GAME NOTES: The Niagara Purple Eagles and the Saint Peter's Peacocks will get an early start on their league schedules when they meet in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action at the Yanitelli Center on Thursday night.

Niagara was stomped by Pittsburgh in its season opener last Friday, falling in a 78-45 decision. The Purple Eagles finished last in the MAAC last season (3-17), part of a miserable 7-26 overall effort. Following this contest, they will visit Hartford on Friday.

Saint Peter's was a more competitive team last season, finishing 14-17 overall, which included a 9-11 league ledger. However, the Peacocks have not had any success in their first two games of this campaign, falling in road tilts against Brown (70-58) and Hartford (51-50). They return to the road for their next two games against La Salle and Rutgers.

These teams split the season series in 2013-14, with Niagara securing a 61-56 victory in early December and the Peacocks returning the favor on the last day of the regular season, 71-67. The all-time series has been less competitive, with Niagara owning a 47-29 advantage.

Nothing seemed to go right for Niagara against Pittsburgh. The Purple Eagles finished with only 12 total field goals on 25 percent shooting. Not a single one of their 14 3-point attempts fell through and they also suffered a 38-27 deficit on the boards. On top of the miserable shooting, they also failed to put up much resistance on defense, with the Panthers connecting on 52.6 percent of their total shots, including a 7-of-16 performance from beyond the arc.

Emile Blackman was the only double-digit scorer in the contest for Niagara. He sank 6-of-14 attempts for 16 points, but did not have a single assist. The Purple Eagles did not move the ball well at all, with only four helpers combined. Ramone Snowden led the way with seven rebounds, while adding eight points and Rayvon Harris and Wesley Myers each tallied seven points. Each of the four played at least 30 minutes, while the Purple Eagles received only five points off the bench.

A furious comeback attempt fell flat for Saint Peter's against Hartford. The Peacocks trailed by nine points with just over five minutes to go, but they cut the deficit to 51-50 with seven seconds to play. They even had a chance to win the game when Trevis Wyche stole the ball seconds later, but he missed a potential game-winning 3-point attempts to allow the Hawks to escape with the victory.

Marvin Dominique was tremendous in the losing effort, posting 19 points and 14 rebounds, as well as three steals and two blocks. Unfortunately, he got very little support from the rest of the roster. Wyche as the second-best scorer in the game for the Peacocks, with only eight points on 3-of-8 shooting. Wyche did hand out four assists, but the Peacocks only connected on 41.5 percent from the floor as a team, including a 3-of-19 effort from 3-point range.

Dominique is easily the best player is this matchup. That alone should be enough to push Saint Peter's to a win. Playing at home just makes that outcome even more likely.