FAIRFIELD FRIDAY
Fairfield University Men's Basketball hosts the backend of the MAAC home-and-home with crosstown foe Sacred Heart, as the Pioneers come to Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Friday, Feb. 20. The Hall of Fame duo of Bob Heussler and Joe DeSantis '79 will call the action on ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m.
WHITE OUT AT MAHONEY, POWERED BY AVANGRID
Fans are encouraged to wear their favorite white Stags gear. Students will receive a free white Fairfield Stags t-shirt while supplies last!
LAST TIME OUT
Fairfield cut a 28-point deficit down to eight in a frenetic second half on Sunday at Saint Peter's, but the early margin proved insurmountable as time expired on an 83-74 final.
Declan Wucherpfennig scored a career-high 23 points to lead four Stags in double figures.
Wucherpfennig scored all of his 23 points in the second half, finishing 8-for-12 from the floor and 7-for-11 from the free throw line. He also pulled down eight rebounds.
Braden Sparks added 15 points fueled by a 3-for-3 day from three-point range. The Stags' leading scorer also had four steals on the defensive end.
Brandon Benjamin contributed 14 points with nine rebounds three assists against the Peacocks.
The fourth Stag in double figures was
Halon Rawlins with 12 points and six rebounds.
Nasir Rodriguez added two points off a pair of free throws, with
Eric Mejia and
Isaac Munkadi each knocking down one from the stripe to round out Fairfield's 74 points.
Saint Peter's was paced by 21 points from TJ Robinson and 15 by Brent Bland.
COACH CASEY ON SAINT PETER'S
"We took an early hit in the first half, particularly with points off turnovers. We did a good job of correcting that and playing more aggressively against the zone in the second half. I'm proud of the guys that were out there for the last 15 minutes and their determination to mount a comeback."
SECOND TIME AROUND
The Stags are 4-1 this season when playing an opponent for the second time. To date, Fairfield has earned a home-and-home sweep of Niagara and took the back half of series splits with Manhattan, Canisius, and Marist. Saint Peter's is the lone MAAC opponent to win its second meeting with the Stags in 2025-26.
REBOUNDING ROOKIES
Only four true freshmen have grabbed at least 200 rebounds in Fairfield Men's Basketball history, and two of them share the frontcourt this season.
Brandon Benjamin has a rookie-record 274 rebounds to date, and
Declan Wucherpfennig has also recently surpassed the milestone with 204.
TOTAL REBOUNDS BY A TRUE FRESHMAN
The MAAC record for rebounds by a true freshman belongs to La Salle's Lionel Simmons, who posted 322 boards (9.8 rpg) in 1986-87. Benjamin is second behind Simmons and on pace to eclipse him in both total rebounds and rebounds per game by a MAAC rookie.
(NEARLY) ALL NUTMEG
The trip to Saint Peter's on Sunday was Fairfield's only journey across state lines in the month of February. The Stags' remaining slate brings SHU, Siena, and the Mount (on March 1) to Mahoney Arena with the lone road game taking place at Quinnipiac.
LET THE SPARKS FLY
Braden Sparks ranks third in the MAAC in scoring at 17.4 points per game. With 469 total points, he is 31 points shy of only the 23rd 500-point campaign in 78 seasons of Fairfield Men's Basketball.
Sparks' MAAC-high 81 three-pointers rank tied for sixth in a season in Fairfield history.
ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMIN
Brandon Benjamin is one of 13 players in the nation to average a double-double, posting 14.3 points and a MAAC-best 10.5 rebounds per game. Among those 13, Benjamin is one of three true freshmen on the ledger.
He ranks ninth in the nation in rebounds per game and leads the country with 4.38 offensive boards per contest.
Benjamin also leads the MAAC in field goal percentage (.575) and ranks second in blocked shots (1.62/game).
CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS
Led by
Brandon Benjamin's conference-best 10.5 rebounds per game, as well as 7.6 boards per contest from
Declan Wucherpfennig, the Stags are currently leading the MAAC in overall rebounding (38.48/game), offensive rebounding (14.07/game), and rebounding margin (+3.9).
UP NEXT
This Sunday, Fairfield makes the short trip to Hamden for a 2 p.m. tip at Quinnipiac.
