Riverdale, NY – Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello has announced the program's non-conference schedule for the 2016-2017 season, highlighted by taking part in the preseason National Invitational Tournament (NIT), a neutral site match-up against Florida State in Miami and a pair of games at NCAA Tournament participants Temple and West Virginia.
Included in the 11-game schedule are six games against teams that qualified for the postseason a year ago, including three that participated in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
"I am really excited about our schedule, which I feel is from top to bottom the toughest slate we have put together," said Masiello. "Our ultimate goal is to win a championship in March and I feel as though these 11 games will help us in our pursuit of a MAAC Title."
Manhattan will host Winthrop (11/15), Hofstra (11/18), Fordham (12/10) and Eastern Kentucky (12/22) while playing at Bucknell (11/11), at Temple (11/20), at Detroit (11/26), at West Virginia (11/28), at Morgan State (12/6) and at St. Francis Brooklyn (12/20) while playing a neutral site game against Florida State (12/17) in Miami.
Below is a game-by-game overview of the entire schedule:
at Bucknell (Friday, November 11)
2015-2016 Recap: 17-14 (14-4 Patriot) – NIT First Round | Last NCAA Appearance: 2013
Series History: Bucknell leads 3-2 | Last Meeting (2015-2016)
Noteworthy: Bucknell defeated Manhattan 80-67 last year in Draddy Gymnasium despite a game-high 28 points from Shane Richards.
Winthrop (Tuesday, November 15)
2015-2016 Recap: 23-9 (13-5 Big South) | Last NCAA Appearance: 2010
Series History: First Meeting in 2016-2017
Noteworthy: This will be the first-ever meeting between the programs as well as Manhattan's first game in the Preseason NIT.
Hofstra (Friday, November 18)
2015-2016 Recap: 24-10 (14-4 CAA) - NIT First Round | Last NCAA Appearance: 2001
Series History: Manhattan leads 40-22 | Last Meeting (2013-2014)
Noteworthy: The teams will resume their series after a two-year absence … Manhattan has won the last three meetings since Steve Masiello took over as head coach in 2011-2012 … Senior Rich Williams made his first career start in the most recent match-up, scoring nine points.
at Temple (Sunday, November 20)
2015-2016 Recap: 21-12 (14-4 American) - NCAA First Round | Last NCAA Appearance: 2016
Series History: Temple leads 23-11 | Last Meeting (1980-1981)
Noteworthy: The teams will renew a series that has been dormant for 36 years with a preseason NIT match-up … The match-up marks the second-straight year and third time in program history that Manhattan has played a team from the American Conference … Temple advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season after a three-year absence, dropping a heartbreaker to Iowa.
at Detroit (Saturday, November 26)
2015-2016 Recap: 16-15 (9-9 Horizon) | Last NCAA Appearance: 2012
Series History: First Meeting
Noteworthy: This will be the first-ever meeting between the programs as well as the Jaspers' third preseason NIT game.
at West Virginia (Monday, November 28)
2015-2016 Recap: 26-9 (13-5 Big 12) - NCAA First Round | Last NCAA Appearance: 2016
Series History: Series tied at 3-3 | Last Meeting (1981-1982)
Noteworthy: Led by all-time Manhattan great Jack Powers, Manhattan toppled Jerry West and top-ranked West Virginia 89-84 for arguably the top win in program history at the 1958 NCAA Tournament … The Jaspers will be going for their third-ever win against a Big 12/Big 8 team and its first since toppling Oklahoma 77-67 in the First Round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament … Manhattan is 2-3, all-time, against the Big 12/Big 8 and 3-6 against current members of the league (1-3 against Texas as members of the SWC) ... This will be Manhattan's final preseason NIT match-up.
at Morgan State (Tuesday, December 6)
2015-2016 Recap: 9-22 (6-10 MEAC) | Last NCAA Appearance: 2010
Series History: Manhattan leads 3-1 | Last Meeting (2015-2016)
Noteworthy: Manhattan has defeated Morgan State in each of the last two seasons thanks to shooting a combined 43.2 percent (19-of-44) from long range … In the last match-up, Williams notched a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds while senior Tyler Wilson became the first Jasper in almost 15 years to notch double-digits in assists, finishing up with 10.
Fordham (Saturday, December 10)
2015-2016 Recap: 17-14 (8-10 A-10) - CIT First Round | Last NCAA Appearance: 1992
Series History: Manhattan leads 56-52 | Last Meeting (2015-2016)
Noteworthy: The teams will be playing in Riverdale for the first time since the 2013-2014 season … Wilson had 13 points, eight assists and three steals over 40 minutes to pace the Jaspers in the teams' last match-up.
vs. Florida State (Saturday, December 17)
2015-2016 Recap: 20-14 (8-10 ACC) - NIT Second Round | Last NCAA Appearance: 2012
Series History: Florida State leads 3-0 | Last Meeting (2014-2015)
Noteworthy: The teams will be playing in Miami as part of the Orange Bowl Classic ... The teams last played in the 2014-2015 season opener in Tallahassee with the Seminoles winning by an 81-66 count.
at St. Francis Brooklyn (Tuesday, December 20)
2015-2016 Recap: 15-17 (11-7 NEC)
Series History: Manhattan leads 52-19 | Last Meeting (2015-2016)
Noteworthy: A year ago, Manhattan defeated St. Francis Brooklyn 71-60 thanks to a robust offensive effort as the Jaspers shot 55.6 percent (25-of-45) from the floor, including 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from deep.
Eastern Kentucky (Thursday, December 22)
2015-2016 Recap: 15-16 (6-10 OVC) | Last NCAA Appearance: 2014
Series History: Series tied at 1-1 | Last Meeting (2015-2016)
Noteworthy: After not meeting for almost 70 years, the teams will play for the second-straight season … Junior Zane Waterman scored a career-high 23 points to pace Manhattan a year ago … The head coaches are quite familiar with each other as EKU head coach Dan McHale served as a student manager at Kentucky during Masiello's final three seasons.
