Montclair, NJ – A trip to the NJAC Championship Game is on the line Friday as top-seeded Montclair State hosts fifth-seeded Kean University in the semifinals of the conference tournament at the Panzer Athletic Center.

ON THE AIR:
YouTube - Red Hawk Sports Network (Jack Barteck and Jon Edmond)
WMSC Radio – Ben Petruk and Maxwell Strauss

THE TEAMS:
Each team enters the semifinals playing perhaps their best basketball of the season combining for 10 consecutive victories. Montclair State has won seven straight since suffering a season-opening loss to Salisbury back on January 25. The Red Hawks' latest win came in the quarterfinals last Friday evening as they rolled past eighth-seeded Rutgers-Camden, 101-37 at the Panzer Athletic Center. It was the highest single-game point total for Montclair State in its NJAC Tournament history and it topped the century mark for the first time since the 2013 season. JULIA SUTTON had 27 points, including six three-pointers as MSU connected 14 times from behind the arc, one shy of the single-game record. The Red Hawks led 24-7 after one quarter and 43-14 at halftime. After starting the year 0-6, Kean has won three in a row, all three coming against Rutgers-Newark, including a 77-44 quarterfinal win in Newark last Friday. Casey Filiault had 22 points and six rebounds as the Cougars also built a large halftime advantage (34-13).

THE COACHES:
Mandy King (Ninth Season at Kean): 232-226 overall, 109-110 at Kean
Karin Harvey (14th Season at MSU):  306-102 overall, 293-88 at Montclair State


KEY PLAYERS:

Kean
Shannon McCoy (Jr., G, 5-10, Barnegat, NJ)
14.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, .393 FG%. .339 3FG%, .800 FT%, 14 AST, 9 STL, 4 BLK

Brittany Graff (Fr., G, 5-5, Elmwood Park, NJ)
8.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG, .481 FG%. .682 FT%, 27 AST, 11 STLS

Casey Filiault (Sr., G, 5-7, Ocean Township, NJ)
7.0 PPG, 3.9 RPG, .442 FG%. .667 3FG%, 17 AST, 9 STL, 7 BLK


Montclair State
JULIA SUTTON (Jr., G, 5-6, York, PA)
13.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG, .430 FG%. .400 3FG%, .679 FT%, 7 AST, 4 STL, 5 BLK

TAYLOR BROWN (Sr., G, 5-11, Trumbull, CT)
12.3 PPG, 7.6 RPG, .395 FG%. .636 FT%, 19 AST, 14 BLK, 12 STL

KENDALL HODGES (Fr., G, 5-3, Philadelphia, PA)
9.5 PPG, 2.3 RPG, .368 FG%. .750 FT%, 30 AST, 14 STL, 2 BLK


TEAM STATS:
Kean: 61.5 OFF, 63.9, DEF, 37.5 RPG, .368 FG%, .294 3FG%, .625 FT%
Montclair State: 69.3 OFF, 54.3 DEF, 44.6 RPG, .394 FG%, .352 3FG%, .703 FT%

 
NJAC TEAM RANKS

Scoring Off: MSU (2^nd 69.3 ppg) / KU (4^th / 59.9 ppg)
Scoring Def: MSU (7^th 70.6 ppg) / KU (6^th / 64.6 ppg)
Scoring Margin: MSU (2^nd +15.0) / KU (4^th -4.7)
Field Goal Pct.: MSU (2^nd .394) / KU (5^th .358)
FG Defense: MSU (3^rd .331) / KU (6^th .386)
3FG Pct.: MSU (2^nd .352) / KU (5^th .289)
Free Throw Pct: MSU (2^nd .703) / KU (7^th .632)
Rebounding: MSU (1^st 44.6 rpg) / KU (6^th 37.3 rpg)
Rebound Margin: MSU (2^nd +6.9) / KU (6^th -2.7)

 
NJAC INDIVIDUAL RANKS

Scoring: McCoy (KU) – 6^th / 14.6 ppg; Sutton (MSU) – 8^th / 13.1 ppg; Brown (MSU) – 11^th / 12.3 ppg.

Rebounding: Brown (MSU) – 6^th / 7.6 rpg; Smith (MSU) – 12^th / 6.9 rpg; Peterson (MSU) – 16^th/5.6; Badeer (KU) – 21^st / 5.5 rpg; McCoy (KU) 23^rd / 4.9 rpg.

Field Goal Pct: McCoy (KU) – 5^th / .386

Free-Throw Pct.: Hodges (MSU) – 4^th / .750.

Assists: Hodges (MSU) – 3^rd / 3.8 apg; Graff (KU) – 5^th /3.1 apg; DarRique Smith (KU) – 9^th / 2.7 apg; Brown (MSU) – 10^th / 2.4 apg; Filiault (KU) – 14^th / 2.1 apg.

Steals: Hodges (MSU) – 7^th / 1.8 spg; Graff (KU) – 11^th / 1.6 spg; Brown (MSU) – 12^th / 1.5 spg; Smith (MSU) – 13^th /1.5 spg

Blocks: Brown (MSU) – 3^rd / 1.8 bpg; Peterson (MSU) – 4^th / 1.3 bpg; Filiault (KU) – 7^th / 0.9 bpg.


ALL-TIME SERIES: (MSU Leads 55-34)
Friday meeting between the Red Hawks and Cougars will be the 90^th between the schools that dates back to the initial contest almost 51 years to the date today's game, won by MSU 48-33. In fact, Montclair won the first 13 meetings until the Cougars ended that streak in 1985 in Union, 83-64. Kean would win 14 of the next 17 including a run of 10 in a row from 1985-1989. The Red Hawks flipped the script in the 1990s with a 14-game winning streak. Most recently, MSU has won 15 of 20 including both contests this season. Prior to those two wins, Kean had taken three of the previous four. The game will also be the 10^th time the Red Hawks and Cougars have squared off in the NJAC Tournament. Kean has claimed eight of the nine, one of those a 72-67 triumph in the quarterfinals at the Panzer Athletic Center in 2019.

LAST 5 MEETINGS
2/6/2021: MSU 73, Kean 62 (at Kean)
2/5/2021: MSU 67, Kean 46 (at MSU)
1/25/2020:  MSU 70, Kean 59 (at Kean)
12/7/2019:  Kean 71, MSU 62 (at MSU)
2/16/2019:  Kean, 72, MSU 67 (at MSU) **

** NJAC Tournament
 

NJAC TOURNAMENT MEETINGS
1987: Kean 83, MSU 56 (Semifinals)
1989: Kean 74, MSU 68 (Championship Game)
1990: Kean 77, MSU 69 (Championship Game)
2004: Kean 85, MSU 70 (Opening Round)
2009: Kean 76, MSU 55 (Semifinals)
2010: Kean 92, MSU 68 (Semifinals)
2012: Kean 76, MSU 68 (Semifinals)
2014: MSU 76, Kean 62 (Semifinals)
2019: Kean 72, MSU 67 (Quarterfinals)