THE OPENING TIP
Fairfield University Men's Basketball enters the postseason as the 10th-seeded team in the 2025 MAAC Championship. The Stags will challenge seventh-seeded Sacred Heart on Tuesday, March 11 at 8:30 p.m. at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Ed Cohen and former Stags' assistant coach Martin Bahar will call the action live on ESPN+.

LAST TIME OUT
Fairfield entered Saturday's Senior Night game against Quinnipiac in need of a victory to earn a berth in next week's MAAC Championship. Led by 35 points and 12 rebounds from Prophet Johnson, the Stags punched their ticket to Atlantic City with an 83-74 victory.
 
Johnson's 35 points were a career high and the most by a Stag since Brycen Goodine netted 37 – also on Senior Night – in a win over Canisius last season. Johnson shot 15-for-23 from the field with two three-pointers and also reeled in 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double on the year. The junior has scored 20-plus points in four consecutive games, averaging 24.8 points on .672 shooting from the field with 9.8 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game during that stretch.
 
Braden Sparks scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Peyton Smith had all nine of his points after the intermission as the Stags flipped a 37-37 halftime margin into an 83-74 win. The contest featured 14 ties and 11 lead changes, including eight of each during the closing 20 minutes.
 
Fairfield also benefited offensively from seven points for Deon Perry, six for Kyle Jenkins, and five from Isaac Munkadi.
 
COACH CASEY ON THE QUINNIPIAC GAME
"This season had ups and downs, but we kept our heads down and stayed together and kept working. I'm really happy for these guys to have the opportunity to go down to Atlantic City."

"This time of year isn't about the plays and strategy, it's about making plays and it's about the players. And everybody stepped up tonight."

SERIES HISTORY
The Stags are 10-2 all-time against Sacred Heart dating back to 2007. The crosstown clubs have never met in a postseason game and have never met outside of the state of Connecticut.

The five most recent meetings marked the only times that either squad has ventured to the other's campus (or met within the Town of Fairfield), as six of the prior meetings were held at Webster Bank Arena in addition to a neutral site contest at Mohegan Sun Arena in 2010.

THE THRICE IS RIGHT
The Stags have been on both sides of the "tough to beat a team three times" adage during a pair of their title runs. In 1986, Fairfield swept Manhattan, Saint Peter's and Holy Cross in the regular season and completed the trifecta against all three foes at the Meadowlands en route to the MAAC Championship. Eleven years later, Fairfield was swept in the regular season by Iona, Saint Peter's and Canisius, but avenged all three losses to claim the 1997 conference crown.

PROPHET'S MARGINS
Prophet Johnson enters the postseason averaging 13.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. The last Stag with that statline for a season was Rakim Sanders, who posted 16.6 points and 8.2 boards per contest in his All-MAAC First Team campaign in 2011-12.

Johnson's eighth double-double of the season on Saturday tied him with Supreme Cook's eight attained during the 2022-23 season.

Johnson's 35 points against Quinnipiac were the most by a Stag or any MAAC player since Brycen Goodine poured in 37 in Fairfield's win over Canisius on March 7, 2024.

Johnson is the first Stag with 20-plus points in four consecutive games since Hall of Famer Derek Needham '13 during a four-game stretch during his standout rookie campaign of 2009-10.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, FOR THE LAST TIME
As a result of the MAAC's unbalanced schedule, Fairfield went head-to-head with Siena for the first time in the penultimate game of the regular season. With exception of the 2020-21 season that was contested under strict Covid-19 policies, Thursday's game at MVP Arena marked the latest that the Stags' have met a MAAC opponent for the first time.

During that 2020-21 "Covid schedule" season, the Stags did not see Manhattan until the final two games of the regular season (and met the Jaspers a third consecutive time to start the MAAC postseason). Fairfield also did not play Monmouth until the MAAC postseason in that campaign.

STAG SPLITS
The Stags split the MAAC home-and-home series with five opponents this season:  Iona, Marist, Manhattan, Mount and Quinnipiac. In the other MAAC home-and-home sets, Fairfield picked up a sweep over Rider and was swept by Merrimack and Sacred Heart. The Stags defeated Niagara and lost to Canisius, Saint Peter's and Siena in their lone meeting with each squad on the 2024-25 slate.