Norfolk State Men's Basketball
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Norfolk State men's basketball team will play its second straight campus game as part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational on Monday night when the Spartans compete at Bulter. Tip-off from historic Hinkle Fieldhouse is set for 8:30 p.m.
NSU is in the midst of a 10-day trip that finds the Spartans going from Vanderbilt on Friday to Butler straight out to Las Vegas for two more games as part of the tournament before returning home on Saturday.
Media Coverage
The game against Butler will be shown live on the FS1, with Vince Welch and Nick Bahe on the call. The game can also be watched live on
www.FoxSportsGo.com. The host Bulldogs will also provide live stats through
www.Butler.StatBroadcast.com.
Series History
Norfolk State and Butler have never met on the hardwood. Of the 10 members of the Big East, this will mark the sixth of those teams NSU has played, including Georgetown (0-4), Marquette (0-2), Seton Hall (0-2), Creighton (0-1) and DePaul (0-1). The closest the Spartans came to knocking off one of those teams came in losses to DePaul (82-78) last year, to Marquette (59-57) in 2011-12 and in overtime to Georgetown (78-70) in 2004-05.
About Butler
The Bulldogs improved to 3-0 on the season with an 86-60 win over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon. Four players scored in double figures, including leading scorer Kelan Martin, who had 13 but still averages 18.7 points per game. Kamar Baldwin also reaches double figures with 10.7, while four other players score at least eight for an offense that tallies 81.7 points per contest. The Bulldogs are shooting better than 50 percent overall from the floor and have averaged eight 3-pointers per game so far this year. In addition, Bulter has posted just 9.3 turnovers compared to 18.0 for opponents. The Bulldogs also own a +4.7 rebound margin despite averaging just 31.0 boards per game. Avery Woodson and Tyler Wideman each contribute 9.0 points, with Andrew Chrabascz (8.7) and Tyler Lewis (8.0) also getting in on the action.
Last Time Out
After a relatively close first half, Vanderbilt shot 46 percent and outscored the Spartans by 14 in the second half to take a 75-52 victory over Norfolk State on Friday night at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville. For NSU,
Jonathan Wade tallied team-leading totals of 20 points (6-of-14 shooting) and eight rebounds, with
Jordan Butler the next closest scorer at nine points. NSU shot just 30 percent overall, while Vanderbilt was limited to 37.5 percent in the game despite its stronger second half. Matthew Fisher-Davis added 18 points for the Commodores, while Jeff Roberson added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Vanderbilt only led by as much as nine in the first half but also held a 9-1 edge in blocks.
Player Tidbits
Jonathan Wade
 • Has scored 54 points the last two games, including 20 at Vanderbilt in a career-high 36 minutes
 • Scored career-high 34 points against Elizabeth City State, including 22 points in the 1st half
 • Hit 12-of-17 from the field, the first time an NSU player had at least 12 field goals in two years; Scored the most points by a Spartan player since Pendarvis Williams had 38 against Newberry on Nov. 13, 2013
 • Also had 3 assists to tie his career best
 • Ranks 2nd in the MEAC in scoring (21.8), 4th in rebounding (7.8), 7th in defensive rebounds (5.5) and 3-point field goal % (53.8) and 10th in offensive rebounds (2.3)
 • Ranks 52nd in the nation in double doubles (1), No. 56 in scoring (21.8), No. 173 in rebounds (7.8) and No. 191 in defensive rebounds (5.50)
Zaynah Robinson
 • Ranks tied for 1st in the MEAC in free throw percentage (1.000, 7-of-7) as well as 3rd in assist-turnover ratio (3.58), 6th in minutes (33.2), 8th in assists (3.8), 12th in steals (1.5) and 17th in scoring (12.5)
 • Ranks 71st in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (3.75), No. 173 in minutes (33:15) and No. 235 in both assists (3.8)
Alex Long
 • Ranks 9th in the MEAC in rebounds (6.5) and 10th in defensive rebounds (5.0) and blocks (1.0)
Carrington Ward
 • Had career highs of 15 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks against Shenandoah
 • Tied career high with 5 rebounds against Elizabeth City State as well
Dan Robinson
 • Had career highs of 7 points and 3 blocks at Mississippi State
 • Also had 3 blocks vs. Shenandoah and Elizabeth City State and 7 points at Vanderbilt
 • Ranks 2nd in the MEAC and 64th in the nation in blocks (2.3)
Bryan Gellineau
 • Ranks 14th in the MEAC in offensive rebounds (1.8)
Kyle Williams
 • Ranks 13th in the MEAC in 3-point field goal percentage (46.7)
Pack Your Bags
NSU is in the midst of a 10-day road trip as part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. The Spartans left for Vanderbilt on Thursday, Nov. 17, and will compete at Butler on Monday before flying out to Las Vegas for the second part of the tournament over Thanksgiving. NSU will then return to Norfolk on Nov. 26, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
The contest at Vanderbilt was the first of five straight road games for the Spartans and began a stretch in which NSU plays 10 of 12 away from home.
Win the Turnover Battle
So far this year, NSU has had fewer or the same amount of turnovers as the opposition in all four games.
Scorers Needed
Coming into the season, NSU players had combined for just two games in which they had led the team in scoring, and both of those came from
Jordan Butler last year.
MEAC Rankings
The Spartans rank first in the MEAC in blocks (5.5) as well as second in scoring defense (66.5), scoring margin (+7.2), field goal percentage defense (36.7) and 3-point field goal percentage (37.7) as well as third in defensive rebounds (27.8).
Nationally Ranked
As a team, NSU stands 20th in the nation in blocks (7.0), 54th in 3-point field goal percentage (41.4) and 56th in field goal percentage defense (36.4). The Spartans also rank in the top 100 in field goal percentage (64th, 50.6), scoring defense (77th, 63.7), scoring margin (84th, +17.3) and defensive rebounds (92nd, 29.33).
ECSU Tidbits
NSU's 91-55 win over Elizabeth City State on Nov. 15 was the team's biggest win since an 88-49 victory over U.Va.-Wise on Dec. 15, 2014. The team's shooting percentage of 55.6 (35-of-63) marked its best since hitting 55.6 percent (30-of-54) at Coppin State on Dec. 7 of last year. The Vikings also shot just 29.3 percent overall from the floor, the first time NSU held an opponent below 30 percent since Rhode Island connected on just 15-of-53 (28.3 percent) on Nov. 9, 2012.
Good from 3
Norfolk State has made a 3-pointer in 219 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.
O'Quinn's NBA Season
Former Spartan Kyle O'Quinn is now in his fifth year in the NBA and the second with the New York Knicks. He became NSU's first NBA player in 25 years after getting drafted in the second round in 2012 by the Orlando Magic.
Professional Spartans
Aside from O'Quinn, NSU has several other former players competing professionally. Michael Deloach is currently with Eurobasket Roma in the Italian Serie A2 league, where he is averaging 19.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
Jeff Short is competing with Arcos Albacete Basket in Spain, where he has posted 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists.
In addition, former Spartan
D'Shon Taylor is playing for Al Mina of the Iraq Superleague, Aleek Pauline is with Sampaense Basketball of the Portuguese Basketball League, and Anell Alexis is competing with Caballos de Cocle Aguadulce of the Panamanian Basketball League.
Another former NSU player, Pendarvis Williams, competed in Italy the last two years but is currently with the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League.
