THE OPENING TIP
The Hartford men's basketball team returns to Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion for the first time in the regular season when it plays host to Niagara on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Hawks went 2-2 on their season-opening road trip with wins over Central Connecticut and St. Peter's.

QUICK HITS
• This will be the 14th meeting between the Hawks and Purple Eagles, with Niagara holding a 7-6 edge in the all-time series. Hartford won last year's meeting between the two schools, 65-62, in Niagara Falls.

• Justin Graham's three pointer with 2.0 seconds on the clock gave Hartford a 67-66 victory over St. Peter's on Thursday. It marked the first game-winning basket for the Hawks in the final five seconds since Taylor Dyson's layup gave Hartford a 56-54 win over Binghamton on Jan. 23, 2014.

• The Hawks' victory over SPU was keyed by four-straight three pointers for the Hawks in the second half that constituted a 12-0 run. George Blagojevic hit two of the four threes, while Evan Cooper and Jalen Ross delivered the others. The run turned a 52-44 deficit into a 56-52 lead.

• Graham's winning three gave him a career-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-4 from downtown. In addition to his biggest basket, he had a key triple to open the second half and another in the final two minutes.

• Junior Pancake Thomas had a career-high 20 points at Louisville, following up on a strong 15-point performance at SLU. He joined Hartford as a transfer from New Mexico prior to last season.

• In the Hawks' two wins, they have distributed the scoring very well, placing five players in double figures against Central Connecticut and four against SPU.

• Freshman George Blagojevic has been key to the Hawks' two wins, averaging 13.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in those games. 

• Hartford is playing its first home game of the season after  a four-game road trip for the Hawks to start the season, including games at CCSU, Saint Louis, Louisville and St. Peter's. Hartford's road trip saw the team log 2,282 air miles and 408 bus miles in the span of five days.

• The Hawks placed five players in double figures at Central Connecticut, marking the first time since Dec. 21 of last year, when a quintet topped 10 points in a win over Florida International. At CCSU, Taylor Dyson (17), Justin Graham (16), John Carroll (15), George Blagojevic (15) and Jalen Ross (14) all topped 10 points. 

• The CCSU contest was the first time the Hawks have gone to double overtime since March 4, 2012, in the America East Semifinal against Vermont.

• With 92 points, the Hawks delivered their highest scoring output since Dec. 4, 2008, when they posted 97 against Lafayette in a victory.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Hartford and Niagara square off for the 14th time, as the Purple Eagles lead the all-time series 7-6. The Hawks hold a 4-1 mark at home, though, and are 1-2 against Niagara in John Gallagher's tenure.

In last year's meeting, John Carroll had a career-high 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting, as the Hawks used a second-half comeback to best the Purple Eagles, 65-62. Mark Nwakamma (11) and Yolonzo Moore II (10) both finished in double figures as well. Among current Hawks, Taylor Dyson had seven points and four boards, while Justin Graham hit his only bucket in 15 minutes of work. 

LAST-SECOND HEROICS
Hartford's victory over St. Peter's was certainly a dramatic one, as the Peacocks moved ahead with two free throws with 14.1 seconds to play, but Justin Graham drilled a three from the top of the key with 2.0 seconds on the clock to lift the Hawks to the win. Perhaps more impressive was the closing power of the Hawks since it marked their fourth game in six nights. The winner was the Hawks' first game-winning bucket in the final five seconds of a game since Taylor Dyson hit a layup with three seconds left in a 56-54 win over Binghamton in 2014.

THE SILENT ASSASSIN
In addition to possessing big-shot ability, Justin Graham is also one of the quietest players on the team. The mild-mannered San Antonio native was named the America East Co-Sixth Man of the Year in 2015, an honor he shared with Vermont's Cam Ward. 

Graham has been clutch in both of the Hawks' wins this year. In addition to having the game-winning three, he also delivered a three to open the second half and another triple in the closing minutes that put the Hawks ahead 64-62. He finished with a career-high 22 points on Thursday on 8-of-14 shooting in 29 minutes of work.

He came up huge at Central Connecticut, logging a career-high 47 minutes – a total that surpassed his previous career mark by 10 minutes. He followed that with a 13-point, three-rebound, three-assist performance at St. Louis and again led the Hawks in minutes with 33. He added eight points in 27 minutes at Louisville.

