Utica, NY - The 17-4 (8-2 Empire 8) Utica College men's basketball team hits the road for a two-game weekend against Nazareth on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and St. John Fisher on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Last Time Out: The Pioneers tabbed their fifth-straight win in an 85-68 Senior Day victory over the Alfred Saxons last Saturday. Freshman forward Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) led the scoring charge all afternoon, netting 19 points on 4-of-5 shooting from downtown. Junior center Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) was also a big difference-maker in this contest, posting 12 points and 11 rebounds en route to his second-straight double-double. He now has five double-doubles this season. Freshman point guard Brett Talbert (Deer Park, NY/Knox School) added 14 points in the winning effort while totaling a career-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) finished right behind Talbert with 11 points of his own in addition to his team-high four assists.

Chasing History: A UC victory over Nazareth would tie the best start (18-4) in program history, which was previously set by the 2006-07 team. Two wins this weekend would break that record.

High Stakes: The No. 1 spot in the Empire 8 is up for grabs this weekend, as both Nazareth and St. John Fisher sit atop the conference with a 10-1 E8 record. Utica sits one game back in the No. 3 slot with an 8-2 E8 record.

Sharp Shooters: UC ranks first in the conference in 3-point percentage, shooting 40.7 percent so far this season. Sophomore guard Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) leads the way for the team from downtown, shooting a team-best 44.6 percent. Freshman forward Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and junior guard Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) sit right behind Hopkins, shooting a 43.8 and 41.8 percent clip from 3-point land, respectively. 

Sharing The Rock: At this point in the season, four different Pioneers are averaging double-digit scoring figures: Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) (13.7), Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) (13.0), Brett Talbert (Deer Park, NY/Knox School) (10.5) and Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) (10.4).

Team Effort: This year's squad leads the Empire 8 in all of the following categories:

Points per game (83.3)
3-point percentage (40.7%)
3-point field goals (180)
Free throw percentage (73%)
Defensive rebounds per game (27.7)
Rebounding margin (3.7)
Opponent shooting percentage (41.3)
Average margin of victory (10.8)

Young Guns: Freshman Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is currently the second-leading scorer on the team. Morreale is averaging 13 points per game, and he is also the second-leading rebounder with 125 boards so far. Another freshman in Brett Talbert (Deer Park, NY/Knox School) has done a little bit of everything, averaging 10.5 points per game while totaling team-highs in steals (22) and assists (52). Both players are the only freshman to crack the top-25 scoring ranks in the Empire 8.

Block Party: Junior center Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) currently ranks second in the Empire 8 in blocks with 36 (1.7 per game) and rebounds with 187 (8.9 per game) thus far. The 6-foot-8 center is also adding 8.8 points per game for the Pioneers.

Free Throws: Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) has been lights out from the charity stripe, as he is currently shooting 83.3 percent (75-for-90) on his free throws. This percentage currently ranks second in the conference.

Scouting Nazareth: The Golden Flyers currently own the No. 1 spot in the conference, as they hold the tiebreaker with St. John Fisher by way of a 75-73 win on Jan. 28. They also share the same overall record with Utica of 17-4. Stephen Gabel currently leads the team in scoring with an average of 16 points per game. Zach Stenglein sits right behind him, averaging a clip of 15 points per game while totaling a team-high 98 assists this season. Three other Golden Flyers are averaging double-digit scoring figures: Cody Green (13.5), Kevin Underwood (11.5) and Jonathan Park (10.6)

Scouting Fisher: The Cardinals also sport an impressive 10-1 Empire 8 record and sit at 15-7 overall. Sammy Robinson is averaging 17.2 points per game, a team-high that ranks him at second in the conference in this category. Dennis Hare and James Leone have totaled averages of 12.3 and 11.5 points per game, respectively, while Leone boasts a team-high 121 rebounds. Matt Asenjo is the only other Cardinal to average double-digit scoring figures with 10.8 points per game.

Up Next: UC returns home Tuesday for its final regular season game against Sage. Tipoff is slated for a 5:30 p.m. start at Miga Court.