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THANKSGIVING WEEK ACTION
The Owls will host Northeast-10 Conference opponent Pace in their only game of Thanksgiving week. The Setters enter at 1-4 (0-2 NE-10), while the Owls sit at 5-0 (1-0 NE-10).

ALL-TIME AGAINST PACE
The Owls enter the game with an all-time record of 8-21 vs. Pace.

PREVIOUS MEETING
The Owls and Setters split the season series last year, with Pace winning an 80-78 OT decision in Pleasantville, N.Y. The No. 9 Owls rebounded with a 94-69 win over the Setters at Moore Field House on Feb. 19. In the victory, Tylon Smith recorded his 1,000th career point as part of his 21-point performance. Deshawn Murphy picked up 25 points for the Owls while Michael Mallory chipped in 17 points.

SCOUTING THE SETTERS
Pace (1-4 overall) enters Tuesday's contest after dropping their first two conference meetings against Saint Rose and New Haven. One of their losses this season was a 94-58 season-opening loss at Division I Rhode Island. Shelton Mickell led the Setters with 18 points against New Haven, and Kyle Pearson also chipped in 18 points. Victor Jusino added nine points and eight rebounds off the bench against UNH. Against Saint Rose, Evan Gordinier led Pace with 15 points on 5-for-13 shooting in 28 minutes off the bench.  Jaylen Mann also accumulated 11 points in 15 minutes of relief, while Mickell totaled 14 points and seven rebounds in 32 minutes of action. Mickell averages a team-high 15.4 ppg, with Pearson coming in right behind at 13.6 ppg and a team-high 6.4 rpg.

LAST TIME OUT
Southern picked up three victories last week, including in their NE-10 opener on Wednesday, where the Owls used a late 14-4 run to top Adelphi 92-82. Deshawn Murphy and Desmond Williams each registered double-doubles in the win. On Friday, the Owls routed Felician 123-81. Twelve different Owls scored points in the victory, with eight scoring in double figures. On Saturday, SCSU rallied past Caldwell 86-80, ending the game on a 15-2 run and outscoring the Cougars 51-35 in the second half. For the week, Michael Mallory averaged 22.6 points per game, Tylon Smith averaged 17 ppg and just under seven assists per game, while Murphy averaged 14.3 ppg.

HISTORIC START
The Owls 5-0 start is the first of its kind to start a season since the team started 5-0 in the 1999-00 season. The last 6-0 start was the 1996-97 team, which began the season 7-0.

SCORING BIG
The 123 point outburst by Southern against Felician on Nov. 21 was tied for the second-most points in program history. The only other time the Owls scored 123 was in the 2000-01 season in a 124-123 OT loss to Pace. The program record of 124 points was set during the 1956-57 campaign against Hillyer (now the University of Hartford).

FLYING ATOP THE REGION
SCSU is ranked No. 1 in the East Rogion accoring to the newly formed Division II Sports Information Directors of America rankings, as voted upon by the region's sports information directors.

NATIONAL POLLS SAY SECOND-BEST
The Owls are ranked No. 2 nationally in five 2014-15 rankings - the NABC, the Sporting News, Division II Bulletin , the Basketball Times and the newly formed D2SIDA rankings. West Liberty (WV), a Final Four team a year ago, was the No. 1 ranked team in all five polls.

POLL WATCHING
Southern's current No. 2 national ranking matches the highest mark in program history. The Owls peaked as high as No. 2 in the Bennett Rankings last year. Southern's preseason No. 2 mark in the NABC poll is also the highest ranking ever for the Owls in the coaches' poll.

PLENTY OF PRESEASON FANFARE FOR SMITH
The only player in Division II to average 19.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game in 2013-14, Tylon Smith has received significant attention from the media in the preseason. He was named a preseason All-American by the Sporting News and the Basketball Times and was a "Super 16" pick by the Division II Bulletin.

IN THE PRESEASON NE-10 COACHES POLL
In the release of the Northeast-10 Conference preseason coaches' poll, the Owls were picked first in the Southwest Division. SCSU received 14 out of a possible 15 first-place votes.

THE CAPTAINS
Head coach Michael Donnelly announced that seniors Tylon Smith and Luke Houston will serve as team captains for the 2014-15 season. It's the second consecutive year that the pair has filled this role.

NEW ARRIVAL
The lone newcomer to the Owls' roster this season is another talented Connecticut product, guard Desmond Williams. He was a two-time junior college All-American at the Community College of Rhode Island. In addition, his older brother, Jordan, has played in the NBA with the Nets.

WELCOME BACK
Southern Connecticut returns 12 players from last year's squad - seniors Jose Cruz, Luke Houston and Tylon Smith, juniors Stefon Williams, Deshawn Murphy and Jack McCarthy and sophomores Michael Bozzuto, Austin Carter, Michael Mallory, Dominic Migliaro, Jonathan Paul and Lucas Van Nes.

GETTING IT DONE ON BOTH ENDS
In addition to collecting a host of accolades for his on the court play, Tylon Smith was named to the 2013-14 Capital One Academic All-America® Division II basketball team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He was a Third-Team selection.

