SECOND ROUND STAGS
Fairfield University Men's Basketball takes the court at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall for the second straight night, heading into the MAAC Championship Quarterfinals on Friday, March 6. The seventh-seeded Stags and second-seeded Saint Peter's tip off at 8:30 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Fairfield opened the second half of Thursday's MAAC Championship First Round matchup with a 14-2 run to surge past Manhattan, 71-60. The Stags were led by their All-MAAC Second Team duo as Braden Sparks scored 17 points, and Brandon Benjamin posted 15 points, nine rebounds, and three blocked shot.
 
Sparks's 17 points move him to eighth on Fairfield's single-season scoring list with 562 points. He was also Fairfield's top facilitator with five assists.
 
For Benajmin, his 15 points came on 6-for-9 shooting from the floor and a 3-for-4 day at the stripe. With nine rebounds, the rookie boosted his total to 306 boards – joining La Salle great Lionel Simmons as only the second MAAC freshman to eclipse the 300-rebound mark.
 
Declan Wucherpfennig set the pace on the glass with 13 rebounds as Fairfield claimed a 37-34 rebounding advantage. Wucherpfennig also scored five points and dished out three assists.
 
Tony Williams made the most of his 11-point evening with three key three-pointers. Eric Mejia and Deuce Turner led Fairfield to 21 bench points with 10 and eight, respectively.
 
COACH CASEY ON THE FIRST ROUND
"I thought we did a great job with the things that we emphasized – rebounding, not turning the ball over, and not sending them to the foul line. And on top of that, I'm really impressed with our guys and their determination on the defensive end. I thought we really guarded Manhattan for 40 minutes. We came up with 50/50 rebounds and 50/50 loose balls, and that was a big difference maker."
 
SPARKS FLYING IN RARIFIED AIR
All-MAAC Second Team honoree Braden Sparks ranks second in the MAAC in scoring at 17.6 points per game. With 562 total points, he ranks eighth on Fairfield's single-season scoring list.
 
Sparks' MAAC-high 94 three-pointers rank fourth in a season in Fairfield history. He is second in the MAAC with 2.94 three-pointers per game and third in the conference among NCAA qualifiers with a .398 three-point percentage.
 
20 PIECE
At 20-12, Fairfield has recorded the ninth 20-win season in program history. Chris Casey has led the Stags to 20+ wins in two of his three years at the helm, joining Ed Cooley as the only Fairfield head coaches with multiple 20-win campaigns.
 
THE SAINT PETER'S UNIVERSITY PEACOCKS
After enjoying a First Round bye as the second-seeded team in the MAAC, Saint Peter's begins its postseason at 17-11 overall. The Peacocks looked up the #2 seed at 14-6, most recently defeating Manhattan and Marist to close the regular season and secure their spot in the bracket.
 
All-MAAC First Team selection Brent Bland leads Saint Peter's with 14.0 points per game. Bryce Eaton also adds double figures with 11.1 points per contest, and TJ Robinson is just shy of the mark with 9.7 points per game.
 
The Peacocks have done it with defense, forcing a league-best 13.79 turnovers per game. Fairfield commits an average of just 10.3 turnovers per outing.
 
THIS SEASON VS. SAINT PETER'S
Saint Peter's is the only team to sweep a MAAC home-and-home from the Stags in 2025-26.
 
US AND THEM
Fairfield is 65-69 all-time against its most frequent opponent, dating back to 1951. The teams have met 16 times in the MAAC Championship, with Saint Peter's owning a 9-7 advantage in postseason encounters.
 
FAIRFIELD'S MAAC TOURNAMENT MARKS

Overall	37-41
at Boardwalk Hall (2020-pres.)	7-6
as #7 seed	10-6 (1 Championship)
vs. Saint Peter's	7-9
in Quarterfinals	18-20

 
(Quarterfinals include "First Round" in six-team tournament era of 1982 and 1983)
 
SECOND TIME AROUND
Fairfield went 7-1 when playing a MAAC opponent for the second time this season. Saint Peter's was the lone conference foe to win its second game with the Stags in 2025-26
 
Including Thursday's MAAC Championship First Round win over Manhattan, Fairfield is 8-1 against teams that they have played earlier in the 2025-26 season.
 
KEEPING IT 100
Chris Casey was 55-45 through his first 100 games as leader of the Stags, tying for the second-most wins by a head coach in his first 100 games at Fairfield. The record belongs to George Bisacca with 66 wins in his first 100 games.
 
Casey and Fred Barakat's 55 wins are the most by a head coach through 100 wins since Fairfield joined the Division I ranks.
 
EVERY POSSESSION MATTERS
Fairfield holds an 11-5 record in one possession games during its three seasons led by Head Coach Chris Casey. Fairfield has won its last seven contests decided by three points or less.
 
The Stags are 26-13 in all games under Casey that were decided by either one or two possessions (six points or fewer).
 
REBOUNDING ROOKIES
The top two freshman rebounders in Fairfield history share the starting frontcourt this season. Brandon Benjamin owns the Stags' rookie rebounding record, with Declan Wucherpfennig slotting second on the ledger. Only four Stags in total have had 200 rebounds in their freshman campaign: Benjamin, Wucherpfennig, Drew Henderson (220, 7.6 rpg), and Amadou Sidibe (210, 6.2 rpg).
 
ON THE CONFERENCE LEVEL
With Brandon Benjamin already in possession of the Fairfield rookie rebounding mark, the MAAC record is in his sights. The mark for rebounds by a true freshman belongs to La Salle all-time great Lionel Simmons, who posted 322 boards (9.8 rpg) in 1986-87. Benjamin is second behind Simmons and within striking distance of eclipsing him in both total rebounds and rebounds per game by a MAAC rookie.
 
Simmons and Benjamin are the only two freshmen in MAAC history to grab 300 rebounds in their rookie season.
 
UP NEXT
The winner will meet either Siena or Mount St. Mary's in the MAAC Semifinals on Sunday, March 8 at 8:30 p.m.