FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The season-opening, eight-game road trip for Fairfield University Men's Basketball returns to New England for a Friday matinee at New Hampshire. Opening tip-off is set for 1 p.m. from Durham, N.H. and live on ESPN3.
 
LAST TIME OUT: WAKE FOREST 71, FAIRFIELD 59
Caleb Fields hit a pull-up jumper with 5:58 to play, bringing Fairfield to within one point of host Wake Forest in Monday's 2022-23 season opener. But the Stags were outscored 18-5 over the ensuing five minutes as the Demon Deacons pulled away for a 71-59 decision. Fields led the Fairfield offense with 14 points in his regular season debut with the Stags.
 
Fields was one of the three Stags to net double figures, joined by Supreme Cook with 13 points and TJ Long netting 11 off the bench. Fields and Long each accounted for three of the Stags' eight three-pointers as Fairfield finished 8-for-29 (27.6%) from distance. The Stags were 21-for-55 (38.2%) from the floor overall and 9-for-17 (52.9%).
 
Wake Forest kept the Stags at arm's length in large part with a 12-for-14 showing from the free throw line during that final 5:58. The hosts went to the stripe 39 times in total, canning 29 for the game (74.4%). The Deacs shot 18-for-46 (39.1%) from the field and 6-for-22 (27.3%) from three-point range.
 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE WILDCATS
New Hampshire opened its 2022-23 campaign with a 79-47 win over Division III Brandeis on Monday. Marist transfer Matthew Herasme was the lone Wildcat to play more than 28 minutes, logging 11 points and 12 rebounds in his 31 minutes of work. Clarence Daniels and Kyree Brown each scored 18 points, with Daniels also bringing down 10 rebounds.
 
The Wildcats finished last season with a 15-13 overall record and a 10-8 mark in America East play, which tied them for a third-place finish with Stony Brook. New Hampshire's season came to an end at home against Binghamton in the America East Quarterfinals, 72-69.
 
Nick Johnson is New Hampshire's lone starter from last season and one of only three returning letterwinners compared to 10 newcomers consisting of five transfers and five freshmen.  The Wildcats return over 16.5% of their scoring from one season ago, one of the lowest percentages in all of Division I.
 
LAST MEETING: FAIRFIELD 63, NEW HAMPSHIRE 57 (12/22/2018)
Neftali Alvarez scored a game-high 23 points, with Jesus Cruz chipping in 10 points and six rebounds in a 63-57 Fairfield win in Durham. The Stags erased an early seven-point deficit and led for the final 23:25 of the contest en route to the non-conference win.
 
David Watkins led the Wildcats with 16 points and seven rebounds, and Nick Guadarrama added 11 points.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Fairfield is 10-2 all-time against New Hampshire in a series that dates back to 1978 - eight days after the fabled 123-103 win over Holy Cross. The Stags have won back-to-back meetings in the series and are 4-1 all-time in Durham.
 
2022 DEBUTS
Bowling Green transfer Caleb Fields scored a team-high 14 points in his Fairfield debut on Monday at Wake Forest. Brycen Goodine, a transfer most recently from Providence who began his career at Syracuse, also debuted against the Demon Deacons. None of the Stags' three true freshmen checked into Monday contest in Winston-Salem.
 
UP NEXT
Up next, the Stags head to Cincinnati to challenge Xavier on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 9 p.m. before a national television audience on FS2.
 
The Musketeers, who handily defeated Morgan State in their opener on Monday and will host Montana on Friday, are unranked but receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches' Preseason Polls.