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Dec. 6, 2005

The Stony Brook men's basketball team travels to take on Big East foe St. John's on Wednesday. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. The Seawolves (0-3), are looking for their first win under first year head coach Steve Pikiell and look to snap a six-game losing streak to the Red Storm.

Game time: 7:00 p.m. Radio: WLIE 540 AM TV: none Internet: www.goseawolves.org

Stony Brook Travels To Take On St. John's The Seawolves take an 0-3 record on the road against St. John's this evening. Stony Brook's next contest will be this weekend, when the Seawolves travel to play UMBC on Sat. at 7:30 p.m.

On The Radio

The game will be carried live on WLIE 540 AM.

Versus The Red Storm

The Red Storm own a 6-0 series edge over the Seawolves. The Seawolves have fallen four times in Queens, while losing both contests at Stony Brook.

11/23/99 St. John's 84, at Stony Brook 43

11/18/00 at St. John's 92, Stony Brook 62

11/17/01 at St. John's 72, Stony Brook 55

11/26/02 at St. John's 68, Stony Brook 57

11/29/03 St. John's 72, at Stony Brook 61

11/30/04 at St. John's 66, Stony Brook 57

Versus the Big East

Stony Brook is looking for their first-ever win against a Big East opponent, as the Seawolves are 0-15 against their foes from the Big East. The Seawolves fell to Villanova in the season-opener, and takes on UConn on December 28th in another Big East matchup.

About St. John's

• The Red Storm enters tonight's contest 4-1 after defeating Charleston Southern this weekend, 64-50. St. John's was led by Daryll Hill who tallied 15 points in the game, and is averaging 15.3 points a game. Lamont Hamilton has been a force down low for the Red Storm, averaging 13.0 points and 11.0 rebounds a game.

Feist Is On Fire!

Hendrik Feist has been the Seawolves offensive weapon this year. He matched a career-high 14 points against Columbia and netted 13 points vs. Lehigh. Even more impressive, Feist has been dangerous from behind the arc, shooting 54% (7-13).

Back It Up

The Seawolves have had better success so far this season from three-point land than they have had from the free-throw line. A dismal 34% from the charity stripe, Stony Brook has been 39% from behind the arc.

Not So Automatic

Stony Brook missed four of six free throws in the final minute in the loss to Columbia last week. Bobby Santiago missed three and Antwan Hardy missed the back end of a one-and-one that lead to the game-winning shot.

A Hardy Effort

Antwan Hardy finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, and four assists against Columbia in his first start of the season. Hardy is third on the team in points per game with 8.7, and third in rebounds with 4.0.

Bakinde on the Blocks

Stephane Bakinde came off the bench against Columbia to have his best game as a Seawolf. Bakinde had three big blocks, along with a career-best five points and five boards.

Pop's Vision Is 20-20

Mike Popoko scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the loss to Lehigh. Dating back to last season, Popoko has scored at least 22 points in three of his last five games. He dropped 22 on New Hampshire in the season finale last year and then 22 on Northeastern in the America East quarterfinals.

Feist Connects

Hendrik Feist was 3-for-3 from three-point range against Lehigh and finished with 13 points. He also matched a career high with seven rebounds.

From Way Downtown

The Seawolves were good from long distance against Lehigh, drilling 10 of 22 attempts from behind the arc. SB is shooting 40 percent from three-point range over its first two games.

Boarding School

The Seawolves crashed the boards in a big way against the Mountain Hawks, outrebounding them 42-35, 18 of them coming on the offensive glass.

Offense Needs To Heat Up

Stony Brook is averaging only 44.5 points per game through its first two games, shooting only 31.9 percent from the field.

Not So Charitable

The Seawolves have hit only 5 of 18 free throw attempts in the first two games.

Tough Opponent

Stony Brook opened the season against No. 5 Villanova, the highest ranked opponent that the Seawolves have faced since the 1999-00 season when SB took on No. 4 Auburn.

On The Marques

Freshman Marques Cox was one of the bright spots in the loss to Villanova. Earning his first collegiate start, he shot 3-for-7 from the field to finish with seven points. He also tied for the team lead in rebounds with four in only 17 minutes of action.

Way To Goba

Freshman Andrew Goba also showed promise in the season opener. The 6-9 center from South Africa notched four points and four rebounds in his first college game.

Hello, My Name Is Tre Cunningham

Freshman Tre Cunningham was arguably Stony Brook's best player against Villanova. The rookie shot 3-for-5 from the field, tying for the team lead in points (7) and rebounds (4) in only 14 minutes of action.

Thirty Something

Stony Brook scored 35 points in the loss to Villanova, their lowest game total since the 1995-96 season. The Seawolves dropped a 50-32 decision to Franklin Pierce on January 28, 1996.

Pikiell Takes Over

Steve Pikiell was named the 10th men's basketball coach in the program's history in April of 2005, taking over for Nick Macarchuk who retired at the end of last season. Pikiell comes to SB after four seasons as the Associate head coach at George Washington where he helped breathe life back into the program and see it capture its first Atlantic-10 title last season. Pikiell is no stranger to success. The former two-time captain at UConn advanced to the Elite Eight and Sweet 16 in his final two years and college and brought that air of accomplishment to the bench. Prior to GW, Pikiell served as an assistant at Central Connecticut State and was part of the most successful seasons in Blue Devil history, winning the NEC crown in and advancing to the NCAA tournament.

Road Warriors

Stony Brook will play 17 of its 27 regular season games away from home this season. The 10 home games are the second lowest total in Division I history, surpassing the nine home games that SB had during the 2001-02 season.

Stony Brook Picked Seventh

The Seawolves were picked to finish seventh in the America East preseason poll. The highest that SB has ever been picked has been fifth. Albany was picked as the preseason favorite to capture the league crown. Rank Has Privilege The highest ranked team the Stony Brook has ever faced were the No. 4 Auburn Tigers during the 1999-00 season.

Bobby At The Point

Senior Bobby Santiago returns for his final season in a Stony Brook uniform after a junior season that saw him score double figures in 21 games and lead all Seawolves in scoring during conference action.

We Like Mike

Junior Mike Popoko finished the 2004-05 season on a tear, averaging 16.2 ppg. and 6.1 rpg. over the final five games of the season. During that stretch, he scored 22 points on two occasions, the last coming in a 22-point, 10-rebound effort in the season finale against Northeastern.

Doing It The Hardy Way

Sophomore Antwan Hardy returns as the team's leading scorer from one year ago. As a freshman, Hardy averaged a team-best 11.0 points per game and earned himself a spot on the America East All-Rookie team.