FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The 75th season of Fairfield University Men's Basketball tips off on Monday, Nov. 7 in Winston-Salem, N.C. at Wake Forest. The action tips off at 8 p.m. on ACC Network Extra and ESPN+.
 
THE 2022-23 STAGS
Fairfield Men's Basketball returns 11 student-athletes from the 2021-22 season, including six players who appeared in 30 or more of the Stags' 33 games. The returners include Preseason All-MAAC First Team selection Supreme Cook and Preseason Third Team honoree Jake Wojcik as well as 2022 All-Rookie Team pick TJ Long.
 
Head Coach Jay Young's list of newcomers features freshmen Anthony Davis Jr., James Johns Jr. and Michael Rogan as well as transfers Caleb Fields (Bowling Green) and Brycen Goodine (Providence).
 
LAST TIME OUT: RUTGERS 78, FAIRFIELD 65 (exhibition)
Fairfield took the court in live game action for the first time on Sunday, Oct. 30, visiting Rutgers for an exhibition at Jersey Mike's Arena. Caleb Fields scored a team-best 13 points in his unofficial Stags debut, and Makai Willis also reached double figures with 12 along with six rebounds.
 
Fields' 13 points included three three-pointers as the Stags shot 11-of-27 (40.7%) from distance. Willis added two triples as a part of his dozen points with James Johns Jr. also knocking down two from from downtown en route to nine points. Supreme Cook recorded nine points and reeled in a team-leading seven rebounds.
 
All net proceeds from ticket sales to the 2,000 fans in attendance will benefit Team LeGrand and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation dedicated to curing spinal cord injury.
 
THE WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY DEMON DEACONS
Wake Forest is coming off of a 2021-22 campaign in which they posted a 25-10 overall record and reached the NIT Quarterfinals. The Demon Deacons were tabbed for ninth in the ACC Preseason Media Poll.
 
Davien Williamson is the lone starter back in the mix this season after averaging 11.8 points per game in 2021-22. He is also one of just two returning Deacs, joined by Cameron Hildreth, to have appeared in 20 or more games last winter.
 
A notable newcomer for Stags' fans is Jao Ituka, who was the 2021-22 MAAC Rookie of the Year as a freshman standout at Marist last season.
 
Wake Forest played an exhibition against Division II Winston-Salem State on Nov. 1, coming away with an 82-69 win. Williamson led all scorers with 25 points in the contest. Newcomers Tyree Appleby (University of Florida) and Andrew Carr (University of Delaware) both posted double-figure scoring performances in their unofficial debuts with the Demon Deacons.
 
LAST MEETING: WAKE FOREST 85, FAIRFIELD 60 (11/9/2007)
Mike Evanovich went 5-for-5 from three-point range on his way to 20 points as the Stags opened the 2007-08 campaign with an 85-60 loss in Winston-Salem.
 
Wake Forest was led by four players scoring in double figures, including a 17-point and 10-rebound performance from James Johnson.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
The 2007 meeting ran the all-time series to 3-0 in favor of the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest also hosted the Stags in 1991, and the two squads met at the Lobo Classic in Albquerque, N.M. in 1988.
 
WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE
In addition to two road games against Wake Forest, the Lawrence Joel Coliseum is also the site of one of the Stags' most famous games. The 1997 MAAC Champion Stags brought an 11-18 record to Winston-Salem to meet #4 North Carolina in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Sixteen-seeded Fairfield nearly pulled off the upset, bringing a seven-point lead into the locker room against a Tar Heels team led by Dean Smith and featuring Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter, before UNC rallied late and pulled away for an 82-74 win.
 
STAGS VS. THE ACC
The Stags are 1-19 all-time against ACC opponents, past and present. The lone victory was an 89-83 win over Boston College at Mohegan Sun Arena in 2016.
 
Fairfield also owns a win over Miami in the 1985-86 campaign, though the Hurricanes were a Division I independent at that time.
 
vs. Boston College: 1-3 (11-27 all-time series)
vs. Clemson: 0-1
vs. Duke: 0-4
vs. Maryland: 0-1 (0-2 all-time series)
vs. North Carolina: 0-2 (incl. 1997 NCAA Tournament First Round)
vs. NC State: 0-1
vs. Virginia: 0-3
vs. Virginia Tech: 0-1 (0-3 all-time series, met in 1973 NIT Quarterfinals)
vs. Wake Forest: 0-3
 
UP NEXT
The Stags venture back to the northeast to visit the University of New Hampshire on Friday, Nov. 11. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. matinee tip-off in Durham, N.H.
 
New Hampshire will host Division III Brandeis to open its campaign on Monday, Nov. 7 with the Stags serving as the Wildcats' first Division I foe of the new season.