The Niagara Purple Eagles wrap up their latest road journey on Sunday, December 1 against the Norfolk State Spartans at 4 p.m.
Scene Setter
• The Purple Eagles ushered in a new era with first-year head coach
Greg Paulus taking over the program. The former Duke standout joined the staff in May 2019 as an assistant coach after coaching stops at George Washington, Louisville, Ohio State, and Navy.
• The Purple Eagles are in search of their first win of the season after dropping their first five games.
• Niagara and Norfolk State will play for the fourth straight season. The Purple Eagles, who have won the previous four all-time meetings, rallied from an 18-point second deficit and stunned the Spartans with a last-second game-winning 3-pointer in the last meeting at Norfolk State in December 2017.
• Niagara is in a stretch of games where the Purple Eagles will play six out of seven games away from the Gallagher Center. Niagara's lone home game will be on December 8 against Colgate.
• Niagara's two home games in November and December are the program's fewest home games since the 1993-94 season. NU did not have a single home game in either November or December and played their first home game on January 6, 1994.
Tipoff Tidbits
• Niagara had season-highs in points (80), 3-pointers (8), free throws (22),assists (16), and steals (6) against Stephen F. Austin. The Purple Eagles shot over 55 percent (55.6 %) from the field for the first time since February 23, 2018.
•
James Towns netted a season-high 21 points against Bryant on November 18 for his fourth career 20-point game. Towns also pulled down a career-high eight rebounds.
• Freshman
Noah Waterman led the Purple Eagles with a career-high 15 points in his first career start at Stephen F. Austin. He also grabbed three rebounds, added two assists and had one block in 35 minutes of action.
• Five Purple Eagles were in double figures scoring –
Noah Waterman,
Marcus Hammond,
James Towns,
Raheem Solomon, and
Justin Roberts – at Stephen F. Austin for first time in 12 games.
•
Greg Kuakumensah became the first Purple Eagle this season to record a double-double. He collected his second career double-double with 10 points and team-high 10 rebounds against Bryant to become the first Purple Eagle this season with double digit boards.
•
James Towns and
Raheem Solomon have each scored in double figures in four of the five games this season. The pair are the only Purple Eagles to average in double figures with Towns leading the team with 13.8 points per game followed by Solomon's 11.8 points per game.
• Niagara grabbed a season-high 35 rebounds and tied a season-high in steals with six versus Bryant.
•
James Towns is 163 points away from reaching the 1,000-point threshold.
On The Court
Norfolk State Spartans (3-5, 0-0 MEAC)
• The Spartans are 3-5 on the season with all three wins coming against non-NCAA Division I programs.
• Three Spartans are averaging double figures scoring - Jermaine Bishop (14.9 ppg), Joe Bryant Jr. (12.3 ppg), and Devante Carter (10.3 ppg).
• Norfolk State lead the MEAC in scoring defense (64.0 ppg), assists per game (14.1 apg), field goal percentage defense (.388), steals per game (9.5 spg), and 3-point field goal defense (.267)
• Devante Carter and Yoro Sidibe each have four double-doubles which lead the MEAC.
Against The Spartans (Niagara Leads 4-0)
• Niagara won the first meeting between the teams, 80-69, on December 29, 2009 in El Paso, Texas as part of the Bank of the West Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational.
• Two of the four meetings have been decided by less than four points.
• The Purple Eagles edged the Spartans, 65-61, on December 10, 2016, and Niagara won on a last second 3-pointer, 85-82, on December 16, 2017.
• In last season's meeting, the Purple Eagles led for led for almost 38 minutes and had a 15-point lead with five minutes remaining in the game en route to beating a Spartans team that went on to win the MEAC regular season and advanced to the NIT Second Round.
Last Meeting - December 29, 2018
Niagara 85, Norfolk State 73
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Five Purple Eagles scored in double figures on their way to an 83-75 victory over the Norfolk State Spartans on Saturday.
| The Series |
Niagara Leads 4-0 |
| Last Game |
December 29, 2018 |
|
Niagara 85, Norfolk State 73 |
| Last Niagara win |
December 29, 2018 |
|
Niagara 85, Norfolk State 73 |
| Last Norfolk State win |
Never |
|
|
| Last Niagara win at Norfolk State |
December 16, 2017 |
|
Niagara 85, Norfolk State 82 |
| Last Norfolk State win at Home |
Never |
|
|
| Current Streak |
Niagara, W4 |
Against The MEAC
• NU has dominated teams from the MEAC, posting an impressive record of 12-1.
Towns Closing In On 1,000 Career Points
• Senior guard
James Towns entered the season on the verge of entering the 1,000-point club. He currently has 837 career points.
• Towns, who averaged a career-high 10.5 points per game, is the team's leading returning scorer.
• Towns leads the team in scoring this season with 13.8 points per game.
