Norfolk State Men's Basketball
Saturday, Jan. 10; 6 p.m.
NSU at Florida A&M, Al Lawson Center
Radio: Star 1310 AM, Live Audio | Hot 91.1 FM, Live Audio
Live Video | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - With non-conference season in the rearview mirror, the Norfolk State men's basketball team will continue its quest for a regular season MEAC championship with a trip to the two Florida-based MEAC schools. Up first is a Saturday contest at Florida A&M at 6 p.m. at the Al Lawson Center as the Spartans (9-8, 2-0 MEAC) look to break a three-game losing streak.

Media Coverage
The game will be broadcast live on Star 1310 AM as well as Hot 91.1 FM with Ross Gordon on the call. Live audio is available through the Star 1310 website as well as through the Hot 91.1 website. Both feeds are available on smartphones through the Star 1310 website or through www.TuneIn.com or the TuneIn Radio App (search for "WNSB") for Hot 91.1.

Fans can follow the game with the live video stream available through Rattler Vision.

Series History
NSU owns a 15-9 edge in the all-time series thanks to a 10-game win streak against the Rattlers. Last year's four-point loss was the closest Florida A&M has come to defeating the Spartans since its last victory, 81-71 on Jan. 6, 2007. In the last meeting, won by NSU 91-87 on Dec. 5, 2013 at Echols Hall, the Spartans set school records for both free throws made (42) and attempted (62) in a game that featured a combined 73 fouls.

About Florida A&M
The Rattlers, ineligible for the MEAC tournament as well as all postseason play this year, are still searching for their first win of the year. They own a 0-14 overall record, with a 0-1 mark in the MEAC following a 70-61 loss at South Carolina State in December. Jermaine Ruttley and Jorge Rosa lead the way with 14.7 and 10.2 points per game, respectively, for a team that averages only 52 points while giving up almost 75 per game. Ruttley also leads the team in rebounding (5.9), assists (1.9) and steals (1.6) in addition to scoring. FAMU shoots just 37 percent overall and 27 percent from 3-point range, compared to 49 and 35 percent, respectively, for opponents. The Rattlers have also been outrebounded by 7.4 boards per game and have only totaled 20 blocks in 14 games.

Last Time Out
NSU shot 48 percent overall but just 2-of-11 from 3-point range and 11-of-24 from the free throw line in a 71-61 loss at Princeton on Tuesday night at Jadwin Gym. In NSU's last non-conference game of the season, Jeff Short led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Malik Thomas and RaShid Gaston each added 10, while Gaston also tallied 12 rebounds. The Spartans held Princeton to 38.9 percent shooting (21-of-54) while holding the edge on the glass (40-34) and in blocks (10-0). The Tigers, though, led for almost 37 minutes in the contest while hitting 9-of-25 from 3-point range and 20-of-27 from the foul line.

Tidbits
Jeff Short
 • 24.3 points, 54.4 percent shooting, 45.9 percent 3-point shooting and 4.3 rebounds last six games; Has led the team in scoring each game
 • Also averaging 22.8 points (54.8 % shooting, 44.9 % 3-point shooting) last nine games and 21.7 points (53.6 %, 43.3 %) last 12 games
 • Has scored at least 15 points in 12 straight games
 • 9th 20-point game of season with 25 at Princeton; 7 20-point games in last 9 contests
 • Ranks 1st in the MEAC in scoring (19.6), 2nd in 3-point field goal percentage (42.1) and 3-point field goals (2.4), 3rd in free throw % (84.7), 6th in field goal % (49.3) and 7th in minutes (33.5)
 • Stands 22nd in the nation in scoring (19.6); Also ranks in total points (5, 334), free throw percentage (61, 84.7), field goal percentage (101, 49.3), 3-point field goals per game (116, 2.35) and minutes (146, 33:31)
 • Tied career high with two blocks at Princeton

RaShid Gaston
 • 10 straight games with 10+ rebounds, the most in the NSU Division I era, from Nov. 28-Dec. 30; 11 10+ rebound games in last 12 contests
 • Eight double-doubles in nine games from Nov. 28-Dec. 22
 • Recorded 9th double-double of season with 10 points and 12 boards at Princeton; Also tied career high with four blocks
 • Ranks 2nd in the MEAC in offensive rebounds (3.3), defensive rebounds (6.4) and rebounds (9.7), 3rd in field goal % (57.8), 8th in blocks (1.1) and 9th in scoring (13.9)
 • Stands 7th in the nation in double-doubles (9); Also ranks in rebounding (20, 9.7), field goal % (25, 57.8), defensive rebounds (28, 6.40), offensive rebounds (39, 3.33) and blocks (228, 1.13)
 • Ranks 39th in NCAA Division I in career double-doubles (14), 41st in field goal percentage (.545) and 43rd in rebound average (7.1)
 • Stands 12th in NSU records with a .545 career shooting percentage
 • Tied career high with four blocks at Princeton

Jamel Fuentes
 • Ranks 2nd in the MEAC in assists (4.9) and 3rd in assist-turnover ratio (2.0)
 • Stands 59th in the nation in assists (4.9) and 113th in assist-turnover ratio (2.00)
 • Ranks 13th in NCAA Division I in career assists (492), 15th in assist-turnover ratio (1.91), 43rd in games played (116) and 46th in assist average (4.24)
 • Ranks 3rd all-time at NSU in assists with 492 and 1st among D-I players; Needs 11 more to move into second place
 • Stands 14th at NSU in career steals (133); Needs four more to move into 11th place

