2016-17 Southern Connecticut State University Men's Basketball Notes
Game 30 • NCAA Tournament First Round
No. 7 Southern Connecticut State University 
(17-12) 
vs. No. 2 Southern New Hampshire (21-8)
March 11 • 2:30 p.m. • Syracuse, N.Y.
LINKS: LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
 

Complete Game Notes as PDF | 2016-17 Schedule | 2016-17 Roster | Season Stats as a PDF

For the fourth year in a row, the Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team is headed to the NCAA Tournament. The Owls will be seeking their third trip to the Sweet 16 in four years when tournament play opens on Saturday. SCSU earned the No. 7 seed in the region and will face the No. 2 seed, Southern New Hampshire at 2:30 p.m. in Syracuse, N.Y.

OWLS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
This will mark the eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history for the Owls, who are 8-8 all-time.
Here's a look at the previous NCAA results for the Owls:
1981-82: Second Round (1-1)
First Round: Defeated Stonehill, 76-61
Second Round: Lost to Sacred Heart, 78-67
1982-83: First Round (0-2)
First Round: Lost to Kentucky Wesleyan, 90-68
First Round: Lost to Lewis, 91-73
1996-97: Elite Eight (2-1)
First Round: Bye
Second Round: Defeated Saint Rose, 83-80
Sweet 16: Defeated New Hampshire College, 80-61
Elite Eight: Lost to Cal-State Bakersfield, 65-62
1999-00: Second Round (0-1)
First Round: Bye
Second Round: Lost to St. Anselm, 83-70
2013-14: Elite Eight (3-1)
First Round: Defeated Bridgeport, 89-73
Second Round: Defeated Franklin Pierce, 79-77
Sweet 16: Defeated Saint Anselm, 78-72
Elite Eight: Lost to Central Missouri, 98-88
2014-15: Sweet 16 (2-1)
First Round: Defeated Bridgeport, 88-75
Second Round: Defeated AIC, 86-65
Sweet 16: Lost to Southern NH, 75-58
2015-16: First Round (0-1)
First Round: Lost to St. Thomas Aquinas, 92-90

ALL-TIME VS. THE PENMEN
Southern New Hampshire leads the all-time series with a record of 51-18. The two schools last faced off on Jan. 18 in Manchester, N.H., with the Penmen claiming a 95-79 win over the Owls.

MOVING UP THE NE10 CHART
After starting the year outside of the top 20, Michael Mallory has moved all the way into sole possession of second place on the NE10 all-time scoring chart. He jumped past Jon Cronin and James Hector in the game at Merrimack.
• Mallory enters the NCAA Tournament needing 28 points to become the all-time scoring leader in NE10 history.
1. Drew Adderly, Assumption    2,489
2. Michael Mallory, SCSU    2,462
3. James Hector, AIC        2,306
4. Jon Cronin, Stonehill        2,301
5. Mario Elie, AIC        2,124    

MALLORY BECOMES OWLS GAMES PLAYED LEADER
Michael Mallory secured his 10th different school record on Feb. 15 against New Haven when he played in his 121st career game, eclipsing the old mark of 120 set by T.J. Trimboli from 1996-2000. He's played in 124 games entering the NCAA Tournament.

SENIORS LOOKING TO SET NEW CLASS RECORD
With a victory against Pace on Feb. 21, this year's senior class registered their 93rd win, which matches SCSU single-class record with the Class of 2016.

CONTINUING TO ADD TO THE LEGACY
The Owls have tacked on to their program record with a fourth straight NCAA Tournament berth here in 2017. 

LAST TIME OUT
Senior guard Michael Mallory tallied a game-high 24 points, but the Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team dropped an 87-74 decision to Saint Anselm in the NE10 Tournament quarterfinal round on Feb. 26.
• Jerry Luckett, Jr. was the only other Owl in double figures with 16 points, and he also added nine rebounds.

