THE MATCHUP
The Leopards will continue on the road to face off against a Princeton team which comes in at 6-2. The Tigers are led by senior Tosan Evbuomwan, who is averaging 14.3 ppg. and 7.3 rpg.

LAST MEETING
Princeton earned an 84-73 victory against Lafayette in December 2021, following a close battle in Kirby Sports Center. Former Leopard Tyrone Perry netted a career-high 25 points in the defeat. THAT MIKE JORDAN For the first time in 27 seasons, the Leopards have a new leader roaming the sidelines in 2000 Penn graduate Mike Jordan, the 19th head coach in Lafayette history. Jordan won three conference championships in the last four seasons as an assistant coach and was named head coach of the Leopards on March 29, 2022. Jordan played 11 seasons professionally across Europe and was a three-time All-Ivy League selection, two-time Ivy League champion and Ivy League Player of the Year as a senior.

SCHEDULE CHANGE
The Leopards' game at La Salle on Dec. 21 will now begin at 2 p.m. Tip-off was originally slated for 7 p.m. that same day. THAT'S A "W" Head coach Mike Jordan and the 2022-23 squad earned the first victory of the season, as well as the first of Jordan's career at Lafayette, against Central Connecticut State on Nov. 19, 55-50. Leo O'Boyle led the Leopards for the second game in a row, shooting 4-for-10 from the field to total 16 points. The Scranton, Pa. native was perfect from the free-throw line (5-5) and shot 3-for-6 from behind the three-point line.

FAMILIAR FACES, FAMILIAR FOES
Mike Jordan and the Leopards will take on some old pals along the way, highlighted by the final nonconference test at La Salle against his college head coach, Fran Dunphy, who is also in his first season as the head coach of the Explorers. Lafayette hosted Jordan's alma mater, Penn, earlier this year and will play his former boss and college teammate, Matt Langel of Colgate, twice in the league stretch of the schedule. Jordan worked as an assistant under previous foe Drexel's head coach Zach Spiker in 2020-21, helping lead the Dragons to their first-ever CAA title and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 25 years.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Lafayette has traveled to the first five opponents of the season: Miami, St. John's, St. Joseph's, UMBC and Central Connecticut State. The Leopards have hosted only one of two match-ups in Kirby Sports Center prior to the Patriot League opener on Dec. 30 against American. There won't be any easing up as the 2022-23 season continues and the Leopards play 11 of their 13 non-conference games on the road, including trips to Miami, St. John's, St. Joseph's, Penn State, Princeton, Drexel and La Salle.

LEADING THE NATION
Lafayette returns Patriot League All-Rookie performer CJ Fulton who led all of Division I in 2021-22 in assist/turnover ratio, carrying a 3.67 average as a freshman. Fulton averaged 7.3 points per game with 3.9 boards and 3.3 assists and continues to shine on the court this season.

NEED SOME ASSISTANCE?
Sophomore guard CJ Fulton is first the Patriot League in assists at 4.9 per game. In nine games played, the Belfast, Ireland native has dished out 44 assists on the year. 

DEFENSIVE EMPHASIS
Lafayette held Miami to only 36.2% shooting from the field and 29.4% from beyond the arc during the season opener. The Leopards' defensive rotations were on point, limiting Miami just under its scoring average from the 2021-22 season, in which the Hurricanes advanced to the Elite Eight.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
The Leopards ranked 19th in the NCAA during the 2021-22 season in assist/turnover ratio at 1.46. Lafayette recorded 485 assists compared to only 333 turnovers over the course of 30 games. The Leopards currently rank fourth in the Patriot League.

KNOCKING DOWN THE THREE BALL
Lafayette ranked second in the Patriot League last season with 263 three-point shots made. The Leopards will bring back some firepower from beyond the arc with senior Leo O'Boyle who knocked down 56 shots from three, sophomore Jon Brantley (44) and sophomore Kyle Jenkins (41). The Leopards are averaging 9.6 threes per game this season, ranking them third in the Patriot League behind conference leader Colgate.

NEW FACES
Lafayette has added four freshmen to the roster for the new season in Josh Rivera, Kyle Squires, Gavin Kreitz and Ryan Pettit. The new class will hope to follow in the footsteps of sophomore guard CJ Fulton, who was selected to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team in 2021-22. The Leopards expect big things from freshman Josh Rivera who came from the N.J. basketball powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas and saw his first career starts against Miami and UMBC. Ryan Pettit of Westfield, N.J. has also seen game action in three of the first five road trips in 2022. Lafayette has had at least one player on the Patriot League All-Rookie team in each of the last three seasons: CJ Fulton (2022), Kyle Jenkins (2021) and Leo O'Boyle (2020).