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Tulsa, OK - Manhattan (4-5) will look for its second-straight win when it travels to Tulsa (6-4) on Saturday, December 16 at 7:00 pm (EST).
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - This will be the Jaspers' first trip to Oklahoma since dropping a pair of games at the 49th Annual All-College Tournament on December 29-30, 1984.
#2 - A win would be the first-ever over Tulsa and the first against a team from Oklahoma since besting the Sooners in the First Round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament.
#3 - With Saturday's game, Manhattan will have traveled 5,800 miles for its seven road/neutral games.
QUICK HITS
* Manhattan's game with Hofstra on Wednesday, December 20 will be played at Adelphi. Tickets are extremely scarce and can be purchased through the Athletic Department by clicking HERE.
* The Jaspers return to action after posting a decisive 80-66 win over Morgan State.
* Manhattan either set or matched season-highs with 80 points, 29 field goals, 21 assists and eight blocks.
* The Jaspers also scored a season-high 46 first-half points while shooting 53.6 percent from the floor and have now shot above 50 percent in the opening stanza in three-straight and five-of-six.
* Over the last three games, Manhattan is limiting opposing teams to just 58.7 ppg, on 40.0 percent shooting, including 32.5 percent from long range.
* Ten different Jaspers are also averaging at least 10 minutes over the last three games.
* Manhattan will be aiming for its first-ever win over an American Conference (0-3) institution, previously dropping games to Temple, Memphis and Louisville.
* Tulsa enters with a 6-4 record and is led by fifth-year senior Junior Etou, who is averaging a team-leading 17.5 ppg and 6.7 rpg.
* Etou, who transferred from Rutgers, had 16 points and eight rebounds in the Scarlett Knights' 63-55 win over the Jaspers on December 14, 2014 at MSG.
* The teams met once before with Tulsa defeating Manhattan 77-74 on December 30, 1978 in New Haven, CT.
* This will be the 20th state/district that Head Coach Steve Masiello has coached in since taking over in 2011-2012.
* Assistant Coach Shawn Finney worked at Tulsa in a similar position from 1991-1995 while helping the Golden Hurricane to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.
* Manhattan has won the rebounding battle six times in nine games to start the year and ranks second in the MAAC in defensive rebounding (32.2/game).
* The Jaspers lead the MAAC with 15.8 forced turnovers per game (73rd NCAA), including forcing an average of at 18.0 per contest over the last three.
* Senior Rich Williams paced Manhattan in scoring for the sixth time in seven games with 16 points against Morgan State while also handing out a career-high eight assists.
* The fifth-year senior scored a season-high 24 points against NIU and has now hit for at least 20 points three times this year and on 10 occasions in his career.
* In the Jaspers' season-opening win over SFBK, he had 21 points before going for 20, on the strength of a career-high five three pointers, in a victory over Harvard.
* On the year, Williams ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (16.9 ppg-7th), 3pt-FG% (.517-2nd), FG% (.542-3rd) and assists (2.9 apg-14th)
* Senior Zane Waterman scored 12 points with a game-high eight rebounds against Morgan State and is averaging 11.5 ppg and 7.3 rpg over his last four games.
* At the Belfast Classic, Waterman scored 14 points against Holy Cross before narrowly missing a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds over 40 minutes against Towson.
* Manhattan recently became the first team to win a game in Europe with its 70-54 win over Holy Cross in the opening game of the Belfast Classic before dropping a 56-55 thriller to Towson in the Championship.
* Despite the loss to the Tigers, the Jaspers recorded a season-high 12 steals, registered a season-high a season-high 20 forced turnovers and scored 21-straight points that were a direct result of a Towson miscue at one point.
* Manhattan is 38-9 when notching double-figures in thefts under Masiello, including, 27-6 the last five years, and 21-12 when forcing at least 20 turnovers.
* The Jaspers have now seen five of their nine games decided by four points or less (2-3), which is tied for the most in the MAAC.
* In the last five minutes/OT of those games, Manhattan is shooting 46.9 percent (15-of-32) from the field, including 50.0 percent (6-of-12) from long range, and 73.1 percent (19-of-26) from the line.
* Senior Calvin Crawford earned Belfast Classic All-Tournament team honors after averaging 14.5 ppg over games against Towson and Holy Cross.
* Crawford registered his second double-double of the year against Fordham with 11 points and 10 rebounds after notching his first with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Harvard.
* On the year, he ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (11.3 ppg - 22nd), rebounding (6.3 rpg-7th) and free throw percentage (.792-10th).
* Sophomore Aaron Walker Jr. scored a team-high 16 points in the Belfast Championship game en route to averaging 13.0 ppg for the event.
* In the win over Holy Cross, Manhattan ripped off a 26-8 run that bridged the end of the first half and the beginning of the second into registering a season-high 26 point advantage.
* Sophomore Pauly Paulicap blocked a career-high matching five shots at Fordham and is averaging a MAAC-best 2.9 rejections each time out (18th NCAA).
* His five blocks against Missouri State were the most by a Manhattan player since Rhamel Brown had nine rejections at Siena on February 21, 2014.
* Paulicap had a career-high 17 points, on perfect 6-for-6 shooting, and eight rebounds against NIU to cap a solid week at the Gulf Coast Classic, in which he averaged 10.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg and 4.0 bpg over the three-day event.
* Senior Zavier Turner handed out a career-high matching eight assists against NIU after registering seven in the victory over Harvard and is averaging 3.8 apg (9th MAAC).
* The senior quartet of Crawford, Turner, Waterman and Williams has accounted for 59.7 percent (365/611) of Manhattan's scoring and 55.6 percent (163/293) of the Jaspers' rebounding. For their careers, Turner (1,144), Waterman (982), Williams (897) and Crawford (698) have combined for 3,721 points.
* Masiello, who collected his 50th career victory at Draddy Gymnasium against St. Francis Brooklyn, is 3-0 at home this year en route to posting a career .667 (52-26) winning percentage in Riverdale.
* Manhattan rallied from 10 points down against SFBK in registering the team's largest comeback win since erasing an 11-point deficit against Niagara on January 10, 2017.
* The Jaspers are now 74-38, all-time, in openers and 54-19 against SFBK, including 5-0 in season openers.
* In the OT win over SFBK, Manhattan scored on four straight possessions in the extra session and 7-of-9 en route in a win that featured 14 lead changes and five ties.
* Manhattan was tabbed to finish second in the annual MAAC Preseason Poll and paced the circuit with three All-League selections: Waterman (1st), Williams (2nd) and Turner (3rd).
* Williams is the lone remaining member of the program's Back-to-Back MAAC Championship squads while Crawford and Waterman were also on the 2015 squad.
* Masiello has led Manhattan to a 106-98 (.520) record, including going 63-53 (.543) during MAAC play and 52-26 (.667) at Draddy Gym over his seven seasons with three MAAC title game appearances, three postseason berths, two Metropolitan Coach of the Year honors and two 20-win campaigns. He has also participated in the NCAA Tournament in 13 of his first 21 seasons as a player or coach, including being a part of eight conference champions and one National Title.
* Since returning to Riverdale, Masiello has guided the Jaspers to a pair of MAAC titles as well as a pair of 20-plus win campaigns. In his first tenure, he was a part of two MAAC titles and three 20-plus win seasons. All told, Masiello has been a member of four of Manhattan's five MAAC Championship teams and five of the school's 12 20-win seasons in recording a 189-134 record.
* Now in his 22nd season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 469-244, including 348-216 on the sidelines, with one National Title, two National Championship Game appearances, two Final Fours, six Elite Eight berths, eight conference championships, 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and 15 20-win seasons.
