WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Thursday evening, 18th-ranked Catholic men's basketball will host Wilkes in a Landmark Conference Semifinal at 5:30 p.m. on Franny Murray Court. Find all the event information below with a handful of the most important notes and nuggets ahead of Thursday's games. 

WHO: #1 Catholic vs. #4 Wilkes | Live Stats | Video | Tickets
WHAT: Landmark Conference Semifinals - RED OUT
WHERE: Franny Murray Court | Washington, D.C. 
WHEN: Thursday, February 22nd at 5:30 p.m.
PROMO: The first 100 students in attendance will receive a red Cardinal branded shirt. Concessions will available courtesy of men's soccer -- all proceeds will go directly to the soccer program. All students are eligible for a raffle. The winner(s) will be announced at halftime and will walk away with a $50 Brookland's Finest gift card.   

THE SKINNY

• Catholic enters the Landmark Conference Tournament after completing a 22-3 regular season with a 16-2 record in Landmark Conference play. The Cardinals earned the top seed in the Landmark Conference and earned an outright regular season title for the first time since 2015-16. 
• The Cardinals are led by a veteran group that includes two of the program's 48 all-time 1,000-point scorers. Jesse Hafemeister is currently 14th on the all-time scoring list with 1,422 points while Tommy Kelly is 48th with 1,006 career points. 
• Led by junior point guard Dan Buckley and graduate post Enzo Sechi, Catholic ranks fifth in the country in defensive rebounding. The Cardinals pull in 31.84 rebounds per game and out-rebound their foes by 9.1 boards per contest, ranking 10th in Division III. Sechi leads the team, pulling in 6.8 boards per contest while Buckley grabs six rebounds per game. Brian Herbert (5.6) and Hafemeister (5.3) also add strong rebounding chops for Catholic. 
• Already with strong numbers to boot, Hafemeister and Sechi have posted outstanding statistical campaigns in Landmark Conference play. Hafemeister is averaging 20 points and 5.2 rebounds in 17 conference games while adding 27 assists and 24 steals. The senior is shooting 53/39/84 in those games. Sechi's numbers have also taken a jump across the board as the graduate averages 12.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in Landmark play. Sechi's shooting splits are 47/36/81 in 17 games.  
• Aaron Kelly's team has proven to be extremely careful with the basketball in 2023-24. The Cardinals rank sixth in the country in turnovers per game, giving it away just 9.6 times per contest. 
• The Cardinals also rank in the top 10 in the country in scoring margin, defeating teams by an average of 16.3 points per contest. Catholic has 12 wins by a double digit margin this season and is beating teams by 19.6 points per contest in Landmark Conference play. 
• Catholic's statistical profile is a strong one, leading them to rank 10th in D3Datacast's National Efficiency Ratings. The ratings are calculated based on Ken Pomeroy's statistical method for ranking teams at the Division I level. The Cardinals rank 11th in the adjusted offensive efficiency metric and 46th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
• Ranked 18th in the country per D3hoops.com, Catholic is also regionally ranked, coming in at number three in this week's updated Region V rankings behind Widener and Hood. Catholic owns two victories over regionally-ranked opponents; Stevens and Roanoke.

 

THE MATCHUP

• Wilkes reaches the Landmark Conference Semifinals after a 74-71 victory over Juniata on Tuesday night. The Colonels ended the game on a 9-2 run to finish off the Eagles. Lucas Lesko scored a game-high 35 points to lead Wilkes while Trent Fisher chipped in with nine points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks. 
• Catholic won both meetings, its first two against the Colonels as Wilkes joined the Landmark Conference at the start of the '23-24 school year. They first met on December 2 with Catholic winning in a blow out 89-47 on Franny Murray Court. In the meeting on January 20, Wilkes gave Catholic all it could handle before the Cardinals left Wilkes-Barre with an 85-78 win. 
• Sechi led Catholic with 20 points and nine rebounds while Hafemeister scored 15 and pulled down eight boards in the first matchup. 
• In meeting number two, Hafemeister set a career-high with 38 points on 24 shots while pulling down six rebounds. Buckley had 11 and five as the only other Catholic player to reach double figures. Lesko scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the last meeting. 
• Catholic and Wilkes rank number one and two in the Landmark Conference in scoring margin in 2023-24. 

 

LANDMARK CONFERENCE HISTORY

• Catholic enters the 2024 Landmark Conference Tournament in search of its third Landmark title in program history and first since 2015-16. Catholic has previously reached four Landmark Conference Championship Games. 
• Former Catholic star Bryson Fonville remains the Landmark Conference Tournament's top-scorer with a 33-point effort versus Susquehanna in 2016. Kyle Phanord is one of five players in Landmark Tournament history to make five or more threes in a single-game. 
• In last year's loss to Scranton, Buckley recorded 17 rebounds, the most ever in a tournament game by a Catholic player.