Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Millersville

Day Waters

PREVIEW: Millersville returns home looking to put blemish on Jefferson's perfect record

| By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

COVERAGE LINKS

  • Series vs. JU: 2-10
  • Series Streak: JU, 1
  • First Meeting: L, 58-70 (1962)
  • Last Meeting: L, 98, 102 (2024)
  • Last 10 Meetings: 2-8
  • Most ‘Ville Points: 98 (2024)
  • Record at Pucillo Gym: 2-2
  • Casey Stitzel vs. JU: 1-2
  • Jimmy Reilly vs. ’Ville: 0-0

ABOUT THE GAME

  • Millersville has played one of the toughest early-season slates of any team in the country, and that schedule only gets tougher on Saturday when 3-0 Jefferson visits Pucillo Gymnasium. Through three games, Millersville has beaten a Virginia Union team that beat No. 11 West Liberty on Tuesday night, Charleston, which started the season with a 50-point win against Mansfield, and a 3-0 Wilmington team that also has a win over Division I Delaware. Jefferson has averaged 84.0 points per game in its perfect start, but it has been more impressive on the defensive end, holding teams to 64.7 points per game, 38.3% shooting from the field and 27.5% from three. All three of Jefferson’s wins have come by 11 or more points.
  • Millersville’s two losses have been heartbreakers. The Marauders held second-half leads in both games but could not close. In the final 3:30 against Charleston, the Marauders shot 1 of 8 from the field, and in the final four minutes of regulation against Wilmington, the Marauders went 1 for 5 with two turnovers. With a five-point lead in the second overtime, Millersville recorded five consecutive turnovers in the final 2:43. Over the last two seasons, Millersville is now 0-4 in overtime games and 3-14 in games decided by single digits. It is a statistical outlier considering that Millersville went 31-9 in games decided by single digits from 2021-24. 

GAME STORYLINES

  • Since 2018-19, Millersville is 77-19 (.802) at home. Jefferson was 7-8 on the road last season and 7-4 on the road when it went 23-9 and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24. 
  •  Going back to last season, Day Waters has scored 20-plus points in seven consecutive games. He matched a career-high with 29 points against Charleston, and he is now the PSAC’s scoring leader with 24.7 points per game, shooting 51.9% from three. Among players with at least 10 3-pointer attempts, only East Stroudsburg’s Ethan Millirons is shooting a higher percentage. Saraj Ali scored 24 points in 32 minutes at Wilmington, and at 21 points per game, he and Waters make Millersville one of two teams in the PSAC with two players averaging 20-plus points per game. 
  • Offense has not been a problem for the Marauders. Among teams with at least two games played, they rank fifth in the PSAC in scoring, fifth in field goal percentage, third in 3-point shooting and first in free throw percentage. The Marauders have been outstanding at the line, sinking 85.5% of their attempts. Saraj Ali had made 18 in a row before a miss at Wilmington, and he’s connected on 23 of 27, tied for the most attempts in the PSAC. Aamir Hurst is perfect in 11 attempts, and Waters is 14 of 16 (.875). 
  • E.J. Matthews-Spratley and Saraj Ali topped 1,000 career points last season, and now Waters and Hurst are closing in on that milestone. Waters enters the weekend with 937 points and Hurst has 859. Ali is four points away from his 500th as a Marauder and sits at 1,095 points, recently passing Daron Pressley (2000-04) for 40th on Millersville’s all-time list. Matthews-Spratley, in his first season at Millersville, tops the group with 1,159 points. 

SERIES HISTORY

  • Jefferson played each of its first three games at home and visits Pucillo Gymnasium for just the fifth time ever. Millersville is 2-10 all-time against Jefferson, but 2-2 inside Pucillo and has won two of the last three at home. Millersville scored a 54-48 win in 2007-08 and earned a 71-67 win in 2023-24. Millersville reached the NCAA Tournament in both of those seasons. Last season’s match-up at Jefferson was a barnburner. Jefferson shot 61.2% from the field and made 15 3-pointers while Millersville shot 52.2% and got seven 3-pointers from Aidan Gair. Farouk Kaba scored 18 points off the bench for Jefferson, and Sean Fullerton scored 11 on 3 of 4 shooting from three. 
Loading...

Upcoming Schedule

{{ moment(game.date).format('MMM D, YYYY') }} {{ game.time ? 'at ' + game.time : '' }}
{{ game.sport.title }} {{ game.location_indicator === 'A' ? 'at' : 'vs' }}
{{ game.opponent.title }}

Related Videos

Now Playing:

Related Stories