GAME NOTES: For the second time in two weeks, the Saint Joseph's Hawks and the Massachusetts Minutemen of the Atlantic 10 Conference will do battle. UMass has won its last two games since falling to St. Joe's at home, and the most recent win for the Minutemen came over Charlotte on Saturday by an 86-79 final. They are now 13-4 overall on the strength of their best non-conference season in over a decade. UMass has played six true road games to date, and three of those tilts have ended in victory. As for Saint Joseph's, it has won six of its last seven games to move to 10-5 overall, including 2-1 in A-10 action. The Hawks are coming off Saturday's 82-42 romp over Penn in a non-conference clash, and they have only played five of their games at home this season, winning three of those. UMass still holds a 27-25 series lead over Saint Joseph's despite the 98-92 setback to the Hawks two weeks ago.

Gary Forbes and Ricky Harris have started every game thus far for UMass, and both players have proven to be among the A-10 best offensive performers. Forbes leads the squad with 20.3 ppg and 7.1 rpg, while Ricky Harris checks in with 20.1 ppg. Chris Lowe adds 12.6 ppg to the mix, and Etienne Brower is contributing 11.3 ppg. UMass is scoring 85.4 ppg this season, and the club is permitting 78.4 ppg to the opposition. In the win over Charlotte last time out, Harris poured in 24 points, while Forbes and Dante Milligan both had 15 points. Brower posted 14 points and 10 boards for the Minutemen, who earned a 29-19 advantage in points from the foul line and limited the 49ers to 36.2 percent shooting from the field.

Saint Joseph's has achieved tremendous balance at the offensive end of the court this season, as five players are averaging double figures in scoring. Pat Calathes leads the way with 18.1 ppg, and he is pulling down 8.1 rpg. Despite his 6-10 stature, Calathes has tremendous guard skills and is shooting 46.7 percent from three-point range. Ahmad Nivins is contributing 14.6 ppg and 6.9 rpg, while Tasheed Carr adds 11.8 ppg. Rob Ferguson (10.7 ppg) and Darrin Govens (10.3 ppg) have been solid contributors as well. Saint Joseph's is scoring 75.2 ppg this season while allowing 66.9 ppg to the opposition. In the romp over Penn on Saturday, Calathes scored 18 points to pace his club. Nivins netted 15 points and Ferguson added 12 points for the Hawks, who cruised to victory despite the fact that Carr was sidelined with an ankle injury. It remains to be seen if he will be okay to play this evening.

Expect UMass to get its revenge this evening, as the duo of Forbes and Harris will be too much for the Hawks to handle.