Nov. 27, 2002
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GAME INFORMATION
Match Up: Lafayette at Arizona State
Tip: 2:30 p.m. E.S.T.
Site: Tempe, Ariz.
Arena: Wells Fargo Arena (14,088)
Series: First Meeting
Radio: WEST-AM 1400, www.lafayette.edu
Commentators: Dick Hammer
Television: WKAZ -- Local in Arizona
THE STORY LINE: Lafayette leaves the recently snow-covered Lehigh Valley for warmer temperatures, traveling 2,409 miles to Tempe, Ariz. to face Arizona State. The Leopards are coming off a 70-66, hard-fought loss at La Salle on Tuesday. Arizona State emerges from a strong showing in the Maui Classic where it beat Utah and Chaminade and lost to No. 16 Kentucky.
CAREER PERFORMANCES: Winston Davis has played in both of the Leopards' games this season and the junior guard has turned in career-best performances both times. Davis tied his career-high of 16 points and set a new career-best with eight rebounds in the Leopards' season-opener at Binghamton. He followed that with a personal best 18-point performance at La Salle.
FRESHMAN CONTRIBUTION: Freshman Pat Betley hasn't wasted much time making his presence felt in the Lafayette lineup. The Haddonfield, N.J. native scored eight points in 13 minutes in just his second game in a Lafayette uniform. Betley hit two key second-half three-pointers, one that tied the game (7:26) and the other that pulled Lafayette within one point (3:52), and sank two free throws that tied the game, 63-63, with six minutes remaining at La Salle.
ON THE BOARDS: Lafayette has outrebounded its opponents in both games this season by two rebounds per game, something it did just 10 times all of last season. The stat hasn't necessarily led to wins, as the Leopards are 0-2 this season and were 5-5 in those games last season. This season Winston Davis and Mike Farrell have led the way, averaging eight rebounds per game while Andrew Pleick and Rob Dill have each chipped in with 4.5 rpg.
COMING UP: After traveling across two time zones and having played three-straight road games to open the season, Lafayette will finally get a chance to play a game on the Kirby Sports Center hardwood. The Leopards host Drexel on Tuesday to begin the Leopards' longest homestand of the season, a four-game stretch that also includes Centenary, and Princeton and concludes with Ursinus on Dec. 17.
INJURY REPORT: Sophomore guard Eric Mugavero, who was expected to see increased playing time this season, has been hobbled by severe lower back pain. He has been unable to practice and is out indefinitely.
ON THE SIDELINE: Head coach Fran O'Hanlon (Villanova, 1970) is in his eighth season as the Leopards' mentor. He has twice been named Patriot League Coach of the Year of the Lafayette non-scholarship program and lists two NCAA Tournament appearances and three Patriot League regular-season titles among his credentials. O'Hanlon's career record stands at 110-93, a mark that includes two 20-win seasons.
ABOUT ARIZONA STATE: Arizona State sits at 3-1 fresh off an appearance in the Maui Classic. The Sun Devils opened the season with a 59-56 home win over Morehead State. The team then traveled to the Maui Classic where it lost an 82-65 decision to No. 16 Kentucky before beating tournament host Chaminade 101-72. In its final-round game, Arizona State got 26 points from Curtis Millage to beat Utah 83-79 in overtime. The Sun Devils are coming off a 14-15 season that included a seventh-place finish in the Pac-10. In 2002-03, Arizona State has looked to senior forward Donnell Knight (9.3 ppg) and freshman center Ike Diogu (14.0 ppg) for scoring from the paint. Knight has also been doing the work on the glass, having managed 27 rebounds in his first three games. Senior forward Tommy Smith has also been in a starting spot in the frontcourt, managing 13.7 points and 6.0 rpg. Sophomore Jason Braxton (5.7) and junior Jamal Hill (11.7 ppg) have started in the ASU backcourt. Arizona State is coached by Rob Evans, a 1968 graduate of New Mexico State. Walker is in his sixth season as the Sun Devils' head coach where he has a 63-61 record. In his previous head coaching stint, he spent six seasons rebuilding a Mississippi program. He left Ole Miss with an 86-81 record that included 20-win seasons his final two years.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Lafayette has faced 211 opponents in 92 seasons on College Hill, but has never played Arizona State.
ASCENDING THE CHARTS: With two seasons of collegiate basketball left, Justin DeBerry ranks ninth in career three-point field goals. DeBerry has hit 88 career trifectas and he dialed up long distance one time at La Salle. Entering the season, DeBerry ranked sixth in career three-point percentage (.398). If he keeps on pace, DeBerry could move as high as second all-time, and would trail Tyson Whitfield '01 who had 271 career three-pointers.
ON THE RADIO: Today's game can be heard live on WEST-AM 1400, the 66th year of broadcasting Lafayette Athletics. Dick Hammer is in his 35th year of calling the play-by-play for Lafayette men's basketball. Hammer is joined by Carl Schumacher at home games and by either Scott Morse (Lafayette Director of Athletic Communications) or Phil LaBella (Lafayette Sports Information Coordinator) on the road.
