PRIMETIME PLAYERS
Fairfield University Men's Basketball takes the court at Webster Bank Arena in front of a national television audience on Friday night when the Stags host Saint Peter's on ESPNU. Jon Meterparel and Noah Savage will be on the call beginning at 7 p.m.
 

• Webster Bank Arena Box Office – The Box Office is a preferred cashless site. Single game tickets for all Fairfield home games can be purchased in advance at fairfieldstags.com/basketballtix.
• Webster Bank Arena Concessions – All food and beverage vendors will be cashless including the bar inside the Stags Club. All major credit cards are accepted.
• Parking – Parking garage and lots surrounding Webster Bank Arena accept cash only on gameday
• FREE Student Tickets – Admission is free for current Fairfield University students by presenting a valid StagCard
• FREE Student Shuttle – A student shuttle will run continuously from the BCC traffic circle to Webster Bank Arena beginning at 6 p.m. through the end of the game.
• $5 Student Parking – Fairfield students with a StagCard can park in any of outdoor lots surrounding Webster Bank Arena for only $5 (cash only).
• Covid-19 Policy – Per the city of Bridgeport, all spectators are required to wear masks at all times while inside Webster Bank Arena unless actively eating or drinking.

LAST TIME OUT
The combination of Supreme Cook and Jesus Cruz provided a strong performance inside the lane, but that performance did not overcome a big second half by Manhattan as the Jaspers outlasted the Stags by a 74-67 count at Webster Bank Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Cook was responsible for 17 points while Cruz added 14 points off the bench with the majority of those coming as a part of Fairfield's 32 points in the paint. Chris Maidoh added 10 points from the post.
 
On the flipside, Fairfield committed 25 fouls in the game which resulted in Manhattan going to the free throw line 33 times. The Jaspers made the most of those opportunities, converting 30 of them. Jose Perez shot 11-for-12 from the stripe on his way to a game-high 21 points.
 
On the perimeter, Taj Benning and Jake Wojcik each scored eight points and Caleb Green scored seven. Wojcik also dished out a team-high four of the Stags' 12 assists.
 
SEE YOU (MUCH) LATER
The Stags are seeing Saint Peter's for the first time on Friday night in their 16th MAAC game of the season. This scheduling quirk his has only happened once before at Fairfield in seasons with a 20-game MAAC slate (excluding the "back-to-back" schedule in 2020-21). In the 2014-15 campaign, Fairfield did not meet Niagara for the first time until the 17th MAAC game of the season.
 
THE SAINT PETER'S UNIVERSITY PEACOCKS AT A GLANCE
Saint Peter's comes to Bridgeport following a pair of nine-point home losses to Rider and Iona, falling to 11-10 overall and 9-5 in the MAAC. The Peacocks enter the day in third place in the conference behind 13-2 Iona and 9-4 Siena, with an opportunity to salvage a split with the Saints waiting for them on Sunday in Albany.
 
A balanced Saint Peter's scoring attack is led by 11.0 points per game from Daryl Banks III and 9.8 per contest by KC Ndefo. Ndefo is also one of the premier shot blockers in the nation, ranking first in the MAAC and 23rd nationally at 2.62 rejections per game.
 
As a unit, the Peacocks slot 10th in the MAAC in scoring offense at 69.8 points per game but lead the conference defensively, ceding just 64.2 points per outing.
 
LAST MEETING: FAIRFIELD 52, SAINT PETER'S 47 (3/12/21 in Atlantic City)
A stifling defensive effort led Fairfield to a berth in the 2021 MAAC Championship Game with a 52-47 win over Saint Peter's in Atlantic City.  Caleb Green led all players and paced four Stags in double figures with 14 points.
 
Jesus Cruz added 12 points for Fairfield with Jake Wojcik scoring 11 and Supreme Cook putting home 10.
 
KC Ndefo and Doug Edert each scored 11 points for Saint Peter's.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
In 122 meetings with their most frequent opponent in program history, the all-time series between the Stags and Peacocks is deadlocked at 61-61. Excluding seasons in which the teams only met once, the series has not been swept since Saint Peter's claimed both meetings in the 2015-16 regular season,. However, the Stags responded in March of that campaign with a win in Albany in the MAAC Championship First Round.
 
BANK HOLIDAY
Friday's game is the finale of a six-game homestand for the Stags spanning from Feb. 6-18. The stretch is the longest homestand comprised solely of conference games in both Fairfield and MAAC history, excluding the "back-to-back" scheduling model used due to Covid-19 concerns during the 2020-21 season.
 
The streak is also the longest ever at Webster Bank Arena and the longest overall for the Stags since a program-record seven consecutive home games during the 1986-87 MAAC Championship season. That run saw Fairfield host La Salle, Lehigh, Fordham, Saint Peter's, Manhattan, Iona and Yale all in succession. However, only six of those games were played to completion at Alumni Hall, as the Jan. 10 meeting with Fordham was suspended and then finished in the Bronx on Feb. 7.
 
ONE AT A TIME
Manhattan claimed the win over the Stags on Wednesday on the back of 30 free throws on 33 attempts. Only Providence (24-36) has had more attempts from the stripe against the Stags this season. The last time an opponent scored 30 or more of its points from the foul line was in 2014-15, when it happened on three occasions: at Marist (37-44), vs. Quinnipiac (31-51) and at Monmouth (30-40).
 
THE MAAC IRON MAN HITS 150
The Jan. 11 game against Iona was the 139th appearance as a Stag for Jesus Cruz, breaking the program record of 138 held by Colin Nickerson. Cruz, who has never missed a game in his career dating back to 2017, is also the MAAC record holder with his 149 games played and counting. In addition, Taj Benning will take the court for the 139th time as a Stags on Wednesday to move into second place in program history behind Cruz.
 
UP NEXT
The Stags hit the road for only the second time this month and cap a stretch of eight games in 17 days with a Sunday, Feb. 20 trip to conference-leading Iona.