UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's basketball team will play its fourth consecutive road game on Monday as the team travels to Cazenovia College for a non-conference game against the Wildcats. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. 
 
Follow Along: Fans can watch live through https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bMZWRqpY8c and/or follow the game with live stats through https://cazenoviawildcats.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary. 
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers traveled to Morrisville State on November 16 and dominated the Mustangs from start to finish for an 86-46 win. Utica shot an impressive 60 percent from the field in its 45-point first half while only six points were registered from three-pointers. UC entered the half ahead 45-29. As a team, UC scored 52 of its 86 points in the paint while shooting a collective 60.3 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from three and 72.7 percent (8-11) from the free throw line. Morrisville was held to 27.3 percent shooting throughout the game while the Utica defense forced 17 turnovers throughout the game which led to 22 points. Chris Green (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) led the team with 15 points while he and Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) also led Utica with six rebounds each. Morreale added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor as well as hitting his only three-point attempt of the night. Guard Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) scored 13 points and also had a team high four assists while Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) was the fourth member of the team to reach double figures in points as the center ended the game with 12 on 6-for-8 shooting. 
 
Defense Showing Up: Through three games the Pioneers have allowed the fewest points per game in the Empire 8. UC has given up 59.7 points per game, 3.9 points fewer than Alfred University who has allowed the second fewest points per game in the conference. The play on the defensive end of the court has also helped the team own a conference best 13.0 scoring margin while the ball instincts have led to 9.33 steals per game. Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) leads the team with five steals through three outings followed by Chris Green (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton), Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle), Damien Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) and Griffin Barasa (Clearwater, FL/Calvary Christian) who all have three or more steals. Their efforts have helped lead to 58 points off of turnovers and 16 fast break points. 
 
Mr. Versatility: Chris Green (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) has had no limitations to his game over his first three outings. He's scored, he's found open teammates, and he's defended well. The senior is second on the team and 14th in the Empire 8 averaging 11 points per game, doing so on 50 percent shooting from the field (11-22) and 44.4 percent from three-point range (4-9). Green not only leads the team in assists, his mark of 2.7 per game puts him ninth in the conference while his 2.0 assist/turnover ratio would also rank within the top-three in the E8 if he qualified. While being a terrific perimeter defender, the guard also isn't afraid to crash the boards for rebounds as his average of 4.3 is third on the team. 
 
Producing on Both Ends: Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) has already earned Empire 8 Rookie of the Year and Empire 8 All-Conference First Team honors in his first two seasons. Through three games this season the junior from Whitesboro has been performing like a player of the year candidate would. Morreale is fourth in the conference averaging 18 points per game while leading the E8 with a 71.4 field goal percentage. On the defensive end he's 11th in the conference with 5.7 rebounds per game as 15 of his total 17 boards have been defensive. Morreale is also fifth in the conference with 1.7 steals per game and ninth averaging one block per game. As if his current averages aren't enough, his 31-point outing in the team's season opener against Eureka is still a single game high in the Empire 8.  
 
Scouting Cazenovia: The Wildcats are 2-5 through their first seven games this season and are fresh off of a 81-68 win over SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry. In the season's early stages, Cazenovia has averaged 74.1 points per game on 44.4 percent shooting from the field and 31 percent shooting from three. Kobe Bogart leads the team scoring 14.5 points per outing while teammate Alan Wilmes Jr. is the only other member of the team averaging double figures in points, netting 10.7 per game on 46.8 percent field goal shooting. 
 
Meeting History: Utica is 19-2 all-time against Cazenovia and currently owns a 10-game winning streak in the series with its last loss to the Wildcats coming in the 2001-2002 season. The Pioneers will also take a 6-1 all-time series road record with them on Monday evening as the team hasn't lost in Cazenovia since the 1997-1998 season. UC came away with a 115-81 win the last time the two teams met on November 22, 2019 on Miga Court. 
 
Up Next: UC will wrap up its season-long five-game road trip at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 30 when the team travels to Skidmore College.