St. Joseph's at Fordham preview

St. Joseph's at Fordham

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Saturday, 2 p.m., Rose Hill Gymnasium, New York

TV/Radio: 990 AM WNPT.

Records: St. Joseph's 18-4 overall, 7-2 Atlantic 10; Fordham, 12-8, 3-6.

On St. Joseph's: The Hawks, who saw their seven-game win streak snapped with Wednesday's 83-73 loss to visiting St. Bonaventure, own the nation's best road record (7-0) and are the only unbeaten team.

On Fordham: This is the most wins by Fordham since the 2007-2008 team won 12 games.

Insights

Fordham hasn't played since Saturday's 78-72 overtime win on Saturday at Massachusetts, so the Rams should try to force the issue early and provide some pressure, especially since they will go at least eight deep. In the win over UMass, eight players logged 19 or more minutes. . . . The Hawks have to account for 6-foot-3 Fordham freshman Joseph Chartouny. He didn't play due to injury in this season's earlier game when St. Joseph's won, 80-55. . . . Chartouny is averaging 9.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists and had 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in last week's win over UMass. . . . St. Joseph's did a great job against the Rams' two leading scorers in the first game. Ryan Rhoomes, a 6-8 senior averaging 13.6 points, scored 10 points but committed six turnovers, and 6-2 senior Mandell Thomas (14.1 ppg.) had eight points and shot 0 for 5 from beyond the arc. . . . A key for St. Joseph's is to apply more pressure on defense, after forcing just two turnovers in Wednesday's loss to St. Bonaventure. . . . DeAndre' Bembry (17.1 ppg.) torched Fordham the first game, scoring 26 points and shooting 11 for 17 while grabbing 12 rebounds. So expect even more defensive attention on the Hawks' 6-6 junior. . . . Hawks forward Isaiah Miles (17.5 ppg.) will look to get untracked after shooting 4 for 12 overall and 1 for 6 from three-point range in the loss to St. Bonaventure.

- Marc Narducci
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