The story of this game was Purdue’s defense. Big Ten Defensive player of the year Chris Kramer showed up to play. Siena came out a bit out of sync, but led going into halftime. But then, Purdue came out of the break on fire– a 13-0 run, raining threes, and shutting down Ubiles and Franklin. They frustrated the rest of the Saints as well as Siena dug themselves deeper into what was eventually a 15 point defecit.

Like this team always has been– they were resilient, even without their three point shooter Clarence Jackson. They trimmed the lead to 3 with under two minutes to go. With Lewis Jackson, Purdue’s PG on the line for a 1 and 1, he put up a shot and got an absolute gift after he slapped one off the brick of the rim and it weakly fell in. After that, the game was iced.

And so it ends… the best Siena class in history is gone. It will really be tough to watch this team without Edwin, Alex, and Ronald as we’ve become accustomed to seeing.

CBS will have highlights soon, but for more, check out the boxscore ». Congrats to the Boilermakers on a hard fought match. They were the better team today.

Saints, thanks again for a great year. And seniors, thanks for an amazing four. We’ll be talking about you and this team for years to come.

Our Cut: The 2010 Siena Saints

2009: Siena – Oh. State

2009: One Shining Moment

2008: Siena – Vandy

Gus Johnson makes an inhumane sound

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Staff Picks
Kevin – Siena 74, Purdue 68
Matt - Siena 73, Purdue 64
Jason - Siena 72, Purdue 69
Tim - Siena 65, Purdue 59
Ryan - Siena 79, Purdue 70

Ray Floriani who writes great stuff for College Chalktalk and Basketball Times, trust me I’ve read it – good stuff, gets us his final take before Siena and Purdue tip off at 2:30pm ET.

Ray Floriani College Chalktalk & Basketball Times
LYNDHURST, NJ- About the only discernible difference between Siena and Purdue is enrollment. Purdue of the Big Ten is roughly 38,000 while the MAAC’s Siena is all of 2,900. Both have 27 wins, they share the same offensive efficiency of 107 and the efficiency margin (offense minus defense) is close as well.  Purdue is a +15 WHILE Fran McCaffrey’s Saints are +14.

Both have under twenty percent turnover rate. No surprise with Matt Painter at the helm in west Lafayette. Painter’s emphasis is on defense and his teams do not race up and down recklessly on the offensive end. In fact pace, Purdue averages 66 possessions and Siena 70, hints the Saints may want to open things up. Regardless, Siena can play in a half court setting as well.

Robbie Hummel is gone for the Boilers but they have a pair of juniors , guard E’Twaun Moore and 6-10 JaJuan Johnson who can do damage. Back to defense. Covered Purdue in the Pre-season NIT in 2008 at MSG. They lost in OT to Oklahoma but the thing most impressive is how they communicated with each other on the defensive end the entire game. Some teams start out with good communication and soon it goes by the wayside. Not Purdue, especially under Painter’s watch.

The days of Siena sneaking up on people are over. And all Painter has to do is remind his team how Siena knocked off Ohio State of the BIG Ten in 2 OTs last March.
Earlier in the week I would have went with Purdue. Get the eraser out. My choice is Siena in a close one. The saints have the weapons and an outstanding lead guard in Ronald Moore to dictate the offense and keep poised against the Boiler D.

David Woods, who is busy in San Jose covering the #5 Butler Bulldogs for the Indianpolis Star, traded e-mails with us about Butler’s big win earlier today…

Siena Saints Blog: I was saying to someone today, wow Butler trails at halftime and then completely steamrolls an opponent in the 2nd half.. Haven’t seen that before…

David Woods: [The] Siena game persuaded me that Butler could take its game to a higher level. Seeing that now.

Matt Norlander College Hoops Journal & Yahoo’s The Dagger
Siena’s the popular pick. It’s going to be the pick everyone takes — outside of Cornell over Temple. I think it’s going to be a damn good game, but although Purdue is without Robbie Hummel and may not have Lewis Jackson, this group is still tough. And I mean TOUGH. Siena is going to face some bruising like it hasn’t seen for most of the season. That kind of play can knock a team back in the opening minutes of the game. I think it’ll be close but one of those arm’s-length kind of decisions. I hate picking scores, but let’s go Purdue 63, Siena 55.

