We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s start with 9 out of 10 debuts and go from there. Canisius will debut at Loyola of Illinois on Tuesday night. With a lot of non-conference games, the chances this will be a bi-weekly update are high but let’s get through the first two days of MAAC basketball.

Friday

While Siena was beating up on Tennessee State and itself with turnovers, Rider was busy shutting down #19 Mississippi State 88-74. This was Rider’s first win over a Big Six team since 1982-83. Mike Ringold delivered 21 points, tied with Novar Gadson for the team high. Rider made 10 3 point field goals but the more apparent reason they won is they committed only  6 turnovers. Plus they shut down Mississippi State in the 2nd half, holding them to under 50% field goal percentage from two point range (2 point range: 56.2% in 1st half, 46.6% in 2nd half).

MAAC fans will probably hope they can go 1-1 in their next two road games, at Virginia and at Kentucky. I know that some of the SSB staff thought Niagara was a preseason #2 but I’d say Rider has proven they are the second-best team. This team has a lot more scorers.

The next exciting game was also in the depths of the Southeastern Conference. Niagara could not hold on, even with Tyrone Lewis exiting early with a tweaked ankle, to score a huge win at Auburn. Auburn scored 11 straight to finish the game in a 69-65 victory. This isn’t all about this game though, Auburn took 16 free throws in the 2nd half to Niagara’s 6.

I’m not the one with the conspiracy theory, having not seen the game, but Niagara Gazette’s Tim Schmitt is:

Sure enough, after Niagara got a lead late in the second half … the fouls started appearing from thin air. …
Not surprising, the host Tigers shot 30 free throws while the Purple Eagles shot just 10. …It’s a simple truth — money talks. But give Niagara more credit than a trivial four-point loss.

Or maybe that was his editor with the title, TIM’S TAKES: Fix is on when you play on the road.

One reason Niagara couldn’t hold on is a cold streak from three point range. Niagara went 8 of 28 (28.6%) from beyond the arc. I pointed out in my Niagara preview here that this team wasn’t the best at shooting threes last year, yet they would put it up with the best of them. If they could just push the ball inside the arc a little more, they could be a dangerous team.

As for the injury report: Tyrone Lewis was spotted in a soft cast Saturday but said he should be ready for their Tuesday morning ESPN2 (8am) home opener against Drexel.

One of the more surprising games from Friday night was Loyola’s 13 point win over America East foe Vermont. Brett Harvey led the way going 5 of 7 from three point range… Eugene Harvey hit a last second shot to propel Seton Hall to a 53-51 victory over St. Peter’s. One good sign for St. Peter’s? They out rebounded Seton Hall and grabbed 5 more offensive rebounds; however, they only used their bench for a total of 22 minutes… In typical Fairfield fashion, the Stags out rebounded the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils by 12 and beat them by 9 in a 67-58 win in a 3 game Connecticut 6 triple header. By the way, a great idea by these teams to showcase themselves all at the Arena at Harbor Yard. Anthony Johnson led the way for Fairfield with 18 and 8 rebounds. This was Fairfield’s first season-opening win since 2003… Iona beat up on Boston University 82-73 led by Scott Machado’s 16 points and 12 Iona three pointers. Alejo Rodriguez recorded his second career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Facts from the night:

• Siena last won its road season opener in 1972 which breaks a 13 game drought.
• Rider’s last win over a Big Six team was in 1982 over South Carolina.

Saturday

Marist got off to a fast start but could not turn that momentum, getting blown out by Rutgers. Rob Johnson made a good debut for Marist, scoring a team high 18. RJ Hall, out for the entire first semester, did not play so Marist had 4 new starters on the floor plus Javon Parris. Daya Kaba debuted, fresh off of transferring from Boston College for a year, he had a double double with 11 points and 10 boards.

The only problem I have with a committed “dribble drive offense” team in the MAAC is that the MAAC is already a high tempo league, so there won’t be much advantage even if Marist can squeeze out an extra 3-5 possessions a game. Marist was 4th in the MAAC in raw tempo at 68.8 possessions, who was ahead of them? Siena, Niagara, Rider in that top 3 order. Anyone who watched Marist saw what teams were able to do to them during the year: they try to go man-to-man for a little while but then see if Marist can prove they have an outside shot and play zones. The inside presence of Casiem Drummond, who arrives for Marist’s home opener against Binghamton, could help to change how teams defend Marist but we will see.

However I will say I enjoyed Marist alum and friend of the site, Geoff Brault’s (twitter: @geoffbrault) play-by-play. And even though I might not agree that down 7 with 2 minutes to play is being back in it, he does a great job on this and is the play-by-play voice of the Women’s team and had to listen to Marist’s Athletic Director get mad over the airwaves that the Women are traveling to West Virginia to play a Preseason NIT game.

Manhattan opened their season strong with a win over NJIT 70-58. The headline of this game is that one-handed Kevin Laue made his debut but did not score his first career points. Darryl Crawford led the Jaspers with 17 points and 9 rebounds as the Jaspers held NJIT to 18.5% field goal percentage in the first half to solidify a 10 point halftime lead.