Norfolk State Men's Basketball
Tuesday, Dec. 2; 7 p.m.
NSU at Hofstra
Live Video | Live Stats | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - Coming off a pair of wins in the Saint Peter's division of the Barclays Center Classic over the weekend, the Norfolk State men's basketball team will play its fourth straight game on the road when the Spartans take on Hofstra on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The contest at the Mack Sports Complex will mark the fourth game in eight days for the Spartans. NSU will then return home this weekend for a pair of MEAC contests, beginning with Morgan State on Saturday.

Media Coverage
A live video stream of the contest against the Pride will be available here. Live stats can also be viewed here.

Series History
For the second straight game, NSU will be facing an opponent for the first time ever.

About Hofstra
The Pride scores nearly 79 points per game, shooting better than 47 percent overall but also 41 percent from 3-point range. Juan'ya Green tallies 18.3 points, thanks to a 43-of-51 effort from the free throw line, to go with 6.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds in leading the Pride offense. Ameen Tanksley (16.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 19-of-32 from 3-point range) and Brian Bernardi (13.8 points, 20-of-39 from 3-point range) also provide offense and can shoot from long range. Dion Nesmith contributes 11.0 points, while Rokas Gustys grabs a team-best 7.2 boards. Teams have shot less than 30 percent from 3-point range and 41 percent overall against Hofstra.

Last Time Out
Facing at least an eight-point deficit for most of the second half, NSU surged ahead thanks to a 19-0 run near the end of the game. The Spartans then withstood a late barrage of 3-pointers by host Saint Peter's to win 60-58 on Saturday in the championship game of the Saint Peter's division of the Barclays Center Classic. It marked NSU's second straight dramatic victory, and once again Jeff Short led the way. He scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting with six rebounds. D'Shon Taylor and RaShid Gaston each added 14 points, and Gaston tallied a double-double with 10 rebounds. Saint Peter's shot 12-of-22 from long range, hitting three 3-pointers in the last minute of play after NSU had gone up by eight.

Player Tidbits
RaShid Gaston
 • Named to all-tournament team at Saint Peter's division of Barclays Center Classic
 • 14.0 points on 11-14 FG, 10.0 rebounds last 2 games
 • Seventh career double-double, and second straight, with 14 points and 10 rebounds at Saint Peter's
 • Had 14 points and 10 rebounds game before vs. St. Francis Brooklyn; Also tied career high with 4 assists
 • Ranks 15th in NSU records with a .534 career shooting percentage

Jamel Fuentes
 • Stands 90th in the nation in assists (4.50) and 157th in assist-turnover ratio (2.08)
 • Ranks 13th in NCAA Division I in career assist-turnover ratio (1.91) and assists (441), and 49th in assist average (4.16)
 • Fourth all-time at NSU in assists with 441; Needs eight more to move into third place
 • Stands 16th in career steals (124)

Jeff Short
 • MVP of Saint Peter's division of Barclays Center Classic
 • 19.5 points on 15-27 FG, 6-7 FT, 4.5 rebounds last 2 games
 • 32nd in the nation in free-throw percentage (92.6), 154th in scoring (16.1), 166th in minutes (33:00), 229th in 3-point field goals per game (2.0), 250th in field goal percentage (43.0)
 • Broke out of mini slump with 19 points vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (had combined 15 points previous 2 games)

Malik Thomas
 • 18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 28-of-47 field goals, 8-20 3-pointers in 4 games from Nov. 19-28
 • Ranks 34th in the nation with 2 double-doubles
 • Career-high 21 points vs. St. Francis Brooklyn; Topped previous career best of 20 points set vs. Texas Southern

D'Shon Taylor
 • 16.5 points, 19-of-39 field goals, 25-32 free throws, 5.0 rebounds last 4 games

Jordan Butler
 • Ranks 203rd in the nation with 1.29 blocks

Rally Cats
NSU was down by 16 in the victory over St. Francis Brooklyn and 14 in the win over Saint Peter's. They marked the largest deficits a Spartan team has overcome in a win since a 90-89 victory over Morgan State on Jan. 14, 2012. The Spartans were down by 17 with 8:31 left in the second half against the Bears that day. NSU has overcome double-digit deficits in five victories since the start of the 2010-11 season.

