OPENING NOTES
• Central Connecticut has a pair of road games this week, beginning with a contest at Saint Francis on Saturday in a rematch of last season's NEC title game.
• Patrick Sellers is in his 5th season leading his alma mater. He has led CCSU to back-to-back NEC regular season crowns, along with, consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in the program's Division I history.
LOOSE BALLS ...
• Through 15 games, CCSU is committing 12.5 fouls per game, which ranks 2nd nationally. Last season, CCSU committed 11.3 fouls per game, setting an NEC mark and ranking 2nd nationally.
• The Blue Devils lead the NEC in assists per game (15.2) and assist-turnover ratio (1.45).
Jay Rodgers is steering the ship for Central and ranks 4th nationally in assists per game (7.3).
• CCSU has won 8 straight home games in NEC play since falling to LIU on Jan. 12, 2025.
• Central has posted 20+ wins in consecutive seasons for the first time in its Division I history. The Blue Devils last accomplished the feat in 1982-83 (21-9) and 1983-84 (26-6).
• When scoring 70+ points under Patrick Sellers, CCSU is 49-15 (.7666) overall. Central is 28-3 in such games dating back to Jan. 19, 2024.
• Since 2021-22, CCSU has won 8 straight 1-point games (Jan. 21, 2022, 67-68 loss at SFU).
• 24 straight games with a three-pointer.
• The Blue Devils are hitting treys at a 38.5% clip which paces the NEC and ranks 17th nationally.
• Central set a single-game program record with 18 three-pointers against Vermont State Johnson (11/11/24). CCSU was 18-of-36 (.500).
• CCSU has had 4 of its top 10 single-season three-point totals under coach Sellers. The '21-22 team made 235, 2nd all-time at CCSU.
•
Darin Smith, Jr. became the first player in the NEC and 22nd nationally to score 20+ points in a game 10 times this season with his 24-point outing against Le Moyne.
• Smith did it in just 15 games, the second-fastest player to reach 10 20-point games since Junior Robinson (Mount St. Mary's) did it in 13 games in 2017-18.
• The sophomore forward is the ONLY PLAYER in the NEC to score in double-figures in EVERY GAME this season.
• He scored a career-high 38 points against Sacred Heart - the most points by a Blue Devil since Feb. 14, 2013 (Kyle Vinales, 42).
• He also had the game-winning layup at Boston College with 3.2 seconds to play, clincing CCSU's first win over a Power 5 foe.
• He was named to the Lou Henson Award (Mid-Major Player of the Year) Watch List on Dec. 18 and is the only 3x NEC Player of the Week. He was a USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Player of the Week (Nov. 30)
•
Jay Rodgers LEADS the NEC in assists per game (7.3) AND assist-turnover ratio (2.9). No one in the NEC has averaged more than 7.0 assists since LIU's Jason Brickman in 2013-14 led the NCAA with 10.0.
• He gave out a personal-best 14 dimes in the game at LIU which is the 9th-most in a NCAA game this year and the most by an NEC playmaker since Jan. 15, 2021 (Alex Morales, Wagner, 14 vs. LIU)
• With 3 games of 10+ assists, Rodgers is the first NEC player since 2019-20 to have multi double-digit dime outings (Juvaris Hayes, Merrimack, 3x; Cameron Parker, Sacred Heart, 4x).
• Rodgers is on pace to surpass the program's current D1 single-season assist mark (191, David Corbitt, 1991-92) and could threaten the all-time single-season record (227, Jere Quinn, 1975-76).
• Rodgers missed 52 games from Dec. 16, 2023 until his return in the season-opener after recovering from injuries.
•
Melo Sanchez is one of the NEC's top three-point marksmen in all games and is making 2.2 treys per game at a .463 clip (2nd in NEC).
• He had a career-high 18 points on 6 three-pointers vs. New Haven.
• In NEC play (4 games) he's connecting on treys at 57.9% (11-of-19) which ranks 3rd in the conference thus far.
• After going 0-of-2 from the arc in the NEC-opener at LIU, Sanchez has been dialed in, going 11-of-17 (.647) in the past 3 games.
• Sanchez ranked 7th in NCAA D-II at Hawai'i Pacific in 2022-23 after shooting .461 from the three-point arc.
2025-26 NEC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
1. LIU (unanimous)
2. CCSU
3. Stonehill
4. Mercyhurst
5. FDU
6. Chicago State
7. Saint Francis
8. Wagner
9. Le Moyne
10. New Haven
