FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University men's basketball team received the conference portion of its 2020-21 schedule when the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced the season slate on Tuesday. Jay Young will begin his second season as the program's head coach after establishing the Stags as one of the top defensive teams in the MAAC.

Last year, Young's team led the conference in scoring defense for overall play by allowing 62.9 points per game as well as in conference play by yielding 62.1 points per contest. That same brand of basketball will be back on the court for 2020-21 as a majority of student-athletes will return for the upcoming campaign.

Fairfield will spend some time on the road during the first half of MAAC competition, playing six of its first nine games away from campus. The Stags open up their conference run in upstate New York when they travel to Canisius College on December 8 and Niagara University on December 11. The home portion of the MAAC schedule starts on December 15 when Coach Young and his team welcomes Marist College. The two-game homestand ends on December 18 when the team takes on Iona College.

Four of the next five contests will be on the road with two pairs of road games being wrapped around a home game against Manhattan College on January 5. Following the holiday, Fairfield heads to Albany for a match up with Siena College on December 29 before bringing in the New Year at Monmouth University on January 1.

The second pair of away dates begins locally with an intra-state matchup against Quinnipiac University on January 8 followed by a quick trip down Interstate 95 to New Rochelle for the season series finale against Iona College on January 12.

Fairfield will enjoy its longest homestand of the season with three straight games, the first of which is slated for January 15 against Saint Peter's University. The team closes out the homestand against Niagara University on January 22 and Monmouth University on January 26.

The final eight games will alternate between home and away with a drive to Rider University beginning the stretch on January 29. The month of February begins with a home date against Canisius College on February 2. The final three road games of the season are on Friday nights and sends Fairfield to Manhattan College on February 5, Marist College on February 12, and Saint Peter's University on February 19. The final three home games include Siena College on February 9, Quinnipiac University on February 16, and Rider University on March 5.

All men's and women's basketball home games this season will be played on campus on George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall. Construction of the new on-campus Convocation Center is anticipated to commence in early 2021. Fundraising for the Convocation Center continues to be strong. The university anticipates that this project will be completely funded through philanthropy. Each financial benchmark has been hit and the support from many different Stags has made this highly-anticipated project a reality.

"We have seen the genuine excitement in our community surrounding our new Convocation Center, and all of us in Stags Athletics certainly share that feeling of great anticipation," said Director of Athletics Paul Schlickmann. "We made a prudent decision to delay the construction process due to the multi-layered impact of Covid-19 on our campus, the region and the state.  The adjusted timeline for the project was a measured response to best serve the short and long-term interests of the University, our programs and our student-athletes.  We are looking forward to hosting another season of Fairfield Stags Basketball on-campus at Alumni Hall as well as to the excitement, camaraderie and celebrations to come in our new Convocation Center."
 
As determined by the MAAC Basketball Working Group, there will be no spectators in attendance at any game hosted by a MAAC member prior to Dec. 23. At that time, both the MAAC and Fairfield University will reassess this policy in conjunction with local, state, federal and institutional guidelines. Fans will be able to watch all Fairfield University home games on either ESPN+ or ESPN3, as well as every road conference game. The ESPN schedule will be announced on a later date.