Men's Basketball | 2/11/2023 10:00:00 AM

 
STREAM: The game will stream live on FloHoops. RADIO: Drew Casey will handle the play-by-play.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T AGGIES STORYLINES 

• The Aggies are coming off a much-needed 66-61 win over Elon on Wednesday night at Corbett Sports Center. 
• The win snapped the Aggies two-game losing streak, ended Elon's three-game winning streak, and kept the Aggies in the top half of the conference. 
• It also kept the Aggies in contention for one of the coveted top-4 spots in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). 
• A top-4 spot gives the Aggies a double-bye at the conference tournament, March 3-7. That would mean the Aggies could play on Sunday and need only three wins to win the tournament. 
• The Aggies are in sixth place, two games behind UNC Wilmington for the fourth spot. But the Aggies lost both contests to the Seahawks, and they must climb over Drexel to get there. 
• The Aggies got help from an unlikely hero on Wednesday when sophomore guard Love Bettis came off the bench to score a career-high 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field and 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. It marked the first time Bettis scored in double figures since Jan. 7, when he had 13 points against UNCW. 
• Allowing Bettis a few more minutes is not the only change the Aggies made. For the second straight game, the Aggies made a change in their starting lineup. 
• After inserting sophomore Kyle Duke in the starting lineup for his third career start in the Aggies loss to UNCW on Feb. 2. A&T replaced him with redshirt freshman Chase McDuffie for his first career start. McDuffie played 18 minutes and scored three points in the win over Elon. 
• It was only the third game McDuffie has played in since Jan. 4, but A&T interim head coach Phillip Shumpert earned the starting spot because of his efforts in practice and his defensive presence. 
• Junior wing Marcus Watson added 20 points and seven rebounds on 10-for-10 shooting from the free throw line. It marked Watson's eighth 20-point performance of the season and his fourth in the last five games. The Aggies are 6-2 this season when Watson scores 20 points or more. 
• Watson has also been excellent at the free throw line lately. He is 33-for-37 (.892) from the line in the last six games. At one point in the previous six games, he made 17 straight free throws. His current streak is 11 straight made free throws. 
• A&T shot 75 percent from the line in the win over Elon. The Aggies improved to only 3-6 this season when shooting better than 70 percent from the line. The irony is the Aggies are 5-0 when they shoot less than 60 percent from the line. 
• Phillip Shumpert is the Aggies head coach on an interim basis. He took over the program for Will Jones in August. He missed three games with COVID but returned to earn the big win over UNCG. 
• Shumpert has been a significant part in helping the Aggies recruit some of their talent. 
• Shumpert took over on an interim basis in August. Shumpert has coached on many levels, including high school, Division II, junior college and Division I, and has head coaching experience on the junior college level for five years. 

 SCOUTING THE STONY BROOK SEAWOLVES 

• The Seawolves enter the game on a three-game losing streak. Their last win came on Jan. 28 when they beat Hampton 71-66 at Hampton. Their last home win came on Jan. 12 when they defeated Drexel 67-66. 
• Stony Brook has struggled from the floor over its last three games, shooting just 36.6 percent. Over its last three, SBU has only made 21 of 32 (.656) free throws. As a result, opponents have defeated the Seawolves by an average margin of 14.0 points. 
• SBU is coming off a 61-54 loss to Monmouth on Wednesday. The Seawolves shot only 30.9 percent from the floor, even though they were pretty good from 3-point range, going 10-for-26 (.385). 
• Tyler Stephenson-Moore came off the bench to lead the way by going 4-for-8 from three and scoring 17 points. Frankie Policelli added three made 3-pointers and had 11 points and six rebounds. 
• Stephenson-Moore leads the Seawolves in scoring at 14.8 points per game. He leads the conference in free throw shooting at 89.4 percent. He is shooting 41.9 percent from the floor and is 39-for-124 (.315) from 3-point range. Stephenson-Moore had 18 points against the Aggies in Greensboro on Jan. 14. 
• Policelli is the second-leading scorer and the leading rebounder for the Seawolves at 13.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. He is also an excellent free throw shooter, ranking fifth in the conference (.793). 
• Policelli leads the conference in rebounding and can hit the 3-point shot, shooting 36.7 percent (47-for-128). Policelli had 16 points and 14 rebounds against the Aggies earlier this season. 
• Keenan Fitzmorris presents another challenge for A&T. He shoots 55.6 percent from the floor and averages 8.5 points per game. 
• Geno Ford is in his fifth season as the head coach at Stony Brook. Ford has compiled a 55-56 (.495) record at Stony Brook, earning a 20-win season (20-13) during his first full season in 2019-20. 
• Ford has also made head coaching stops at Bradley, Kent State and Muskingum. He made two NIT appearances and one CIT appearance in three seasons at Kent State. He also went to the CIT at Bradley. In 14 seasons, he has a 219-205 (.517) record. 

 THE SERIES                 

• The Aggies and the Seawolves played for the first time in each other's history when they squared in Corbett on Jan. 14. 
• The Aggies won at Corbett, 61-59. Kam Woods hit two big late free throws for the Aggies and scored 19 points. 
• Watson added 18 points and seven rebounds. The Aggies turned the ball over only four times.