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LAST TWO GAMES OF THE CALENDAR YEAR
The Owls (8-2, 3-1 NE-10) will host a pair of games before the holiday break, beginning on Wednesday with a non-conference matchup against Bridgeport, and concluding with a Northeast-10 Conference game against Le Moyne on Sunday afternoon.
 
ALL-TIME AGAINST BRIDGEPORT AND LE MOYNE
Southern is 38-51 all-time against the Purple Knights and 14-19 all-time against the Dolphins.
 
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Earlier this season on Nov. 16, the Owls took down Bridgeport 99-78 to improve to 2-0 on the season. Luke Houston led all scorers with 29 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Tylon Smith had a double-double with 21 points and 10 assists on 9-of-12 shooting. Michael Mallory registered 20 points and eight assists for the Owls.  Bryce Elie led UB with 25 points and eight rebounds. Willie Williams III registered a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Last season, the Owls were 3-0 against Le Moyne, defeating the Dolphins 70-69 on Dec. 19, 2013 in Syracuse, 97-75 at home on Feb. 8, and 62-55 in the NE-10 Tournament on March 5. Nate Gause had 18 points for the Dolphins in the Feb. 8 matchup, while Michael Mallory (27 points) and Luke Houston (20 points) led SCSU.
 
SCOUTING THE PURPLE KNIGHTS
Bridgeport (5-3, 3-0 ECC) enters the matchup on a three-game winning streak. All three Purple Knights defeats have been to NE-10 opponents, and the team is 1-3 overall against NE-10 schools. UB is allowing 90.5 ppg to NE-10 schools this season. UB defeated AIC (who later defeated SCSU) 70-69 on the road back in November. The Knights are being outscored by an average of 79.5-73.2 per game. Bryce Elie leads the team with 16.5 ppg, Willie Williams III is scoring 9.6 ppg and a team-high eight rebounds per contest. Devon Elliot ranks second on the squad with 13.5 ppg, while Ernest Rouse has 13.4 ppg.

SCOUTING THE DOLPHINS
Le Moyne (8-2, 4-1 NE-10) enters the matchup with SCSU coming off their second loss of the season, a 73-67 defeat at Bentley on Sunday. Both Dolphin losses have come on the road this season (Mansfield and Bentley). Nate Gause, a two-time NE-10 Player of the Week, leads the NE-10 averaging 21.9 ppg on the season. He is also averaging 8.2 rpg, 1.8 apg and 2.3 steals per contest. Qwadere Lovell is second on the squad with 17.9 ppg, and leads the team with 5.5 apg. Connor Mahoney ranks fourth in the conference with a 50 percent three-point percentage (19-for-38). Ryan Romich ranks third on the team with 5.8 rpg and 13 steals. The Dolphins are outscoring their opponents by a margin of 67.7-58.4 this season.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Owls (8-2, 3-1 NE-10) enter the week coming off an 88-84 non-conference loss to Saint Michael's on Thursday at Moore Field House. Smith led the Owls with 28 points and six rebounds, while adding in four assists and three steals. Houston had 19 points, six assists and three steals, while Michael Mallory chipped in 16 points.
 
TIED ATOP THE REGION
The Owls are tied with Saint Anselm for the No. 1 spot in the East Region according to the newly formed Division II Sports Information Directors of America rankings, as voted upon by the region's sports information directors. The Owls received one first place vote, while the Hawks received two first place votes.
 
STAYING RANKED IN THE NATION'S TOP 10
The Owls slipped eight spots to No. 10 nationally in last week's National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II rankings. The Owls also fell five spots to No. 7 in the latest Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) rankings. New rankings will be released on Tuesday afternoon.
 
SMITH CHASING DOWN A MILESTONE
Tylon Smith enters the week in a three-way tie for the program's all-time record for career assists with 410. He shares the top spot with Daryle Breland '80 and T.J. Trimboli '00
 
HISTORIC START
The Owls 7-0 start to the 2014-15 season is tied for the second best start in program history, matching that of the 1996-97 team. The best start in program history came back during the 1949-50 season when the team opened the campaign 16-0.
 
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).
 
POLL WATCHING
Southern's No. 2 national ranking early in the 2014-15 season 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 29-36 all-time in season-opening games. SCSU has won its last five season openers, including an 104-88 win over Dowling this 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 course 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 will enjoy a 12-day layoff for the holiday break and will resume action on Jan. 3 when they travel to take on cross-town rival New Haven at 3:30 p.m.