Ken Pomeroy KenPom & Basketball Prospectus
Busy crunching the numbers but gave his brief opinion on the game
“It was a nice draw for Siena to get Purdue. I doubt the Boilermakers will be as bad as they looked against Minnesota, but it’s a winnable game for Siena, for sure.”
Current kenpom.com prediction: Purdue 71, Siena 65 (26% chance to win)

Mike DeCourcy Sporting News Columnist
I’ve seen Purdue play in person three times in the post-Robbie Hummel era, so to speak. There is not a team in this tournament that will fight harder for every inch of the court. However, this group is so offensively limited without Hummel that it can’t go far. The only question is where the season stops. Siena certainly is good enough to beat the Boilermakers, but it’ll have to play with greater intensity and precision than when I saw the Saints at Butler. The key, to me, is pushing the pace a bit and making sure this game is played at least in the 70s, and in conceiving a proper game plan to limit the influence of E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson.
Prediction: Siena 70, Purdue 64.

John Gasaway Basketball Prospectus
Last year you asked me the same question and I said Ohio State would win a close game. I got the “close game” part correct. So this time I’ll guarantee victory for your Saints by going with Purdue, 64-61. They got three years of bad basketball out of their systems with that first half against Minnesota.

Travis Miller Hammer & Rails
I think Purdue is going to be motivated by all the bad press and they will play especially tough defensively. We have also shown in the past we can run if we want to. Look at our 2008 first round game with Baylor.
Prediction: Purdue 72, Siena 66

Jeff Eisenberg Yahoo’s The Dagger
If you had asked the Saints which potential top-four seed they would have liked to play in the first round, Purdue should have been at the top of their list. The Boilermakers have looked ordinary since losing Robbie Hummel and have struggled to score consistently with teams focusing so much attention on E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson. Siena’s lack of success against quality opponents this season scares me a bit, but this seems like a classic upset opportunity. The Saints have plenty of offensive firepower and plenty of tourney experience. Give me Siena, 68-63.

RushTheCourt
A lot is being made by the fact that when Siena played several high-major non-conference teams this season, they lost all of those games.  In a tough series of nonconference tests, the Saints lost at Temple, at Georgia Tech, at Butler, at Northern Iowa, and vs. St. John’s on a neutral court.  The easy thinking is to presume that this shows that Siena isn’t as good as the team who knocked Vandy and Ohio State out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament in successive years.  Don’t fall into this lazy-man’s trap.  In both 2008 and 2009, Siena lost all of those same away/neutral games in the nonconference season, yet they still managed to completely overwhelm VU and outlast the Buckeyes in March.  We think Purdue is walking into a veritable hornet’s nest here.  As exhibited by the 11-point egg the Boilers laid on Saturday, Matt Painter’s team is still clearly adjusting to life without versatile forward Robbie Hummel, and Siena is not the kind of inexperienced, undisciplined team on which to try to figure things out on the fly. Hummel isn’t just the straw for Purdue; he’s the flippin’ drink. Siena will use their experienced quartet of Edwin Ubiles, Alex Franklin, Ryan Rossiter and Clarence Jackson to really pressure the Purdue defense, while focusing on denying the ball into the post and JaJuan Johnson in the one area where the Boilers still hold a significant advantage.  The way we see this going is that Siena will jump out on Purdue early, with the Boilermakers fighting back to tie or take a late lead using their typical heart, grit and defense.  But when it comes time to win the game, Siena’s Edwin Ubiles comes through on a tip-in after a mad scramble with two seconds left.  Siena moves into the second round for the third consecutive year, and mid-major nation everywhere rejoices.
Prediction: Siena 67, Purdue 65.

Raphielle Johnson CollegeHoopsNet
This is an interesting 4/13 matchup to say the least; the Saints won yet another MAAC crown while the Boilermakers put up a historically bad (11 points in the first half) showing in their Big Ten Tournament semifinal loss to Minnesota. It’s never easy to “replace” a player the caliber of Robbie Hummel; other guys have to step up an increase their production in his absence. I don’t even look at E’Twaun Moore or Ja’Juan Johnson as the keys for Purdue when it comes to advancing; both are “given” contributors despite Moore’s poor shooting against the Golden Gophers. The guy who has to step up if Purdue is to have any chance of getting to Indianapolis: Keaton Grant.