TWO OWLS EARN ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Senior guard Michael Mallory and junior forward Jerry Luckett, Jr. have been recognized with NE10 All-Conference honors, as announced by the league office. Voting was conducted by all head men's basketball coaches within the conference.
• It's the third straight year that Mallory has earned All-Conference accolades, and his second straight First-Team selection. He was also just one of two players to earn unanimous First-Team laurels. Luckett was tabbed for the Third-Team after a strong rookie season with the Owls.
• Mallory assembled another strong campaign across the board in his final season as an Owl. He closed the regular season with averages of 23.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.2 steals per contest. Mallory led the NE10 in scoring and ranked fourth in blocks and three-pointers made (77), seventh in free throws made (117), eighth in assists and 18th in steals. He now ranks second in NE10 history with 2,438 points and is 52 points away from breaking that mark.
• Luckett averaged 14.6 points and 7.2 rebounds during the regular season and was second on the team in scoring and first in rebounding.  He ranked seventh in the league in rebounds per game and was 17th in scoring. Luckett also ranked ninth in free throws made (100) and fifth in offensive rebounds (78). 

MALLORY NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Senior guard Michael Mallory was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District team for his work in the classroom and on the court. A communications major with a 3.32 cumulative grade point average, he now advances to the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration.

OWLS CAUSING DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE
Southern Connecticut leads all Division II programs with seven different Owls - Taurus Adams II, Austin Carter, Toby Christensen, Jerry Luckett, Jr., Michael Mallory, Isaiah McLeod and Joey Wallace - having recorded a double-double in a game this year.

DID YOU KNOW?
Michael Mallory is now the NE10's all-time leader in field goal attempts with 1,990 and counting.

MALLORY LANDS ON WEEKLY HONOR ROLL..X2
Michael Mallory was named to the NE10 weekly honor roll on Feb. 13 after averaging 22.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. He posted game-high scoring efforts in both of the Owls' contests with 25 points in a win over AIC and 20 points against St. Rose.

DYNAMIC REBOUNDING DUOS
The Owls have been receiving rebounding contributions across the board this year. Among the notable nuggets is that the last two occurrences in which two players had double-digit rebound efforts in the same game have involved four different players. Michael Mallory and Joey Wallace accomplished the feat against Bentley, while Jerry Luckett, Jr. and Isaiah McLeod did so against Holy Family.

MALLORY EARNS WEEKLY HONOR ROLL SPOT
Michael Mallory was named to the NE10 weekly honor roll on Feb. 6 for his play against Merrimack and Adelphi last week. He averaged 29.5 points, 6.5 assists, 4.5 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals per game for the Owls. He had 28 points, five rebounds and four assists and forced overtime with his tying hoop at Merrimack and then added 31 points, eight rebounds and five assists against Adelphi.

CARTER MOVING UP
Senior Austin Carter notched three blocks in the win over Franklin Pierce on Jan. 21 to move into second place all-time in blocked shots at SCSU. He surpassed Trevon Hamlet, who had 188 in his three years as an Owl. Carter is also fifth amongst active Div. II players in career blocks wth 198 and counting. Carter was  named the 2015-16 NE10 Defensive Player of the Year.

AND SPEAKING OF BLOCKED SHOTS
With two blocks against Assumption, Michael Mallory has jumped into fifth place all-time at SCSU in blocked shots. He now has 116 blocks for his career coming into this weekend. 

MALLORY AMONG THE NCAA'S BEST
As of March 8, Michael Mallory was near the top among active players, in all three NCAA Divisions in several categories:
•2nd in field goals attempted 
•3rd in field goals made 
•4th in points
•5th in three-point field goals attempted
Among all active NCAA Division II players:
•1st in field goals made
•2nd in field goals attempted 
•2nd in points
•3rd in three-point attempts
•5th in three-point field goals made

MALLORY IN THE SCSU BOOKS 
Michael Mallory has etched his named in the Owls' record book in numerous categories: (up-to-date through 3/8/17)
• First in field goal attempts (1,990) 
• First in career field goals made (864)
• First in three-point field goal attempts (913)
• First in three-point field goals made (339)
• Fifth in blocks (116) 
• Fifth in career steals (148)
• Sixth in assists (352)
• 14th in rebounds (523)

ON THE NCAA SCORING LIST
As of 3/8/17, Michael Mallory is No. 10 in the country in scoring. 

GETTING SOME REINFORCEMENTS BACK
The Owls' rotation had a different look to it at SNHU thanks to the return of Austin Carter and Noah Miree. Carter had been sidelined for eight games due to injury, while Miree had missed two straight contests. In addition, freshman Taurus Adams II was back in the lineup for the first time in  13 games when he saw action against Adelphi on Feb. 4.

