Saturday
NSU at South Carolina State, 6 p.m., S-H-M Memorial Center
Radio: Hot 91.1 FM
Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - Another long trip awaits the Spartan men's basketball team this weekend, beginning first with a trek to South Carolina State on Saturday to take on the Bulldogs. The two teams will get going at 6 p.m. at the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center in Orangeburg, S.C.

The Spartans will also take on Savannah State during the trip south. Those two squads will tip-off on ESPNU on Monday at 7 p.m.

Media Coverage: The game against S.C. State can be heard live on WNSB Hot 91.1 FM with Ross Gordon on the call.

Series History: NSU has a winning record against every MEAC school except one, South Carolina State. That series remains tied up at 16-16 after the Spartans took the previous two meetings in each of the last two seasons. NSU won 78-72 last year in Orangeburg.

About South Carolina State: The Bulldogs triumphed over Bethune-Cookman on Monday in overtime, 69-67, to move to 2-3 on the year in the MEAC and 6-12 overall. They also defeated UMES earlier this month and own two wins over Coastal Carolina in a home-and-home. Matthew Hezekiah has carried the team on offense, averaging 14.5 points and 6.0 rebounds. Adama Adams also scored in double figures with 10.2, while Darryl Palmer adds 7.4 points and 6.8 rebounds for an offense that scores almost 66 points a game. The Bulldogs commit a little more than 15 turnovers a game while shooting a respectable 41.5 percent from the field but just 30 percent from beyond the arc.

Last Time Out: Five different players scored in double figures for the second time this season as NSU topped Coppin State 83-71 on Monday at Joseph Echols Hall. Malcolm Hawkins led all scorers with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists. The Spartans held a 42-31 edge on the boards, outscoring the Eagles 46-16 in points in the paint. NSU shot an even 50 percent on 31-of-62 shooting and led by as much as 22 in the second half. Along with Hawkins, Pendarvis Williams added 17 points, RaShid Gaston had 12 and the duo of Brandon Goode and Anell Alexis each scored 10.

MEAC Standings: NSU currently owns a 5-1 record in conference play, sitting in third in the MEAC standings. Savannah State, at 5-0, and Morgan State, at 4-0, are the only undefeated teams left in the conference.

Frequent Flyer Miles: The Spartans have traveled approximately 9,013 miles (one way) through the air this year on its four trips to Houston, Boston, Seattle and Honolulu, as well as 1,197 miles on the ground (also one way) in road trips to Duke and Rutgers (NIT Season Tip-Off) as well as to Virginia, LIU Brooklyn and UMES/Delaware State. Still on tap: 805 miles on a flight to Miami and 489 miles on the ground to Savannah, Ga.

Senior Leadership: NSU has scored 1,477 points this year, with 1,201 of those points (81.3 percent) coming from NSU's eight-player senior class.

Spartans in the MEAC: NSU is 5-1 this year in the MEAC and 34-4 (89.5 percent winning percentage) since the start of the 2011-12 season.

Back in the Fold: RaShid Gaston competed in his first game in nearly two months when he played 20 minutes at Delaware State. He has scored 11 and 12 points in his last two games. He missed 13 games total due to a torn meniscus and a partial tear of his ACL in his left knee suffered during practice on Nov. 17.

Don't Foul 'Em: Malcolm Hawkins and Pendarvis Williams have been on fire from the charity stripe lately. Hawkins has hit 47-of-53 from the free throw line over his last 11 games, while Williams has connected on 42-of-48 in the last 12 games. Hawkins had made 24 straight free throws before a miss at DSU.

As a team, the Spartans are connecting on 71.3 percent from the foul line this year. Only once in the previous 30 years has NSU hit better than 70 percent from the free throw line in a season (72.0 percent, 2003-04). The all-time program record is 72.3 percent set in 1968-69.

Hawkins (82.5 percent) and Williams (82.0) are chasing the program's individual Division I record of 83.3 set by Ryan Grier in 2003-04. The all-time NSU record is 85.6 percent set by David Donerlson in 1991-92.

