Monday
NSU at Savannah State, 7 p.m., Tiger Arena
TV: ESPNU | WatchESPN
Radio: Hot 91.1 FM
Live Stats | Game Notes

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Spartans will make an appearance on ESPNU on Monday night as the Norfolk State men's basketball team will take on Savannah State at 7 p.m. at Tiger Arena.

Media Coverage: The game against S.C. State can be heard live on WNSB Hot 91.1 FM with Ross Gordon on the call. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU with Rich Hollenberg and Stan Lewter providing commentary. Fans can also view the contest online with WatchESPN. Live stats will be available here.

Series History: The teams have only met seven times throughout their history. Savannah State won the first three meetings in the late 1950's/early 60's, and NSU has won the previous four. The Spartans took a pair of home-and-home wins during the 2004-05 season and then once each of the last two years. Last year NSU held the Tigers to 31 percent shooting in a 55-45 win in Savannah, and the year before Brandon Wheeless hit a game-winning 3-pointer with one second left in a 60-58 NSU win.

About Savannah State: The Tigers fell to Hampton on Saturday to fall to 5-1 in the MEAC. They currently own a half-game lead for first place over North Carolina Central and Morgan State (4-1). SSU (7-13 overall) has only one player scoring in double figures, Deven Williams at 10.1, for an offense that only scores 62 points a game. Joshua Montgomery averages 9.1, while Jyles Smith tallies 7.6 points and 8.1 boards. The Tigers shoot 41.4 percent from the field but only 31.6 percent from 3-point range.

Last Time Out: South Carolina State came out of the half on a 16-2 run, and NSU was never able to recover in a 73-61 loss on Saturday night in Orangeburg, S.C. The Spartans connected on just 21-of-57 from the field for the game (36.8 percent), while S.C. State hit 22-of-54 (40.7 percent) as well as 27-of-31 from the free throw line. Adama Adams had 23 points, which included a 17-of-17 effort from the free throw line, for S.C. State. Brandon Goode led NSU with 19 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Malcolm Hawkins and RaShid Gaston added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

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 1,686 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, UMES/Delaware State and Savannah State. Still on tap: 805 miles on a flight to Miami next weekend.

Double-Double: Brandon Goode had his third double-double of the year and the first since Dec. 1 at LIU Brooklyn with 19 points and 10 rebounds at S.C. State

Senior Leadership: NSU has scored 1,538 points this year, with 1,241 of those points (80.7 percent) coming from NSU's eight-player senior class.

Spartans in the MEAC: NSU is 5-2 this year in the MEAC and 34-5 (87.2 winning percentage) since the start of the 2011-12 season.

MEAC Standings: The Spartans sit in fourth in the MEAC standings at 5-2 behind Savannah State (5-1) and North Carolina Central and Morgan State (4-1). Hampton (4-2), North Carolina A&T and Howard (3-2) each have two losses along with NSU.

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 11.0 points per game over his last three contests. 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. He also suffered a sprained ankle two days before he was set to come back at UMES.

Don't Foul 'Em: Malcolm Hawkins and Pendarvis Williams have been on fire from the charity stripe lately. Hawkins has hit 48-of-55 from the free throw line over his last 12 games, while Williams has connected on 43-of-50 in the last 13 games.

Dominating the Inside: Norfolk State has outscored opponents 730-557 in points in the paint, an average of 8.6 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 115 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 16.7 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 76.9 points per game this year, the highest scoring season since averaging 86.3 per game in 1998-99.

Bump in Production: RaShid Gaston has gotten back into form, posting 11.0 points on 13-of-25 shooting in the last three games. Starting guard Jamel Fuentes has added 7.8 points, 6.2 assists and 4.0 rebounds in the last six games. He has also had at least four assists in the last 12 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 6.4 points and 2.2 boards in the last five games.

Brandon Goode has scored in double figures in 13 of the last 16 and is shooting 30-of-45 from the field over the last six games, including a 19-point, 10-rebound effort at S.C. State.

Hot Hands: Jamel Fuentes has a 72-22 assist-turnover ratio over his last 12 games.

MEAC Rankings: Several NSU players rank in the top 5 in the MEAC, including Jamel Fuentes, who sits first in assist-turnover ratio at 2.9 and second in assists at 5.7. Other top 5 performers include Malcolm Hawkins (2nd - 42.0 3-point shooting percentage) and Brandon Goode (2nd - 61.4 field goal percentage; 4th - 6.9 rebounds, 2.7 offensive rebounds; 5th - 2.6 blocks).

As a team, NSU ranks first in scoring offense (76.9), field goal percentage (48.4), 3-point field goal percentage (34.8), opponent rebounding (33.0) and offensive rebound percentage (37.1). The Spartans also stand second in rebounding margin (+2.1), assists (14.6) and assist-turnover ratio (1.1) and third in scoring margin (+0.6).

Hot Shooting: Pendarvis Williams is currently shooting 48.7 percent (109-of-224) from the floor this year, including 62.4 percent (73-of-117) from inside the arc. Brandon Goode, Anell Alexis and RaShid Gaston, meanwhile, have combined to hit 195-of-337 (57.9 percent) from the floor this year.

As a team, the Spartans are shooting 48.4 percent from the floor and 34.8 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. They are also hitting 53.6 percent from inside the arc on 443-of-826 shooting.

Beginning the Climb: Sitting at No. 20 in the all-time scoring list at NSU with 1,422, Pendarvis Williams needs more than 100 points to reach the next person in line, Ray Epps.

Jamel Fuentes now has 364 career assists, which ranks seventh all-time at NSU. He needs 12 more to reach sixth place, a spot held by Fuentes' predecessor, Aleek Pauline.

With five blocks against Bethune-Cookman, Brandon Goode moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time list. He now has 131 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.

Chasing Some Season Records: Brandon Goode has 51 blocks on the season, which ranks fourth in single-season records for Division I and eighth overall (including NSU's D-II days). Jamel Fuentes currently sits fourth in D-I records with 113 assists.