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THIS WEEK
The Southern Connecticut State University Owls play two home conference games this week: first a matchup against Saint Michael's on Wednesday evening followed by a game against Stonehill on Saturday afternoon.

SCOUTING SAINT MICHAEL'S
• The Purple Knights are 2-10 on the year but 1-1 in their last two. 
• The Owls defeated Saint Michael's 101-80 on December 10 after leading by as much as 35. Joey Wallace led Southern with 20 points and nine rebounds as Scott Burrell's team had arguably its best offensive game of the season. 
• Saint Michael's averages 69.8 points per game and is led by junior forward Matt Bonds who averages 16.3 points per game and 12.5 rebounds per game, tops in the NE-10. 
• They are third in the conference in rebounding and second in offensive rebounding per game, but last in turnovers per game.
• The program lost its top three players from last year's team to graduation. 

ALL-TIME vs. SAINT MICHAEL'S
The Owls are 12-19 all-time against the Purple Knights, including this year's win. Ten players scored for Southern in the December matchup. Michael Mallory and Toby Christensen scored 16 points each and Eric Ross grabbed 13 rebounds in 17 minutes.

SCOUTING STONEHILL
• The Skyhawks host Le Moyne on Wednesday before traveling to Moore Field House on Saturday. 
• They are 2-2 in their last four games and are 2-1 against common opponents of SCSU. The Owls are 3-0 against those teams.
• Stonehill averages 82 points and grabs 40.8 rebounds per game (third in the NE-10). It also shoots the three-pointer at 40.9-percent  - second in the conference.
• The Skyhawks are led by Ryan Logan who scores 19.5 points per game (fifth in the NE-10) and 9.4 rebounds per game (third in the NE-10). Logan is the only player in the conference to place in the top five in both categories (Desmond Williams is sixth in scoring). 
• Carter Smith is also a player to watch for Stonehill - he averages 16.5 points per game and is shooting 49.4-percent from three.

ALL-TIME vs. STONEHILL
The Owls are 24-33 all-time against the Skyhawks but are 2-1 in their last three.

FALLING OUT OF THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Southern Connecticut is no longer ranked in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Poll after previously being ranked No. 20 and going 1-1 during its last week of action. The team is still receiving votes.

BEGINNING THE YEAR WITH A BANG
The Owls began 2016 with an 83-72 win over Le Moyne. Michael Mallory went off in the second half with 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting to propel Southern to victory in a game that the Dolphins kept close.
• Le Moyne got to within two points of the Owls three times in the second half but never took the lead.
• Both Desmond Williams and Austin Carter nearly double-doubled. Williams finished with 19 points and nine boards while Carter had 12 points, nine boards, two blocks and two steals. 

MALLORY NAMED TO NE-10 HONOR ROLL
Michael Mallory has been named to the Northeast-10 Weekly Honor Roll for his performance against Le Moyne. Mallory had 28 points, 21 coming in the second half, as the Owlsl held off the surging Dolphins.

CARTER LEADS OWL COMEBACK BUT FALL SHORT
Austin Carter posted a career high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting with eight boards, five assists and four blocks for the Owls in their 92-104 loss to the University of the Sciences.
• Michael Mallory and Desmond Williams also added 20 points, each.
• The Devils led by as much as 24 in the second half but Southern Connecticut came charging back to cut the lead to five with 1:48 remaining.
• U. Sciences made 20-of-22 free thows in the final 3:50 of the game to seal the win.
• The Owls scored 62 points in the second half - the most they have scored in any half all season. 

CARTER HEATING UP
In his last two games, Austin Carter is averaging 16 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and three blocks.

McLEOD GOES OFF, OWLS MAKE 18 THREES
Freshman Isaiah McLeod scored 24 points in 22 minutes on 8-of-10 shooting and 5-of-7 from deep to propel the Owls to a 100-71 win over Caldwell on Thursday, December 17. McLeod added six rebounds, five assists and two steals. 
• The Owls posted season highs in three pointers made (18) and three point percentage (47-percent).
• Southern out-rebounded Caldwell 49-36. 
• Eleven players scored for Southern, tying a season high, and four players scored in double figures.

