Manhattan, Fairfield meet in MAAC tourney

No. 9 seed Manhattan (12-17, 8-12) vs. No. 8 seed Fairfield (12-19, 8-12)

Metro Atlantic Conference Tourney First Round, Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey; Tuesday, 4 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Manhattan and Fairfield are prepared to match up in the opening round of the MAAC tournament. Fairfield swept the two-game regular season series. The teams last met on March 6, when the Stags shot 61.9 percent from the field while holding Manhattan to just 29.8 percent en route to a 66-50 victory.

TEAM LEADERSHIP: The Jaspers have been led by Pauly Paulicap and Tykei Greene. Paulicap is averaging 10 points and 6.2 rebounds while Greene is putting up 10.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest. The Stags have been led by juniors Jesus Cruz and Taj Benning. Cruz has accounted for 11.2 points while Benning has averaged 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per outing.JUMPING FOR JESUS: Cruz has connected on 23.4 percent of the 64 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 2 for 4 over the last three games. He’s also made 71.1 percent of his foul shots this season.

SLIPPING AT 64: Fairfield is 0-13 this year when it allows 64 points or more and 12-6 when holding opponents to fewer than 64.

THREAT BEHIND THE ARC: Fairfield’s Landon Taliaferro has attempted 188 3-pointers and connected on 33.5 percent of them, and is 6 for 21 over his last three games.

DID YOU KNOW: The Fairfield defense has allowed only 62.9 points per game to opponents this season, ranking the Stags 22nd among Division I teams. The Manhattan offense has averaged 62.6 points through 29 games (ranked 303rd, nationally).