MALLORY TABBED FOR NE10 WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Senior Michael Mallory was named to the NE10 weekly honor roll on Jan. 23 for his play in the Owls' two outings against SNHU and Franklin Pierce. Mallory averaged 26 points, 7.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in helping the Owls to a 1-1 week, punctuated by his fourth career double-double (24 points and career-high 10 assists) in a win over Franklin Pierce. He also scored a team-high 28 points in a loss at SNHU, a game in which he also matched a career-high with four blocks.

LUCKETT, JR. NAMED TO NE10 WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Junior forward Jerry Luckett, Jr. was named to the NE10 weekly honor roll on Jan. 16. He averaged 23 points and 9.5 rebounds per game against Merrimack and St. Anselm.

BYNUM MAKING AN IMPACT
After a standout four-year career on the gridiron, one that included All-America honors as a junior, Kayjuan Bynum joined the Owls for the second semester. Thus far, he's averaging 2.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game off the bench for the Owls.

CONTROLLING THE PAINT
Junior Jerry Luckett, Jr. (14.7 ppg and 7.3 rpg) has a total of seven double-doubles on the year and is second on the team in scoring and first in rebounding.

THE SOPHOMORES
Joey Wallace (10.6 ppg and 4.6 apg) is sixth in the NE10 in assists and ranks fourth on the team in scoring. Isaiah McLeod (11.8 ppg and 4.8 rpg) has posted 19 double digit scoring efforts this season.  
 
MALLORY TAKES FIRST PLACE ALL-TIME
After a 30-point performance in a 92-87 victory over AIC, Michael Mallory passed Rich Radicioni as the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,938 career points and counting.

2K POINT CLUB
Thanks to his 20-point performance in a 68-66 win over Saint Rose, Michael Mallory reached the 2,000th point mark in his career.

IN THE PRESEASON RANKINGS
•NE10: No. 1 in the Southwest Division 
•Division II Bulletin: No. 4
•NABC Coaches' Poll: No. 13 
•D2SIDA National Poll: No. 15

RECAPPING LAST YEAR
The Owls are coming off a year in which they went 22-8, finished first in the NE-10 Conference Southwest Division and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year. The Owls elevated as high as No. 2 in the national rankings last season.

A FINE FIRST SEASON
Owls' coach Scott Burrell was selected the 2016 ECAC Coach of the Year after leading the Owls to 22 wins and a NCAA berth in his first season. 

RETURNING STARTERS
Southern Connecticut will be led by senior Michael Mallory, who led the team with 23 points per game and was selected as an All-American, All-ECAC, All-Region and All NE10 Conference performer. Classmate Austin Carter averaged 9.8 points per game, 7.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks and was named 2015-16 NE10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Sophomore Joey Wallace averaged 7.7 points per game and 4.2 rebounds and was named to the NE10 All-Rookie Team. 

MALLORY CHOSEN TO PRESEASON "SUPER 16" TEAM
Michael Mallory has been selected to the Division II Bulletin's preseason "Super 16" Team.

MALLORY NAMED SPORTING NEWS PRESEASON ALL AMERICAN
For the second year in a row, Michael Mallory was named to the Sporting News preseason All-American Team. 

WELCOME TO THE CLUB
The Owls welcome senior Kayjuan Bynum, juniors Jerry Luckett, Jr. and Bernard Brantley and freshmen Noah Miree and Taurus Adams II to the team this year.

WELCOME BACK
Southern Connecticut returns eight players from last year's squad - seniors Michael Bozzuto, Austin Carter, Michael Mallory, Dominic Migliaro, Jonathan Paul and sophomores  Toby Christensen, Isaiah McLeod and Joey Wallace.

TOUGH PLACE TO PLAY
The Owls are 43-12 (.782) at home since the start of the 2013-14 season and 39-5 in NE10 play (.886) in league games.

SOME SCSU RECORDS OWNED
Heading into the year, Michael Mallory held the single-season record with 95 three-pointers made last year. Mallory ranks first all-time in 3-point field goals made (260) and  attempts (670). Mallory also recorded a career-high 47 points in a win against Bentley on Jan. 30, 2016

THRIVING IN THE CLASSROOM
For the second year in a row, the Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team was recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches as a recipient of the 2015-16 Team Academic Excellence Award for its success in the classroom. In addition, five members of the team were selected as honorees for the 2016 NABC Honors Court - Michael Bozzuto, Austin Carter, Michael Mallory, Jonathan Paul.

UP NEXT 
An Owls' win will move the squad into the second round against Saint Rose or Bloomfield on Sunday. A loss will end the 2016-17 campaign for the Owls.