ABOUT THE GAME

• With five consecutive wins, Millersville has surged into a tie for first place in the PSAC East and after winning the last three games by an average of 22 points, the Marauders face a road trip to Mansfield. Mansfield is 3-2 with back-to-back wins at home, and the Mountaineers are coming off a 98-87 overtime win at Shippensburg. The Mountaineers have won three of their last four, two of which were won in overtime. With a 12-3 start, the Marauders have entered rare historical company. Millersville first played a 20-game season in 1950-51, and since then, only eight teams have played the first 15 games at 12-3 or better. The last time it happened was in 2006-07, and its now happened just twice since 1987. Four of the previous seven won the PSAC Championship and all seven qualified for either the NCAA or NAIA Tournament. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

•  In their recent five-game winning streak, the Marauders are averaging 85.4 points per game on 51.7% shooting from the field, 42.7% shooting from three and 75.4% shooting at the line. The defense has held opponents to 66.6 points per game on splits of .417/.306/.674. The defense has been stellar as not one opponent has topped 45% shooting, and only one team shot better than 32% from three. Shepherd’s 44 points on Wednesday were the fewest against a Millersville team since 2012
•  In three of the last four games, Millersville has committed nine or fewer turnovers and boast an assist/turnover ratio of 2.38. Millersville is 5-0 when committing fewer than 10 turnovers and 4-0 when recording 20 or more assists. Millersville has moved up to No. 2 in the PSAC in assist/turnover ratio at 1.22, just behind Gannon, who is at 1.23. Jaden Faulkner is second in assists and seventh in assist/turnover ratio, and Jahme Ested is 12th and ninth in the same categories. Drew Stover tallied a career-high seven assists Wednesday against Shepherd. 
• Stover has also made an impact at the defensive end, earning his first career PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week award on Tuesday. Stover’s 1.6 blocks per game lead the PSAC and he has 10 blocks in his last four games. 
• Matt Dade has led Millersville with 21.0 points per game during the five-game winning streak, connecting on 56.3% of his shots and 8 of 12 shots from three. Dade made a career-high four threes against Shepherd Wednesday, and he’s now made nine of his last 14 threes. 
   

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS

• Mansfield’s Saraj Ali is among the top post players in the PSAC, averaging 14.1 points, 7.9 boards, 1.0 blocks and 1.1 steals while shooting 59.6% from the field. He ranks seventh in rebounding and second in FG% behind only Millersville’s Stover. Mansfield ranks in the middle of the PSAC pack in most statistical categories, but is last in both assists (10.6 per game) and assists/turnover ratio.

SERIES HISTORY

• Millersville has won 16 of the last 17 games against Mansfield dating back to 2014. Millersville has had at least one 20-point scorer in five of the last six games against Mansfield. Last season, Drew Stover averaged 19.0 points per game against the Mountaineers, including a 24-point performance on 11 of 13 shooting at Decker Gymnasium on Jan. 28. Millersville has won its last five and seven of its last eight trips to Mansfield, but it hasn’t always been easy. On Feb. 12, 2022, Millersville needed 33 points and 13 assists from Jaden Faulkner, a double-digit comeback, and two free throws from Faulkner in the closing seconds of overtime to win 107-106. Millersville has scored 80 or more points in six of the last eight meetings. Faulkner has averaged 20.8 points and 7.8 assists in his four career games against Mansfield.