Rare Company: Pendarvis Williams is one of five all-time NSU players with at least 1,400 points, 400 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals along with Ralph Tally, Barry Mitchell, Tony Murphy and Michael Deloach. Williams needs 35 more rebounds to reach 500 for his career, and should he reach that mark he will join Tally and Mitchell as the only players to reach 1,400 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals.

Dominating the Inside: Norfolk State has outscored opponents 706-533 in points in the paint, an average of 9.1 points per game. Against Coppin State, the Spartans had a 46-16 edge, while NSU has also outscored East Carolina (50-16) and Stillman (62-26) by large margins. On the flip side, opponents have taken 122 more 3-pointers than NSU this year.

The Hawk: Senior Malcolm Hawkins has scored in double figures in every full game he's played this year (He played only the second half at Delaware State). He had his sixth 20-point game of the year against Coppin State with 22 points. His 17.0 per-game average currently ranks as the seventh-best in the Division I era (1997-Present) behind three players - Michael Deloach, Damian Woolfolk and Tony Murphy - who each became 1,700 career point scorers at NSU.

Scoring Offense: NSU's is scoring 77.7 points per game this year, the highest scoring season since averaging 86.3 per game in 1998-99.

Bump in Production: Pendarvis Williams has scored 16.0 points with 5.8 rebounds in the last four games. After only playing the second half at Delaware State, Malcolm Hawkins has tallied 18.5 points on 12-of-24 field goals, including 7-of-12 from the 3-point line, in his last two games. RaShid Gaston has also gotten back into form, posting 11.5 points on 9-of-14 shooting in the last two games.

Starting guard Jamel Fuentes has added 8.2 points, 6.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds in the last five games. He has also had at least four assists in the last 11 games. After scoring just six points all year, Kievyn Lila-St. Rose added a career-high 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting at UMES when NSU was down to just nine active players. Lila-St. Rose is averaging 6.8 points in the last four games.

Brandon Goode has scored in double figures in 12 of the last 15 and is shooting 23-of-36 from the field over the last five games.

Hot Hands: Jamel Fuentes has a 67-21 assist-turnover ratio over his last 11 games.

MEAC Rankings: Several NSU players rank in the top 5 in the MEAC, including Malcolm Hawkins, who ranks first in 3-point shooting percentage (42.7). Other top 5 performances include Brandon Goode (2nd - 60.4 field goal percentage; 5th - 2.5 blocks, 6.7 rebounds), Jamel Fuentes (1st - 2.8 assist-turnover ratio; 2nd - 5.7 assists), Pendarvis Williams (5th - 33.8 minutes) and Hawkins (5th - 17.0 points, 82.5 free throw percentage).

As a team, NSU ranks first in scoring offense (77.7), field goal percentage (49.0), 3-point field goal percentage (35.4) and opponent rebounding (32.6). The Spartans also stand second in scoring margin (+1.2), rebounding margin (+2.3), assists (14.6), assist-turnover ratio (1.2) and offensive rebound percentage (36.8).

Ahead at the Half: NSU had a one-point lead at the intermission in the loss at Hawai'i, marking the third time this year the Spartans have lost after leading at the break. The Spartans are 27-4 since the start of the 2012-13 season when leading or tied at the half and 47-5 dating back to the 2011-12 season.

Hot Shooting: Thanks to a 35-of-53 effort over a five-game stretch from Nov. 26-Dec. 15, Pendarvis Williams is now currently shooting 50.5 percent (108-of-214) from the floor this year, including 63.2 percent (72-of-114) from inside the arc. Brandon Goode and RaShid Gaston, meanwhile, have combined to hit 117-of-193 (60.6 percent) from the floor this year.

As a team, the Spartans are shooting 49.0 percent from the floor and 35.4 percent from 3-point range this year, the best marks in a season since 1994-95 (49.5 percent) and 1998-99 (35.7 percent), respectively.

Beginning the Climb: Sitting at No. 20 in the all-time scoring list at NSU with 1,419, Pendarvis Williams needs more than 100 points to reach the next person in line, Ray Epps (See table Page 3).

Jamel Fuentes now has 359 career assists, which ranks in a tie for seventh all-time at NSU. He needs 17 more to reach sixth place, a spot held by Fuentes' predecessor, Aleek Pauline.