After a slow start last year, Graham stepped it up in conference action, averaging 9.7 points in league games, third best on the squad. His finest game came against New Hampshire on Feb. 10, scoring 17 points with seven rebounds.

MILES TO GO BEFORE THEY SLEEP...
The Hawks started their season with quite the road swing, hitting St. Louis, Louisville and St. Peter's in a five-day span following the team's season opener against CCSU. In total, the Hawks played four games in a span of just 142 hours. Additionally, the team logged a total of 2,282 air miles (across six different airports) and 408 miles on buses in the journey. Going forward, the Hawks will not eclipse that mileage until they travel to Stony Brook for a matchup on Feb. 8. Between now and then, Hartford will play 13 home games.

PANCAKE IN THE MIX
There is a significant amount of buzz about Cleveland "Pancake" Thomas after being one of the top players on the team in practice last year. Thomas, one of three transfers in the program who was forced to sit out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, played 67 games in two seasons at New Mexico, making 12 starts.  

His regular-season debut saw him post nine points and eight boards against Central Connecticut, narrowly missing a double-double. Then at St. Louis, he delivered 15 points and added seven boards, four assists and two steals to lead the Hawks in every category.

But his peak performance came against Louisville. He delivered a career-best 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting, and turned heads with a pair of dunks and an ankle-breaking crossover move in the opening half. He was arguably the best player on the court for either team. He added 10 points, including a crucial late bucket, in the win at St. Peter's.

Thomas played a significant role off the bench for a UNM team that was ranked as high as 17th in the nation in the final regular-season poll in his sophomore season. He twice hit shots that broke ties for the Lobos and gave them the lead for good, including the winning shot in overtime against Wyoming. 

THE DEFENSE RESTS
The Hawks' two wins have had a common theme - holding the opposition to 40 percent from the floor or less. And in both cases, the Hawks defense has locked in at the close. CCSU went just 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) in overtime, while St. Peter's shot just 9-for-31 (29 percent) in the second half on Thursday.

GOING CARROLLING
John Carroll returns to the fold for the Hawks in 2015-16 after a strong freshman year that saw him play in all 30 games, make seven starts and average 6.4 points.

The Dublin, Ireland, native had a strong season opener for the Hawks, posting 15 points and nine rebounds to go along with two assists, a block and a steal. He added 14 points and two blocks at SLU in going 6-for-13 from the floor. 

He battled foul trouble against both Louisville and St. Peter's, but still managed to make a strong impact in the game with the Peacocks. The big man went 4-for-10 from the field to score 10 points, and snared five boards in helping the Hawks to the win.

Carroll came to the Hawks with a bevy of experience, having spent two years at IMG Academy before spending a year of postgrad at the Hill School, where he averaged just shy of 20 points per game.

GEORGE OF THE GEELONG
Coach Gallagher and the Hartford staff knew they were getting a top-quality player when they nailed down Australian Under-19 Team player George Blagojevic (blah-go-YEH-vitch) for the 2015 recruiting class. The native of Geelong (pronounced juh-LONG) brings strong maturity to his game along with a somewhat slender 6-foor-9 frame.

But what Blagojevic lacks in size he more than makes up with in ball handling skills, as was evident in his play at Central Connecticut. Blagojevic used strong up-and-under moves, drives to the basket, strong passing and a 2-for-3 night from downtown to post 15 points in his debut for the Hawks. It marked the most points by a Hartford freshman in his debut since 1999, when Wayne McClinton and Bryan Evans both scored 17 in a game that also went to double overtime, 96-93 against Sacred Heart.

After tough outings against St. Louis and Louisville, Blagojevic came up big in the win over St. Peter's. He knocked down a pair of threes in the Hawks' crucial 12-0 run in the second half. In total, he finished with 12 points (on 5-for-8 shooting), five rebounds, two blocks and a steal. He also delivered a pair of assists in 25 minutes of work, as he was able to stay in the game until the final buzzer despite being in foul trouble for most of the second half.

As a member of Australia's Under-19 squad, Blagojevic averaged 14.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting .608 from the field at the FIBA Oceania U-19 Championships.