SEATTLE – Following a brief return home, Seattle University men's basketball heads back out on the road for a pair of big match-ups as part of the Terry's Chocolate Vegas Showdown. The Redhawks open the week by facing Furman University of the Southern Conference on Tuesday, Nov. 26 in an 8:30 p.m. tip off from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The game will be the second of the day at the venue, following a top-10 showdown between Kansas and Duke. Seattle U's game will air live on ESPNU.
FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS
- Tuesday, November 26, 2024 at 8:30 PM PT
- Seattle U (2-3, 0-0 WAC) vs. Furman Paladins (6-0, 0-0 SoCon)
- T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
- Tickets
- Live Stats
- Watch on ESPNU
- Game Notes
QUICK HITS
- The Redhawks are riding a two-game win streak following an 0-3 start to the season.
- Most recently, they earned an 80-52 win over Northwest University. That marked the 23rd all-time win and eight straight over the Eagles.
- Paris Dawson led four Redhawks in double-figures, finishing with 16 points, including 9-of-10 free throws.
- Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe added 14 points while Brayden Maldonado and DaSean Stevens had 10 points apiece.
- The double-digit outings for Maldonado and Stevens were the second straight for each.
- The game versus Northwest featured 60 total foul calls. The Redhawks went 29-of-40 from the free-throw line, both numbers marking the most since Dec. 23, 2022, when they went 32-of-45 from the line versus Iona at the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii.
ABOUT THE SERIES VS FURMAN
This marks the first ever meeting between the Redhawks and Paladins.
NATIONAL RANKS (games thru Nov. 23)
The Redhawks rank:
- 39th in Free Throw Attempts Per Game (26.2)
- 50th in Free Throws Made Per Game (18.0)
- 50th in Three Point Percentage (38.7)
Individuals rank:
- 8th in Double-Doubles (3) - Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe
- 16th in Free Throw Attempts (47) - Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe
- 20th in Rebounds P/G (10.0) - Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe
- 30th in Defensive Rebounds P/G (7.0) - Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe
- 32nd in Free Throws Made (32) - Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe
- 44th in Assists P/G (5.6) - Maleek Arington
- 56th in Total Rebounds (50) - Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
- The Redhawk roster features five players from the state of Washington, including three who call the city of Seattle home. The list includes returners John Christofilis (O'Dea HS/Creighton), Malek Gomma (Ingraham HS/Elite Prep), and Niko Fotopoulos (Bishop Blanchete HS/St. Thomas More School). New to the squad from the state of Washington are junior Maleek Arington (Auburn, WA/Auburn HS/Idaho State) and Ray Adams (Olympia, WA/North Thurston HS).
- Seattle U's coaching staff features numerous local ties as assistant coaches Grant Leep, D'Marques Tyson, Steven Shpreyregin and Bryce Douglas all hail from the state of Washington.
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
While five players hail from the state of Washington, the Redhawks are also wll represented from around the globe. In addition to 10 players from three different states in the USA, the Redhawks roster also includes two players from China, one from Japan, one from England, one from Canada and one from Australia.
SEATTLE STORYLINES
- 2024-25 marks the Redhawks' final year competing in the Western Athletic Conference after Seattle University was accepted into the West Coast Conference beginning July 1, 2025.
- Seattle U returns seven players from a 2023-24 squad that went 23-14 overall on its way to winning the 2024 Ro College Basketball Invitational in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Redhawks, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, won four games in five days to clinch the first postseason championship in program history.
- The Redhawks are riding three consecutive seasons of 20 wins or more, achieving the feat for the first time since 1957-59. Along with the 23-win campaign last year, the Redhawks went 20-12 overall in 2022-23 and 23-9 in 2021-22.
- The Redhawks' 2022 Western Athletic Conference regular season title was the first DI conference title for the program and just the second overall conference title (Seattle U won the 2006-07 DII Great Northwest Athletic Conference crown).
- Seattle U is among the top nine DI programs in the country with three or more international true freshmen on their roster. The Redhawks' trio includes Houran Dan (China), Yuto Kawashima (Japan) and Eric Zheng (China). Buffalo leads all programs with six and Florida International has five. Seven other programs, including Seattle U, tie for third with three each.
- In the DI ranks this season, Seattle U's Houran Dan and Eric Zheng are two of just five players who hail from China. In addition, Yuto Kawashima is among just seven players to hail from Japan.
- Kobe Williamson became the program's all-time leading shot blocker on Dec. 9, 2023 and enters this season with 147 career blocks.
- The Redhawks played five game overtime games in 2023-24. They are 2-4 all-time in OT under Head Coach Chris Victor.
WHAT'S IN A NUMBER
Three Redhawks will don a new number across their chest this season. Senior Vasja Pandža traded in No. 1 for No. 7, sophomore Malek Gomma swapped out No. 24 for No. 8 and senior Kobe Williamson traded in No. 33 for No. 96.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Seattle U has gone 43-9 (.827) on its home court during the past three-plus seasons under Head Coach Chris Victor. That record includes a 33-5 (.868) mark at the Redhawk Center, including 12-2 in 2023-24, and a 12-4 mark in 16 games played at Climate Pledge Arena.
PRESEASON HONORS
Redshirt junior guard John Christofilis was named to the five-member Preseason All-Western Athletic Conference Team, as voted on by the league's 11 head coaches. Christofilis returns for his second season with the Redhawks following a breakout year in 2023-24. The Seattle native averaged 12.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per game a season ago. He led Seattle U in scoring seven times and scored in double figures 17 total times. After scoring 18 points to go with five rebounds and two steals in his Redhawk debut, Christofilis missed the next nine games due to a hand injury. In his fourth game back, he poured in a career-high 32 points on 13-of-22 FGs. Christofilis finished the season with 64 threes, hitting at a team-high 39.8% clip.
WAC PRESEASON POLLS
Seattle University was selected third in the 2024-25 Western Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The Redhawks are coming off a 2023-24 season that saw them finish 23-14 overall, including 11-9 in WAC play, and culminate with the College Basketball Invitational Championship. The 23-win season was the third consecutive year the Redhawks hit or surpassed the 20-win marker, the first such streak since 1957-59. Seattle U's third place pick came with one first-place vote and 46 total points. Reigning WAC Tournament champion Grand Canyon earned eight first-place votes and 64 points to be named the preseason favorite. UT Arlington earned 49 points to edge the Redhawks for second place.
GET YOUR TICKETS
Single-game tickets and season packages are available for purchase. Season ticket holders receive exclusive access to special offers and always receive the best value. All ticket options may be purchased online at goseattleu.com/tix or over the phone at 206-398-GOSU.
UP NEXT
Seattle U's road trip continues on Friday, Nov. 29 as the Redhawks make their first-ever trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium and Duke University. Tip off from Durham, N.C., is 7 p.m. ET, 4 p.m. PT. The game will air live on the ACC Network.
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