OPENING TIP
* Looking to snap its first losing streak of the 2019-20 campaign, Lafayette hosts Holy Cross on Wednesday night at Kirby Sports Center. The Crusaders are coming off one of their two wins this season, knocking off Navy at home the last time out, while the Leopards are still searching for their first Patriot League victory.
* Lafayette is looking for a little revenge against the team that ended its 2018-19 season. Holy Cross upended the Maroon and White in the Patriot League Tournament First Round a year ago with a 79-74 victory in Kirby.
* Junior E.J. Stephens has been Lafayette's leading scorer in Patriot League play (16.0 ppg). Stephens is one of just a handful of players nationally to average double-figure scoring without being a consistent starter.

LAST TIME OUT
Lafayette controlled the opening half in the Patriot League home opener on Sunday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center, but Bucknell came out in the second half on fire, using a 17-0 run to swing the momentum in its favor and drop the Leopards to 0-2 in conference action by a final of 78-66.

The Bison shot 7-for-12 from distance in the second 20 minutes of action and made 20-of-36 from the field (55.6%) with just two turnovers. On the other side, Lafayette followed up a 39-30 halftime lead with just 27 points in the second, making 2-of-15 from distance (13.3%) and 9-of-27 from the field (33.3%) in the second stanza.

The loss marked back-to-back defeats for the first time this season for the Maroon and White, falling to 8-5 overall and 0-2 in Patriot League play. Bucknell improved to 6-9 this season and 2-0 in conference action, knocking off Army in the league opener.

Junior E.J. Stephens was a bright spot for the Leopards tying a game-high with 15 points on 7-of-8 from the foul line, an aggressive performance. The Plantation, Florida native added five rebounds and three assists without a turnover.

Classmate Justin Jaworski added 13 points, moving to within nine of 1,000 for his career. Freshman Leo O'Boyle scored a season-best 12 points on four threes, while senior Myles Cherry added 11 with seven rebounds to round out the double-figure performances.

THE SKINNY ON THE CRUSADERS
Holy Cross has certainly been through its share of struggles with just two wins in 15 outings this season under first-year head coach Brett Nelson, who has taken charge of the Crusaders after five seasons as an assistant coach at Marquette. That being said, the visitors are coming off a victory in their last time out, knocking off Navy at home on Sunday afternoon to move to 1-1 in conference action. Holy Cross returns just two starters from a unit that upset the Leopards in the Patriot League Tournament a season ago, winning by a five-point margin in the First Round at Kirby Sports Center.

The Crusaders are in good hands moving forward with the emergence of a pair of freshmen as their offensive leaders this winter. Joe Pridgen and Drew Lowder are putting up 16.5 and 14.1 points per game, respectively, while Austin Butler rounds out the double-figure scorers at 11.3 points per night. Butler has been sensational as a rebounder from his guard spot with 7.4 boards per outing, including  more than two offensive rebounds per contest. Pridgen has also chipped in with 6.8 boards per night.

LAST MEETING
Lafayette closed the book on its 2018-19 season on March 5, 2019 at Kirby Sports Center, falling in the Patriot League Tournament First Round to Holy Cross by a 79-74 score.

Alex Petrie and Justin Jaworski were outstanding with 23 and 22 points, respectively, but Holy Cross' Jehyve Floyd and Jacob Grandison had stellar nights of their own to put the visitors on top. Floyd netted 24 points on 9-of-13 from the floor, while Grandison tallied 22 points and 16 rebounds in his best game of the season.

Lukas Jarrett registered a double-double of his own for the Maroon and White, scoring 10 points and adding 12 rebounds. That being said, the Leopards would have loved for 13 on the scoreboard from Jarrett as his three from the corner to tie it with less than three seconds remaining went halfway down, but could not find the bottom of the net in defeat.

Lafayette shot 46.4 percent from the floor (26-of-56) and 9-of-22 from three-point range (40.9%). Holy Cross was impressive on the offensive end in the second half, missing just 11 of its 29 shots from the field, a 62.1 percent mark with 50 of its 79 points coming from inside the painted area.

THOUSAND ISLAND
The lone Leopard with a shot at reaching the 1,000-point milestone this season is Justin Jaworski, who enters Wednesday's game at 991 career points. The rookie scored 313 in his freshman campaign and followed that up with 439 as a sophomore. 

FIREPOWER OFF THE BENCH
Lafayette treats its starters much differently than most programs in that the five that start are very unlikely to be the five counted on for a lion's share of the production. The Maroon and White are the only team in the Patriot League and one of just three teams in the nation (along with Detroit Mercy and Jacksonville State) with two of their top-three scorers coming off the bench as E.J. Stephens and Myles Cherry put up 11.6 and 10.6 points per game, respectively, with just one start between them in 2019-20. Stephens and Cherry are the only duo nationally to both average double-figure scoring without starting on a consistent basis.

While senior Kyle Stout gets the start over Stephens, Stephens averages 5.4 more minutes, and the same goes for Cherry, who averages almost 17 more minutes per outing than freshman Neal Quinn, who has started each of the last three games. 

STARTING SLOW
Lafayette's loss to Bucknell on Sunday moves its mark in home openers of Patriot League play to 14-16 all-time, with the Leopards winning just one of their last seven Patriot League home openers. The Leopards are no strangers to starting the league slowly as they've proven to be a better team later in the conference slate. The Maroon and White ripped off five straight victories from Feb. 6 to Feb. 20 a year ago following a 2-8 start and hold a 13-14 record during the second-half of conference play compared to a 7-20 mark in the first half over the past three seasons.  

Slow starts have not been the problem through two Patriot League contests, as the second half has been the issue in the 0-2 conference mark. Lafayette is averaging 40.0 points inthe first 20 minutes of conference outings compared to 29.0 points in the second. The Leopards are shooting more than 10 percentage points worse in the second half than the first from the field (50.0/39.2) and more than 20 percentage points worse from the three-point line in the second 20 minutes than the first (47.6/24/0).