The Spartans now have two wins this year when trailing at the half. They won just one game last year when not leading at the half.

Balanced Scoring?
NSU has four players averaging double figures, including leading scorer Jeff Short (16.1) along with Malik Thomas (13.4), D'Shon Taylor (11.4) and RaShid Gaston (11.4). After those four, though, no one else is averaging even 3.0 points per contest, with six players having tallied between 2.0 and 2.7 points per contest. A year after losing nearly 80 percent of its scoring from its senior class, NSU is now getting 77.5 percent of its scoring (344-of-444 points) from just four players. The Spartans have gotten a combined six bench points the last two games.

Road Trekking
After playing three of their first four games at home and all four in the state of Virginia, the Spartans find themselves in the midst of a four-game road swing. It started last Tuesday when they played at Vanderbilt. NSU then flew up to New Jersey on Wednesday to compete Friday and Saturday in the Barclays Center Classic at Saint Peter's. After returning home late Saturday night, the Spartans spent a day in Norfolk before driving up on Monday to Hofstra for a Tuesday night matchup.

Doubling Up
The Spartans have had a double-double performance in each of the last five games. More remarkably, they have come from three different players. Malik Thomas had 19 points and 12 rebounds against Boston University (Nov. 19) and then 20 and 10 against Texas Southern (Nov. 22). D'Shon Taylor added 19 and 11 at Vanderbilt on Tuesday. RaShid Gaston totaled 14 points and 10 rebounds on Friday against St. Francis Brooklyn and then 14 points and 10 rebounds again at Saint Peter's on Saturday.

Better After the Break
The Spartans have allowed an average of 4.1 less points in the second half than the first stanza. Opponents have shot a collective 74-of-155 (47.7 percent) in the first half but 69-of-169 (40.8 percent) in the second half and overtime. From 3-point range, opponents are connecting on 30-of-74 (40.5 percent) in the first half compared to 23-of-61 (37.7) after the break.

It's a 360 degree turn from the previous two years. Opponents scored on average 6.7 more points in the second half than the first stanza last year and 7.5 more points in the second half than the first in 2012-13.

Specialty Stats
So far this season, NSU is outscoring opponents by an average of 19.0-12.0 in points off turnovers and 10.7-8.4 in second-chance points. That is because the Spartans have 21 more offensive rebounds this year and 19 less turnovers than their opponents. NSU also has the edge in points in the paint (25.7-20.7) after averaging 5.6 points per game more than the opposition in that category last year. The Spartans outscored Saint Peter's 20-6 in points in the paint.

After setting the Division I record in 2013-14 for fewest turnovers per game at 13.4, NSU is currently averaging 13.0 giveaways per contest this season while forcing 15.7. The school record for fewest turnovers per game was set in 1987-88 at 13.1.

The Spartans also finished with their best free throw percentage in 10 years last year at 69.3, the best mark since the 2003-04 campaign (72.0 percent). So far in 2014-15, NSU is connecting on 68.9 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe.

Nationally Ranked
The Spartans rank 68th in the nation in turnover margin (+2.7) as well as 115th in scoring defense (62.6) 132nd in offensive rebounds per game (11.86), 134th in turnovers (13.0), 144th in blocks (3.9) and 146th in rebounding margin (+2.3).

O'Quinn's NBA Season
Kyle O'Quinn is back for his third season with the Orlando Magic after being drafted in the second round in 2012. NSU's first NBA player in 25 years, O'Quinn averaged 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game during his rookie campaign in 2012-13 and 6.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.1 assists per game in 2013-14. He missed 15 games this year after injuring his ankle in the season opener. He's averaging 6.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in four games this season.

Spartans in the Pros
Aside from Kyle O'Quinn, NSU has two other former players competing professionally. Both Pendarvis Williams and Michael Deloach are currently in Italy. Williams is averaging 15.8 points per game for Moncada Solar Agrigento of the A2 Gold league, while Deloach is tallying 15.0 per contest for Liomatic Viola Reggio Calabria of the A2 Silver league.