D'Shon Taylor
 • 47.7 percent on field goals, 50.0 percent on 3-pointers last nine games
 • Ranks 1st in the MEAC in 3-point field goal % (42.9), 11th in field goal % (44.3) and 15th in scoring (12.2)
 • Scored in double figures in seven straight games from Dec. 6-30 and in 11 of 12 games from Nov. 22-Dec. 30

Malik Thomas
 • Ranks 15th in the MEAC in defensive rebounds (3.7), 17th in rebounding (5.3) and 27th in scoring (10.3)
 • Tied career high with three blocks at Princeton

Jordan Butler
 • Career high seven rebounds at Princeton
 • Ranks 7th in the MEAC in blocks (1.2) and 191st in the nation (1.24)

Road Trekking
The Spartans are in the midst of a six-game road trek that started on Dec. 22 at James Madison and will last through Jan. 12 at Bethune-Cookman. They returned from the holiday break to play at Baylor (Dec. 30) and Georgia (Jan. 3). Four times in a seven-day span NSU had to catch a pre-dawn flight traveling back and forth for those two contests. The Spartans also had a late-night drive back after the contest at Princeton on Jan. 6 and another pre-dawn flight on Jan. 9 for the contest against Florida A&M the next day.

After playing four of five games at Echols Hall prior to this six-game road stretch, the Spartans will go four weeks between home games. The six-game road trek is the longest for the Spartans since they started the 2012-13 season with seven straight away from home.

Block Party
The Spartans had 10 blocks against Princeton on Tuesday, the most since tallying 10 against Navy on Jan. 5, 2013. Over the last five contests, the Spartans are averaging 8.0 blocks per game and have outblocked the opposition by a collective 40-17 margin.

Winning the Rebounding Battle
The Spartans have had the rebounding edge in 14 of the 17 games this year, including 11 straight contests from Nov. 22-Dec. 22. Dating back to last season, NSU has outrebounded 25 of the last 29 opponents. NSU was a collective +97 in rebounding margin during that 11-game stretch this year, including a +20 effort against U.Va.-Wise. It marked the largest margin for the Spartans since outrebounding Coppin State by 23 on Feb. 2, 2013. On the season, the Spartans have a +5.2 rebounding margin.

On Fire
In a nine-game stretch from Nov. 28-Dec. 22, the Spartans shot a combined 51.6 percent (247-of-479), including 40.6 percent (56-of-138) from 3-point range. NSU shot better than 50 percent overall in six of those nine games while averaging 76.2 points per game. The Spartans have shot at least 41.5 percent in 10 of the last 12 contests.

NSU's current 44.7 percent clip from the field is a little less than last year's 46.5 shooting percentage, the best since the Spartans connected on 48.1 percent of their shots in 1998-99. The team's current 34.8 percent 3-point shooting is also the best mark since the 1998-99 season, when NSU hit 35.7 percent from long range.

So far this season, the Spartans are 8-1 when they outshoot their opponents from the floor, with the only loss coming in the last game at Princeton. NSU is 8-0 this year when outshooting teams from 3-point range.

Balanced Scoring?
NSU has four players averaging double figures, including leading scorer Jeff Short (19.5) as well as RaShid Gaston (13.9), D'Shon Taylor (12.2) and Malik Thomas (10.3). After those four, though, the next highest scorer is Malik Gray at 2.7 points. Six players have tallied between 1.8 and 2.7 points per contest. A year after losing nearly 80 percent of its scoring from its senior class, NSU is now getting 78.9 percent of its scoring (915-of-1160 points) from just four players.

Better After the Break
NSU has scored more points in the second half than the first half in 12 of the last 14 games, and on the season the Spartans are averaging 4.1 more points in the first half than the second.

Specialty Stats
NSU has outscored the other team by an average of 6.8 more points in the paint (30.5-23.7). On the year, NSU has outscored or been even against 14 of its 17 opponents in points in the paint, including 11 straight from Nov. 22-Dec. 22. The Spartans have attempted 109 more shots from inside the 3-point line than opponents on the season.

On the other side, in 13 of NSU's 17 games this year, opponents have made the same amount or more 3-pointers thanks to 89 more attempts on the season.

Doubling Up
The Spartans had 12 double-double performances in a 12-game stretch from Nov. 19-Dec. 22, including five straight from RaShid Gaston from Nov. 28-Dec. 8. NSU has had 13 double-doubles overall this year, including nine from the junior forward.

MEAC Rankings
The Spartans rank No. 1 in the MEAC in rebounding margin (+5.2) and defensive rebound percentage (71.5). They also stand second in scoring margin (+1.5), field goal percentage (44.7), 3-point field goal percentage (34.8), assists (13.1), assist-turnover ratio (0.9) and defensive rebounds (25.4), as well as third in scoring offense (68.2) and blocks (4.8).

NSU is the only team in the MEAC with four players in the top 30 in scoring.

Good from 3
Norfolk State has made a 3-pointer in 164 straight games, dating back to a contest at South Carolina State on Jan. 25, 2010, when NSU finished 0-of-17 from 3-point range.