No. 4 Men's Hoops Set to Face No. 14 Williams in NCAA Tournament Second Round

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — The nationally-ranked No. 4 University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team continues its quest for its first NCAA National Championship, hosting the nationally-ranked No. 14 Williams College Ephs, Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament Second Round. Tipoff against the Ephs is set for 6:45 p.m. inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium in West Hartford, Conn.

#4 USJ BLUE JAYS (28-1) vs. #14 WILLIAMS COLLEGE EPHS (23-4) 
LOCATION: James A. Calhoun Gymnasium (West Hartford, Conn.) 
DATE/TIME: Saturday, March 4 (6:45 p.m.)  
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USJ QUICK HITTERS 

• USJ advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round after knocking off Chatham University, 76-53, Friday night in West Hartford.
• Senior guard Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn.) paced the offense with a game-high 16 points.
• The Blue Jays shut down the Cougars offense, limiting the visitors to a 34.0 percent clip (18-for-53) from the field, including a 21.7 percent mark (5-for-23) from long range.
• Graduate student wing Ryan O'Neill (Litchfield, Conn.) leads the USJ offense on the season, averaging a team-high 15.8 points per game. O'Neill shoots 46.2 percent from the floor and 39.7 percent from three.
• Martin is a do-it-all point guard for the Blue Jays, ranking second on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg), while dishing out 3.3 assists, and tallying 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals per contest.
• Senior forward Jalen Samuels (Franklin, Mass.) and graduate student forward Alec Kinder (West Haven, Conn.) form a formidable one-two punch at the center position for USJ. Samuels, the two-time reigning Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Defensive Player of the Year, has put up 7.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. Kinder leads the team in rebounding, hauling in 8.1 per game, while recording 1.2 blocks, 1.0 steals and 7.3 points per contest.
• The Blue Jays are one of the best defensive teams in the nation, leading Division III in both field-goal percentage defense (35.7%) and three-point field-goal percentage defense (26.8%). USJ also ranks inside the top-15 in turnovers forced per game, tallying 19.14 to rank 11th in the nation.
• Last season, USJ saw their campaign come to a close in the NCAA Tournament First Round, falling to Penn State Harrisburg during the Worcester Regional.
• USJ has reached the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons. The team boasts a 1-2 record in the national tournament, advancing out of the opening round for the first time in program history Friday night.

SCOUTING WILLIAMS

• No. 14 Williams earned its spot in the NCAA Tournament Second Round after shooting past No. 25 Pomona-Pitzer, 78-53, in the opening round on Friday.
• Juniors Cole Prowitt-Smith (Fairfield, Conn.) and Nate Karren (Sacramento, Calif.) paced the Ephs with 20 points each.
• Williams was simply too much offensively, outshooting the Sagehens 53.7 percent (29-for-54) to 29.2 percent (19-for-65) from the floor and 47.8 percent (11-for-23) to 25.0 percent (5-for-20) from three-point land.
• Karren, who recently was named to the All-New England Small College Athletic Association (NESCAC) Second Team, leads the Ephs in rebounds with 172 (6.4 per game), assists with 85, field-goals made (124), blocks (39) and three-point shooting percentage (43.8%).
• Senior Spencer Spivy (San Francisco, Calif.), who did not play in Williams First Round game, leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.5 points per game.
• Williams is one of the nation's elite three-point shooting teams, ranking second in the nation in three-point field-goal percentage, shooting it at a 40.3 percent clip from long range.
• The Ephs have the size advantage, as all but one member of the 17-man roster is listed at six feet or taller. Nine Ephs are listed as being six-feet-six-inches or taller.
• Williams is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament, making 19 appearances to the Big Dance, including seven trips in the last 10 years and an NCAA Championship in 2003.
• The Ephs have advanced to the Second Round each of those last seven trips.

INSIDE THE SERIES 

• Saturday marks the second meeting all-time on the hardwood between USJ and Williams.
• The Blue Jays took the inaugural meeting, 85-79, on Jan. 14, 2020 in West Hartford.
• USJ is 4-1 all-time against schools from the NESCAC.
• The Ephs will play a GNAC school for the second-time in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, defeating Albertus Magnus College, 110-92, in the Sweet Sixteen during the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

UP NEXT 
With a victory, the Blue Jays would advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. The next round is scheduled to take place on Friday, March 10.

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