OUTPACING THE SETTERS
The Owls took care of Pace 84-74 on Saturday, December 12. Michael Mallory had a game high 29 points and nine assists along with three rebounds, two blocks and one steal. The game was tight throughout, with Southern taking the lead for good midway through the second half. Desmond Williams notched his sixth double-double of the year with 14 points and 11 boards.

TIGERS TOO MUCH
Desmond Williams led the way for Southern, scoring 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting and adding eight rebounds in the 90-70 loss to Holy Family on December 7. Freshman Joey Wallace scored 13 points and had career highs in rebounds (six), assists (four) and steals (two). 

KNIGHTS CAN'T HANDLE OWLS
Southern Connecticut got out to a quick 7-0 lead against the Purple Knights and never looked back on their way to a 101-80 victory. They led by as much as 35. Joey Wallace led the Owls with 20 points on five made threes.

MALLORY NAMED TO THE NE-10 HONOR ROLL
Michael Mallory was named to the Northeast-10 Honor Roll for his performances in Southern's games the week of December 7. Mallory capped off a 2-1 week with a 29 point, nine assist game against Pace. For the week, he averaged 18.3 points, 7.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.

GO TO WALLACE
Freshman Joey Wallace has started the last four games for the Owls. When Wallace starts, he averages 12.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists. When Wallace comes off the bench, he averages 4.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists. 

DESMOND WILLIAMS NAMED TO NE-10 HONOR ROLL
Williams tallied two double-doubles in three games from Nov. 30 to Dec. 5 as he averaged 21.7 points, 11 rebounds and six assists per game. He posted stat lines of 28 points, 10 boards and nine assists in the win over LIU Post and 19 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals in the win over Saint Rose.?

BACK TO THEIR WINNING WAYS
The Owls picked up their sixth win of the year in a hard-fought game against Saint Rose, 86-79. 
• Michael Mallory led all scorers with 27 points, 20 coming in the second half.
• Desmond Williams picked up his fifth fouble-double in seven games this year with 19 points and 14 boards. He added six assists, three blocks and three steals.
• The Owls were down for much of the second half (14 being the largest deficit) before roaring back with a 12-0 run to take the lead with 3:09 remaining.
• Southern shot 7-of-7 in the final seven minutes of the game and went 7-of-8 from the free throw line to ice the win.

MALLORY EARNS NE-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Michael Mallory was the Northeast-10 Player of the Week on Nov. 30 after posting career highs with 43 points and nine three pointers made in last week's win over AIC. The point total was the most any player in the program has scored in nearly 40 years and was just three points shy of the all-time single-game scoring record. He also added six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

SCOTT BURRELL'S FIRST WIN
The Owls dominated Dominican in the first game of the season, 99-69. The game was even through the first six minutes, but Isaiah McLeod led a 14-0 run in the middle of the first half to start a series of runs that would lead to Coach Burrell's eventual win.
• McLeod finished as the second leading scorer with 19 points in 18 minutes off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting and 4-of-6 from three.
• Southern Connecticut attempted 80 field goals, Dominican attempted 56.

FANTASTIC FRESHMEN
Isaiah McLeod and Joey Wallace both averaged over 20 minutes per game in Southern's first two games this season. McLeod averaged 15 points and three assists in two games, while Wallace had an average of nine points, two and a half rebounds and two assists.
• McLeod had a big game against Dominican on Saturday, scoring 19 points in 18 minutes of 7-of-9 shooting and 4-of-6 from deep.
• Wallace scored 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting against Bridgeport on Sunday, including 10 points in the close second half.

RECAPPING LAST YEAR
The Owls are coming off a year in which they went 24-8, finished first in the NE-10 Conference Southwest Division and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. It was the second straight year and the third time in program history Southern Connecticut made it that far in the national tournament. The Owls were ranked as high as No. 2 in the national rankings last season.

PRESEASON RANKINGS
The Owls are ranked No. 19 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Preseason Poll. The team is also ranked first in the Southwest Division in the NE-10 Men's Basketball Coaches' Poll and 13th in the Division II Bulletin Preseason Poll.

