Monday
NSU at Howard, 7:30 p.m., Burr Gymnasium
Free Live Audio | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - NSU continues its three-game road swing with a Monday evening affair at Howard beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Burr Gymnasium. The Spartans are in the midst of a stretch that began on Jan. 25 in which they play seven of nine games on the road.

Series History
NSU owns a 37-9 edge in the all-time series with Howard that began in 1967-68 and has won eight in a row over the Bison and 17 of the last 19. In their last meeting on Feb. 10, the Spartans picked up a 75-49 win at home, NSU's largest victory in five years.

About Howard
The Bison offense flows through freshman James Daniel, who leads the MEAC in scoring at 22.0 points per game. Prince Okoroh adds 14.4 points and a team-best 5.4 rebounds, but those are the only two players averaging at least seven points a game for an offense that scores just 62. Turnovers have been a big killer, as Howard averages nearly 17 per game. Howard shoots just 38.1 percent from the field and has been outrebounded by three boards per contest.

Last Time Out
NSU's 17-point lead began to dwindle in the final minutes, but Coppin State ran out of time in its comeback attempt in a 73-68 win for the Spartans on Saturday at CSU's Physical Education Complex. NSU hit just one field goal in the last four minutes, and the Eagles got as close as three points with nine seconds left. The Spartans had led by 17 with less than five minutes left. Pendarvis Williams, Malcolm Hawkins and Brandon Goode each scored 15 points on the day for an NSU squad that shot exactly 50 percent from the field.

MEAC Standings
The last week and a half of the regular season will be a dogfight at the top of the MEAC standings, with four teams vying for the top 3 spots and thus a bye in the MEAC tournament. The Spartans currently stand in a tie for third place in the standings with Morgan State at 9-3. League leader North Carolina Central owns a 12-1 record, while Hampton is a half game ahead of MSU and NSU at 10-3. Savannah State currently sits in fifth at 8-5.

Back in the Fold
Malcolm Hawkins missed four games due to a neck injury before returning on Saturday at Coppin State. Coming off the bench, Hawkins scored 15 points and added four assists in 27 minutes while also hitting 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the last minute to seal the victory.

Winning Record
NSU needs just one more win to guarantee itself an overall winning record on the year. It would mark the third year in a row and just the fifth time the Spartans have done so since moving to Division I in 1997-98.

Player Tidbits
Pendarvis Williams
 • 19.0 points, 15-of-37 3-pointers and 5.6 rebounds in 38.0 minutes last five games
 • 2.3 steals last eight games
 • Fifth in the MEAC in steals at 1.5 and in minutes played at 34.3
 • Needs six more points to reach No. 19 on the all-time scoring list at NSU
 • Shooting 48.8 percent from the floor this year, including 61.7 percent (95-of-154) from inside the arc
 • One of five all-time NSU players with 1,400 points, 400 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals along with Ralph Tally, Barry Mitchell, Tony Murphy and Michael Deloach
 • Needs one more rebound to reach 500 for his career; would join Tally and Mitchell as only players with 1,400 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals
 • 81.4 percent from the free throw line this season; chasing Division I record of 83.3 percent set by Ryan Grier in 2003-04
 • Second all-time at NSU in career 3-pointers

Kievyn Lila-St. Rose
 • 4.0 rebounds last four games
 • 6.0 points last two games

Malcolm Hawkins
 • Missed four games due to injury from Feb. 1-15
 • 56-of-65 from the free throw line over his last 14 games
 • 81.7 percent from the free throw line this season; chasing Division I record of 83.3 percent set by Ryan Grier in 2003-04
 • Shooting 40.4 percent from 3-point range, which ranks fifth in Division I season records and 12th overall
 • Third in the MEAC in 3-point shooting percentage (40.4)
 • Has scored in double figures in each full game he has played (only played the second half at Delaware State)
 • 16.6 points per game average ranks seventh in D-I history behind three players - Michael Deloach, Damian Woolfolk and Tony Murphy - who each became 1,700 career point scorers at NSU
 • Made 24 straight free throws before a miss at Delaware State

