense (22nd, 86.4).

Pendarvis Williams stands 14th in the nation in assist-turnover ratio at 4.29. Brandon Goode, meanwhile, ranks in the top 30 in both field goal percentage (26th, 62.7) and blocks per game (27th, 3.00).

Stepping Up: After a slow start to the year, Marist transfer Anell Alexis has started to catch fire. In his last five games, all starts, he has 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.

Dominating the Inside: Norfolk State has outscored opponents 386-283 in points in the paint, an average of 11.5 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.

Beginning the Climb: With two blocks against LIU Brooklyn, Brandon Goode moved into sole possession of third place and ahead of current assistant coach Larry Vickers on the all-time list with 106 career blocks. Goode needs two more to move into a tie for second-place all-time at NSU with Karandick Ogunride. Of course, the best Goode can finish is second, as the all-time leader is O'Quinn, who had 283 in his four-year career.

Sitting at No. 27 right now in the all-time scoring list at NSU with 1,274, Pendarvis Williams needs 21 more points to move into a tie for 26th with Morrell James.

Jame Fuentes, meanwhile, has 300 assists in his career. He needs two to move into a tie for 11th place all-time at NSU and 17 to reach the top 10.

Hot Shooting: Thanks to a 22-of-33 effort in the last three games, Pendarvis Williams is shooting 54.1 percent (60-of-111) from the floor this year, including 65.6 percent from inside the arc. Brandon Goode, Anell Alexis and Riley Maye, meanwhile, have combined to hit 101-of-165 (61.2 percent). As a team, the Spartans are shooting 51.5 percent this year, including 229-of-407 (56.3 percent) from 2-point range.

The Spartans have shot at least 44 percent from the field in all nine games this year, the first time shooting that well in nine straight since doing so in nine games from Jan. 22-Feb. 19, 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.

MEAC Rankings: Pendarvis Williams and Jamel Fuentes rank 1-2 in the MEAC in assist-turnover ratio (4.4 and 2.6, respectively). Other current top 5 performances in the league include Fuentes (2nd - 5.4 assists), Williams (2nd - 4.7 defensive rebounds; 5th - 3.4 assists), Malcolm Hawkins (3rd - 18.9 points), Brandon Goode (2nd - 7.1 rebounds; 3rd - 63.0 field goal percentage, 2.9 blocks; 5th - 4.4 defensive rebounds), Riley Maye (2nd - 65.9 field goal percentage) and Anell Alexis (5th - 54.9 field goal percentage, 83.3 free throw percentage).

As a team, NSU ranks first in scoring offense (86.9), field goal percentage (51.5), 3-point field goal percentage (37.4), assists (16.7) and assist-turnover ratio (1.3). The Spartans also stand second in scoring margin (+5.3), rebounding (38.4), rebounding margin (+4.3), defensive rebounds (24.9) and offensive rebound percentage (39.9) and third in opponent rebounding (34.1), offensive rebounds (13.6) and blocks (5.1).