SAYING GOODBYE
The Owls are forced with the task of replacing Tylon Smith, Luke Houston and Jose Cruz this season. The three-member senior class of 2015 tied the program record for the most wins by one class in SCSU history with 85 victories over the past four seasons, tying the Class of 2000.
• Smith finished his career at SCSU as the program's all-time leader in career assists with 528, and ranks seventh in both scoring (1,778) and rebounds (705). Last season, he led the team with 18.7 points per game and 5.6 assists per game. He was also one of only two active players in all of college basketball (all divisions) last season with at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists for his career.
• Houston earned a spot on the All-Conference Second-Team last season after ranking ninth in the conference scoring 18.4 points per game and shooting 44.9 percent from the three-point line.

OWLS WELCOME STATE STAR
To replace Mike Donnelly who left to become the head coach at Florida Southern College, Southern Connecticut hired Scott Burrell, who spent the last eight seasons as an assistant coach at Quinnipiac University. Burrell was a first-round draft pick (20th overall) of the Charlotte Hornets in the 1993 NBA Draft and played for a total of four teams in the NBA over a fourteen year professional career. He also spent five years playing professionally in Japan, Spain, the Philippines and China before becoming an assistant coach with the Colorado 14ers of the NBA Developmental League. In his eight years at Division I QU, the Bobcats won 143 games and made it to the postseason four times. Quinnipiac also moved conferences from the Northeast Conference to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference during Burrell's tenure.

RETURNING STARTERS
Southern Connecticut will be led by junior Michael Mallory, who was second on the team with 18.3 points per game and tied for first in 3-pt shooting at 41-percent per game, senior Desmond Williams, who averaged 12.8 points on 47-percent shooting and 7.4 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game last year, and senior Stefon Williams, who shot 52-percent from the field last season. Junior Austin Carter should see a spike in his minutes this season after averaging 18 minutes a game last year. Transfer Eric Ross should also see a good amount of playing time after averaging 7.2 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game for Triton College last season.

MALLORY PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
Michael Mallory has been named a preseason All-American by The Sporting News and The Basketball Times. Mallory earned Third-Team All-Conference honors last season and set a single-season program record of 90 three-pointers made.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Southern Connecticut went 10-4 at Moore Field House last season, including going 9-1 in the conference at home.

LAST SEASON'S CONFERENCE STATS
Southern Connecticut played at a fast pace last year, as it led the Northeast-10 in scoring (89.0 points per game), field goals made (1024), field goals attempted (2181), three-pointers made (312) and three-pointers attempted (848). The Owls had 153 more field goals and 291 more attempts from the field than the second place finisher in the conference. The team also finished first in steals per game (8.1) and blocks per game (6.1) and second in rebounds per game (40.1). Defensively, SCSU held its opponents to 41-percent shooting from the field, good for second in the conference.

STARTING OFF STRONG
The Owls have not lost a season opener in six seasons. In that time, Southern has beaten Chestnut Hill, Post, Goldey-Beacom, Molloy, Dowling and Dominican.

FACING OTHER NATIONAL TEAMS
The Owls will face six teams that reached the NCAA Division II Tournament a year ago - American International, Bridgeport, Southern New Hampshire, Stonehill, Saint Anselm and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

NEWCOMERS
The Owls will welcome five new players to the team this year, including transfers Eric Ross and Brett Buser and freshmen Isaiah McLeod, Joey Wallace and Toby Christensen.

WELCOME BACK
Southern Connecticut returns nine players from last year's squad - seniors Desmond Williams, Stefon Williams and Jack McCarthy, and juniors Michael Bozzuto, Austin Carter, Michael Mallory, Dominic Migliaro, Jonathan Paul and Lucas Van Nes.

THRIVING IN THE CLASSROOM
All nine returning members of last year's team were named to the Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll during the course of the 2014-15 academic year. Student-athletes must maintain a semester average of at least 3.0 in order to be eligible for this honor.

UP NEXT
The Owls have two road conference matchups next week. They travel to Merrimack on Tuesday for a game at 3:30 p.m. and to Saint Anselm on Saturday afternoon for another game at 3:30 p.m.