Brandon Goode
 • 13.4 points on 29-of-43 field goals with 8.4 rebounds in 28.6 minutes last five games
 • Has scored in double figures in 17 of last 22 games
 • Shooting 61-of-93 (65.6 percent) in the last 12 games
 • Ranks fourth in Division I single-season records with 60 blocks and fifth in all-time single-season records
 • Second all-time at NSU with 140 career blocks behind precedssor Kyle O'Quinn
 • Second in the MEAC in field goal percentage at 62.1, third in offensive rebounds (2.8) and fifth in rebounding (7.1) and blocks (2.3)
 • 62.1 percent shooting currently ranks sixth all-time at NSU in season records and third in Division I era
 • Fifth double-double of season and second straight with 15 points and 11 boards at Coppin State

Jamel Fuentes
 • 12.0 points on 11-of-25 field goals with a 20-4 assist-turnover ratio in 35.3 minutes in three games from 2/8-2/15
 • 2.5 steals in four games from 1/27-2/10
 • 4+ assists in 17 straight games from 12/5-2/15
 • Needs four more assists to reach fifth place all-time at NSU
 • Sits third in Division I records with 142 assists this year
 • First in the MEAC in assist-turnover ratio (3.0) and second in assists (5.5)

Marese Phelps
 • 6.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals in 32.3 minutes last three games
 • 1.9 steals last 14 games
 • Sixth in the MEAC in steals at 1.5

Ever-Changing Lineup
NSU started its 12th different lineup of the season in the contest at Coppin State on Saturday, with Marese Phelps making his second start of the year. The lineup that has been together the most is the combination of Brandon Goode, Anell Alexis, Malcolm Hawkins, Pendarvis Williams and Jamel Fuentes, which started seven games during the two-month absence of RaShid Gaston.

Mistake-Free Ball
NSU is currently averaging just 13.0 turnovers per game. Should that hold up, it would mark a school record for fewest turnovers per game since the stat was first kept in 1978-79. The program record is 13.1 per game in 1987-88. In fact, only three times has NSU even had less than 14 turnovers a game: 1987-88, 1995-96 (13.4) and 1989-90 (13.9).

Coughing Up the Ball
Over the last five games, NSU is averaging 7.6 steals and opponents are turning the ball over 14.3 times a game. Howard committed 24 turnovers on Feb. 10, the most giveaways by an NSU opponent since Morgan State had 29 on Jan. 21, 2013.

Conference Streak
With nine MEAC wins so far this year, NSU will finish above .500 in conference play. Since moving to Division I in 1997, the Spartans have yet to finish worse than .500 in the MEAC. In fact, since the 1953-54 season, NSU has finished with a losing conference record just once (9-10 in 1990-91 in the CIAA) in 58 seasons (not counting the independent 1997-98 and 1961-62 seasons).

Get on the Glass
NSU has been even or had the edge in the rebounding column in eight of the last 11 games, including Saturday's dominating performance at Coppin State in which NSU had a 41-23 edge on the boards.

Senior Leadership
NSU has scored 1,928 points this year, with 1,526 of those points (79.1 percent) coming from NSU's senior class.

Spartans in the MEAC
NSU is 9-3 this year in the MEAC and 38-6 (86.4 winning percentage) since the start of the 2011-12 season.

Ahead at the Half
The Spartans are 31-6 since the start of the 2012-13 season when leading or tied at the half and 51-7 dating back to the 2011-12 season.

MEAC Rankings
NSU ranks first in the MEAC in scoring offense (74.2), field goal percentage (46.9) and offensive rebound percentage (37.6). The Spartans also stand second in 3-point field goal percentage (34.1), opponent rebounding (33.1), rebounding margin (+2.7), assists (14.3) and assist-turnover ratio (1.1) and third in scoring margin (+1.5) and defensive rebound percentage (66.2).