EARLY LEAGUE STATISITCS: Lafayette has several players ranked among the Patriot League leaders at this point in the season. Winston Davis (17.0 ppg) and Justin DeBerry (15.0 ppg) are ranked third and sixth, respectively, in scoring. Mike Farrell leads the Patriot League with a 70 percent field goal percentage and ranks third in rebounding (8.0 rpg). Andrew Pleick is second in assists per game (5.5 apg). Winston Davis sits third in the conference in free throw shooting (90.9%).
ALL-TIME AT LAFAYETTE: In the 92 seasons of men's basketball at Lafayette College, the Leopards hold an overall record of 1120-968 (.537). Lafayette's first season of basketball was in 1900-01.
CO-CAPTAINS: Senior Andrew Pleick and junior Mike Farrell will serve as team captains for the 2002-03 season. Farrell is the first non-senior to serve as a captain since the 1997-98 season.
INTERNATIONAL FEEL: Lafayette has three players from foreign countries on the roster. Junior Rob Dill hails from Isernhagen, Germany. Freshman Andrei Capusan comes from Bucharest, Romania, home country of 2000 graduate Stefan Ciosici who was from Timisoara. Freshman Miran Omanovic is originally from Mostar, Bosnia. Both he and Capusan spent the 2001-02 academic year attending schools in the United States.
PRESEASON POLL: Lafayette has been picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. The poll, which is voted on by the conference coaches and men's basketball sports information directors, picked the Leopards to finish seventh in 2001-02 when Lafayette ended in a tie for third.
TOURNAMENT TIME?: The 2002-03 season marks the second in a row that Lafayette will not participate in an in-season tournament. Prior to the 2001-02 season, Lafayette had competed in an in-season tournament every season since 1993-94.
SHARP SHOOTERS: In 2001-02, Lafayette led the Patriot League in every shooting category, including field goal percentage (.464), free throw percentage (.747) and three-point shooting percentage (.358).
MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENDANCE PLEASE?: The Lafayette men's basketball program has led the Patriot League in home attendance the past five seasons. In 2001-02, Lafayette averaged 2,563 fans per home contest, welcoming nearly 300 more fans than any other school in the Patriot League.
LAFAYETTE ATHLETICS ON THE WEB: The quickest and most comprehensive source for information on Lafayette athletics is the world wide web. Go to www.lafayette.edu and click on "Sports." The athletics site is continuously updated with gameday press releases, schedules and results, rosters, statistics, player features, photos and more. On gameday, you can listen to the radio broadcast of all of Lafayette's men's basketball games and watch a live stats feed of home games.
POWER FORWARD TRANSFERS TO LAFAYETTE: Sean Knitter, who played two seasons at the University of Delaware, will join the Lafayette men's basketball program for the 2003-04 season. NCAA rules require that he sit out one season after transferring. The 6-8, 260-pound forward played in 23 games in 2001-02 and averaged 5.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game on a 14-16 squad. As a freshman, Knitter played in 27 games (3.3 pts., 1.6 reb.) on a 20-10 squad. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining when he joins the team.
FARRELL ON TARGET: Mike Farrell was the Leopards' most solid inside player in 2001-02 and his shooting was evidence of that. The 6-8 power forward finished second in the Patriot League in field goal percentage in 2001-02, shooting at a 57 percent clip. Farrell was 3-for-4 from the floor at Binghamton. This season Farrell is shooting 70 percent from the floor though two games, going 7-for-10.
FARRELL ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB: Mike Farrell will be chronicling the 2002-03 season in his weekly journal on www.GoLeopards.com. Farrell will run down the season and give insight into the life of a student-athlete.
DOWN TO THE WIRE: Twenty-three of Lafayette's games in 2001-02 were decided by 10 points or less. Three ended with a four-point margin, three were decided by three points and one by one point. This season both of Lafayette's losses have been by less than 10 points, one of which was a four-point loss.
POSSIBLE STARTERS?: Fran O'Hanlon used nine different starting lineups in 2001-02. Mike Farrell started all but one game, giving way to Rob Worthington on senior day. Ten different players spent time in the opening five.
IN THE HOUSE THAT THE KIRBYS BUILT: Lafayette has enjoyed plenty of success in Kirby Sports Center. Since the building's inaugural season in 1973-74, the Leopards have posted a 254-108 record in 29 seasons. Twenty-three of those seasons have been winning campaigns. In 2001-02, Lafayette went 9-4 with wins over St. Peter's, Cornell, Scranton, Howard, Holy Cross, Bucknell, American, Navy and Lehigh and losses to Marist, Rider, Colgate, Army.
LAFAYETTE ON TELEVISION: For the fifth-straight season, Lafayette features the most expansive television package in the Patriot League. The Leopards have 14 games televised with the possible addition of three more television contests in the Patriot League Tournament. The Lafayette Sports Network will air 13 games to more than 5.2 million viewers in the Lehigh Valley, Pocono region and Philadelphia, central New Jersey, New York City and Boston. Locally the telecasts can be seen on RCN Cable channels 4 and 60, Service Electric Cable channel 51, Blue Ridge Cable channel 5 and broadcast channel 60. Lafayette appears on the Patriot League Television Network on Jan. 24 at Lehigh and on Feb. 7 vs. Colgate. Locally, those games will be broadcasted on WFMZ-TV 69. They will also be carried on DirecTV.
