Fairfield, Quinnipiac meet in conference play

Fairfield (7-10, 3-3) vs. Quinnipiac (9-7, 4-2)

People’s United Center, Hamden, Connecticut; Friday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Quinnipiac plays host to Fairfield in a MAAC matchup. Both teams are coming off of losses in their last game. Quinnipiac lost 71-51 at home to St. Peter’s on Saturday, while Fairfield fell 64-57 at Iona on Friday.

TEAM LEADERS: The Stags are led by Jesus Cruz and Landon Taliaferro. Cruz is averaging 11.6 points and 4.1 rebounds while Taliaferro is putting up 13.4 points per game. The Bobcats have been anchored by Rich Kelly and Kevin Marfo, who are scoring 17.1 and 9.9 per game, respectively.

CLAMPING DOWN: The Bobcats have allowed just 64.2 points per game to conference opponents thus far, an improvement from the 72.2 per game they allowed to non-conference competition.

CREATING OFFENSE: Kelly has been directly responsible for 42 percent of all Quinnipiac field goals over the last five games. The junior guard has 20 field goals and 22 assists in those games.

YET TO WIN: The Bobcats are 0-5 when they allow at least 71 points and 9-2 when they hold opponents to anything below 71. The Stags are 0-7 when allowing 64 or more points and 7-3 on the season, otherwise.

ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Bobcats have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Stags. Quinnipiac has 34 assists on 51 field goals (66.7 percent) across its past three games while Fairfield has assists on 33 of 60 field goals (55 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: Quinnipiac as a collective unit has made 10.3 3-pointers per game this season, which is ninth-best among Division I teams.