Men's Basketball Set for CACC Semifinals on Saturday Night in Philadelphia

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Postseason basketball continues for the University of Bridgeport's men's squad on Saturday night as they are set to play in the CACC Semifinals at Jefferson University. The third-seeded Purple Knights will face top-seeded Dominican at 5 p.m. Post and Jefferson will play in the second semifinal at 7 p.m.

QUARTERFINAL WIN
The Purple Knights are still alive thanks to an 85-81 win at second-seeded Chestnut Hill on Tuesday night. Aliou Cisse led the way with 19 points while UB had four players in double figures.

Amadou Traore was one of those in double figures as he registered a terrific stat line of 17 points (season high), five steals (season high) and five rebounds.

Bridgeport's offense also featured a pair of 16-point efforts from Caleb Jacobs and Justin Hendrick. Jacobs dished out a team-high five assists as well while Hendrick knocked in four three-balls (team high).

PEAKING PURPLE KNIGHTS
UB's win over Chestnut Hill is the latest in a hot stretch. The Purple Knights closed out the regular season by winning seven of their last nine games.

Over their last 10 contests, which features an 8-2 record, UB is allowing 78.4 points per game which is well below their season average (83.2).

Additionally, UB has outrebounded its last 10 opponents by 11.1 boards per game while averaging over 10 more field-goal attempts. 

POINTS, POINTS, POINTS
Bridgeport led the CACC in scoring this season by a wide margin. In fact, UB's scoring average of 86.0 points per game currently ranks 26th in the country.

The Purple Knights have registered at least 90 points in 11 games this season while seeing the century mark on five occasions. UB has attempted 4.2 more shots per game than any other team in the CACC.

ALIOU CISSE
Aliou Cisse was named the CACC's Player of the Year earlier this week as the league announced its All-Conference selections.

Cisse currently has the 29th highest scoring average (20.1 ppg) in the country while shooting an incredibly efficient 54.1% from the floor (6^th, CACC). He also boasts averages of 6.2 boards per game and 1.7 steals.

Cisse, who attempted at least 20 shots in a game just three times this season, has scored in double figures in 26 of his 27 games. He has reached 20 points on 11 occasions.  

Cisse's 542 total points this season are the most by a Purple Knight since 2012-13 (Darian David).

BALANCED ATTACK
In addition to Cisse, the Purple Knights have five players averaging at least seven points per game.

Caleb Jacobs joins Cisse in double figures at 10.8 points per contest.

Jason Edokpayi, meanwhile, serves as UB's top rebounder at 6.6 boards per outing while also averaging 9.6 points per game.

Jacobs and Nick Traill are both currently ranked in the top-five of the CACC in both assists and steals per game.

Jacobs is tallying 3.6 helpers and 2.0 takeaways per contest while Traill holds respective averages of 3.9 and 2.1.

REBOUNDING AND STEALS
The Purple Knights' scoring numbers have been aided by sensational rebounding and an aggressive defense.

UB leads the CACC in almost every rebounding category, including total boards per game (44.6), offensive rebounds per game (16.4) and rebounding margin (+5.1).

The Purple Knights also rank second in the conference in both steals (10.6) and forced turnovers (18.5) per game.

THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Bridgeport and Dominican will play for the third time this season on Saturday night. The Chargers have defeated UB twice by scores of 88-86 on Jan. 22 and 90-81 on Feb. 16.

The most recent loss to Dominican served as Bridgeport's only blemish in the month of February.

Cisse posted identical 23-point, seven-rebound and two-steal stat lines in both games.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Purple Knights' triumph over Chestnut Hill earlier this week marked their first tournament win since joining the CACC in 2022.

Appearing in the postseason as whole for the first time since 2020, the Purple Knights are looking for their first conference title since 2015. UB lost in the ECC finals three straight years from 2018-2020.

UB's ECC title in 2015 capped off a Purple Knights' three-peat.

FOLLOW ALONG
Saturday's game will be live streamed on the CACC Network while live stats can be viewed HERE.

For all information regarding Bridgeport Athletics, visit www.UBKnights.com and follow UB Athletics on Facebook (UBPurpleKnights), Twitter (@UBPurpleKnights) and Instagram (@UBPurpleKnights).