NO EASY GAMES
The Owls will face six teams that reached the NCAA Division II Tournament a year ago (Bridgeport, East Stroudsburg, Franklin Pierce, Le Moyne, New Haven and Saint Anselm).

CAPTAINS LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Senior captains Tylon Smith and Luke Houston were both named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court for their work in the classroom and on the court last year. Both have also been recognized as Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award recipients for their classroom prowess in each of the last two years.

A SEASON TO REMEMBER
Southern Connecticut finished last year with a record of 30-3 and reached the Elite Eight for the second time in school history, where it lost to the eventual national champion, Central Missouri. Along the way, the Owls also won their first-ever Northeast-10 Conference regular season and tournament titles. SCSU also produced a school-record 19 game winning streak during the course of the year.

IN SEASON OPENERS
The Owls are 28-36 all-time in season-opening games. SCSU has won its last four season openers, including an 93-77 win over Molloy last year.

A DIFFERENT YEAR
The Owls won 13 more games last year than in 2012-13. The baker's dozen win improvement was third best in Division II. Here's a look at the teams and the win improvements (2012-13/2013-14 win totals in parentheses).
1. UC-Colorado Springs  +16 (5-21)
2. Delta State   +15 (11-26)
3. Southern Connecticut  +13 (17-30)
3. Cal-State Stanislaus  +13 (10-23)
3. Fort Valley State  +13 (8-21)

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN
Deshawn Murphy set a new single-season record with 78 made three-pointers last year, surpassing Angelo Parenti (73, 1988-89). In addition, Murphy's 201 three-point attempts were also a new single-season record.

HOME COURT EDGE
Southern Connecticut went 11-1 at Moore Field House in the regular season and was 16-1 on its home court last year.

SMITH ETCHES NAME IN RECORD BOOK
Tylon Smith surpassed the 1,000 career points mark on Feb. 19 versus Pace. The guard totaled 1,171 points in his career over his first three years as an Owl. He enters his senior season in 20th place on the all-time scoring list at SCSU and is also 13th in career rebounding.

WHAT A TURNAROUND
In the eight seasons prior to the arrival of Mike Donnelly, Southern Connecticut won 34 games. Last year, he guided the Owls to 30 wins.

DONNELLY BUILDING A FOUNDATION
Owls' coach Michael Donnelly is in his fifth season at the helm of the SCSU men's basketball program in 2014-15. Over the course of his first four years, he has guided the Owls to steady win total improvements. Donnelly inherited a team that won just two games the year prior to his arrival and followed up with campaigns of 12, 14 and 17 with 30 victories. The 2014 NE-10 and NABC Regional Coach of the Year has a 73-41 record as head coach at SCSU, which includes four straight trips to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament, a program first. Prior to his hiring at SCSU in May, 2010, Donnelly spent seven years as the head coach at Post University.

THE ONE DEPARTURE LEFT QUITE AN IMPACT
The only player not returning from last year's milestone season is Greg Langston, who finished his career as the second-leading scorer in program history with 1,890 points. He capped his career by earning All-America honors from four separate organizations along with Northeast-10 Conference and ECAC Player of the Year honors.

MALLORY MAKE A QUICK IMPACT
Guard Michael Mallory made his presence felt during the 2013-14 season, earning ECAC and Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Year honors. He finished the year with averages of 15.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

ON THE GLASS
Team rebounding was a strength for the Owls a year ago. SCSU averaged 43.3 boards per game, tops in the Northeast-10 Conference.

LAST YEAR'S CONFERENCE LEADERS
Many Owls finished among the NE-10 leaders in the regular season statistics.
•Greg Langston placed second in scoring average (21.1).
•Tylon Smith was fifth in scoring (18.3) and fourth in both shooting percentage (55.5%) and assists (4.8).
•Michael Mallory led all freshmen (16th overall) with 15.8 points per game.
• Luke Houston finished second in steals per contest (2.3).

20 WINS EQAULS THE POST-SEASON
The 2013-14 season was the sixth time in program history that SCSU won 20 games in a season. The Owls have earned a spot in the postseason (NCAA five times, ECAC once) every time it hit that total.

THRIVING IN THE CLASSROOM
Nine of the 13 members of last year's team were named to the Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll during the coruse of the 2013-14 academic year. Student-athletes must maintain a semester average of at least 3.0 in order to be eligible for this honor.

100 NOTES
For the first time since the 1974-75 season, Southern Connecticut broke the century mark in consecutive games last year. The Owls followed up a 110-point showing in a win over Stonehill on Jan. 22 with 106 points in the road victory at No. 21 Franklin Pierce on Jan. 25.
• During the middle of January, the Owls surpassed the 100 point mark in three out of four contests.
• SCSU just missed triple digits in the 99-73 victory over AIC on Feb. 25.
• The extra made free throw versus the Yellow Jackets would have tied a program record set during the 1956-57 season.

WINNING SEASON
With the win over Stonehill on Jan. 22, the Owls secured their third straight winning season. The program last recorded three consecutive winning seasons from 1999-2000 to 2001-2002.

UP NEXT
The Owls return to the court after the Thanksgiving holiday on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at Saint Rose, before returning home on Saturday, Dec. 6 against American Int'l.