THE OPENING TIP
Fairfield University Men's Basketball brings a four-game winning streak to Hackensack, N.J. for a Wednesday clash at Fairleigh Dickinson. Opening tip-off from the Rothman Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Fairfield allowed a season-low 47 points to roll past host William & Mary, 70-47, on Sunday afternoon in Williamsburg. The Stags' offense was led by 15 points apiece from Taj Benning and Caleb Green to seal their fourth consecutive victory.
 
Benning and Green's 15 points apiece paced an offense that saw 10 different Stags put points on the board. Benning also shared the team high with six rebounds, while Green distributed a team-best four assists.
 
Allan Jeanne-Rose also reached double figures with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. Jake Wojcik added nine points, and Jesus Cruz and Supreme Cook each netted six.
 
Cook matched Benning's six rebounds with Green and Zach Crisler each hauling in four as Fairfield won the battle on the boards, 35-31.
 
BALANCE AT THE TOP
After a nine-game stretch in which no Stag led (or shared the team lead) in scoring more than once, the streak was broken was Caleb Green and Taj Benning each netted 15 points at William & Mary to pace the team in scoring for the second time. In total, 10 different Stags have held or shared the team high in scoring in at least one game this season.

That balance has turned Fairfield into the highest-scoring offense in the MAAC at 77.0 points per game, despite only one player (Benning, 11.7 ppg) among the league's individual top-20 scorers.
 
THE FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS AT A GLANCE
Fairleigh Dickinson played its first eight games of the season on the road and was on the short side of all eight, entering their home opener on Wednesday in search of their first victory of 2021-22. Brandon Rush and Devon Dunn are each averaging double figures for the Knights with 14.3 and 12.0 points per game, respectively.
 
FDU was tabbed for ninth of 10 teams in the Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
THE KNIGHTS IN 2020-21
Fairleigh Dickinson went 9-15 overall and 8-10 in the NEC last season,. The Knights finished eighth in the conference but just one league victory shy of tying for third place in the win column.
 
LAST MEETING: FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 69, FAIRFIELD 65 (12/22/2020)
Fairfield cut an eight-point deficit down to one in the waning moments of last season's meeting at Alumni Hall, but the visiting FDU Knights converted their free throws down the stretch to hold on to a 69-65 decision.
 
Jake Wojcik scored 12 points and Taj Benning added 11 for the Stags. Supreme Cook filled out his statline with eight points and seven rebounds.
 
Brandon Rush scored 28 points for Fairleigh Dickinson fueled by a 7-for-10 performance from downtown. Rush is one of just three Knights who checked into last year's game to appear on the current FDU roster.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Fairfield leads 16-7 in an all-time series that dates back to 1956. The Stags are looking to avoid the first two-game losing streak to the Knights since the first two meetings against their former Tri-State Conference foe. Fairfield was on a series-long six-game winning streak prior to the loss at Alumni Hall last December.
 
STREAKS AT STAKE
The Stags are looking to extend their season-long winning streak to five games with a win on Sunday. Fairfield's last regular season winning streak of five games came in 2017-18 when the Stags won the last four outings of the regular season and then won three postseason games en route to an appearance in the MAAC Championship Game.
 
Fairfield has also won four straight road games for the first time since besting hosts Austin Peay, Rider, Saint Joseph's, Old Dominion and Canisius in succession in December of 2012.
 
LOCK DOWN DEFENSE
Fairfield's 47 points allowed in Sunday's win at William & Mary are the fewest the Stags have conceded in a game since limiting Saint Peter's to 47 in last season's MAAC Championship Semifinal win (52-47). In addition, the 23-point margin of victory over the Tribe is Fairfield's largest against a Division I opponent since a 78-49 thrashing of Manhattan during the 2016-17 season.
 
UP NEXT
The Stags wrap up their three-game non-conference road trip on Sunday with a visit to UMass. Opening tip is slated for 1 p.m. with the action set to air live on NESN.
 
The Minutemen are 6-5 after most recently dropping a 66-57 decision to North Texas last Saturday. UMass is a perfect 5-0 at the Mullins Center.