His point totals since Purdue lost Hummel in the win at Minnesota: 7 (L, Michigan State), 5 (W, Indiana), 17 (W, Penn State), 4 (W, Northwestern) and 1 (L, Minnesota). I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that Siena is better than either Indiana or Northwestern (blatant sarcasm); if he plays like this against the Saints, Purdue can check out of their hotel. Also of importance for Siena will be the play of Edwin Ubiles and Clarence Jackson, with the idea being that whoever isn’t being guarded by Chris Kramer needs to be effective offensively. Look for Alex Franklin and Ryan Rossiter to hold their own against Ja’Juan Johnson (Ohio State was bigger last year and that was no deterrent), and Ronald Moore will run the show effectively.
Prediction: Siena 71, Purdue 64

Dan Shanoff The Wake-Up Call for SportingNews.com/DanShanoff.com
We have seen this before: Siena as a 13-seed upending a 4. Yes, Siena will miss Clarence Jackson — but Purdue will miss Robbie Hummel even more.
Prediction: Siena 59, Purdue 55

Jonathan Tannewald Philly.com’s Soft Pretzel Logic
I have Siena beating Purdue in large part because of Robbie Hummel’s injury, but I’ve followed Siena all year and I really like what they’re doing. I will tell that I actually have the Saints in the Elite Eight. Really. This is what happens when a bracket comes down that gives a team a surprisingly easy path forward.

I have Siena beating Utah State, then getting revenge on Louisville for last year’s loss. It’s the only heart-over-head pick I’ve made, but it’s not out of the question. I do think Louisville beats Duke; if that doesn’t happen, Duke beats Siena. Then Villanova beats Siena to go to the Final Four.

Hopefully Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery will go to Houston. If not, remember that Tim Brando was in Tampa when Siena beat Vanderbilt. There are a lot of people in Philly rooting for Siena not just because of Fran McCaffery but also because of his players from this area, especially Ronald Moore.

And should you all require them we have plenty of onions to send your way from our various cheesesteak stands.
Prediction: Siena 71, Purdue 69

Jeff Washburn Lafayette Journal & Courier
Based on Purdue’s smothering man-to-man — they play zero zone — Purdue 61, Siena 55. This will not be a high-scoring game.

Dave Zeitlin Penn Gazette Sports
From what I hear, almost everyone thinks Siena is fairly evenly matched with Purdue and that the Hummel injury might sway things a bit in the underdog’s favor. In fact, even the people I know picking Purdue are saying things like “I don’t want to pick Siena because they’re the trendy upset pick” or “When everyone picks an upset, that never happens.” To me, that’s just perception, and certainly not a good reason to pick against the best mid-major in the tournament. I think Siena’s experience gets it done and McCaffery will have this third straight tourney win — and maybe even a trip to the Sweet 16 this time around.
Prediction: Siena 72, Purdue 65

Vahe Gregorian St. Louis Post-Dispatch voted Siena in AP Top 25 earlier this year
Based on Purdue playing without Hummel and Saints’ recent past in NCAA tourney, it’s almost not predicting an upset to predict an upset. But here goes anyway: Siena will act like it’s been there before because it has and wins 73-71.

That’s 8-5 Siena over Purdue by an average score of 65.6 to 65.1.

Thursday Night’s Show

Wednesday Night’s Show

This will be the first meeting between the two schools, and this will be the first time the Saints travel to the west coast since their 2008 BracketBuster 93-70 win at Boise State. The tip is at 2:30 EST, broadcast on CBS and CBS HD.

The Saints will bring their high octane offense against their second straight Big Ten NCAA tournament opponent.  Last year the Saints needed double-overtime to overcome the #8 Ohio State Buckeyes in the NCAA Tournament, before losing to #1 Louisville after holding the lead with five minutes left to play.

The Boilermakers will be without Junior All-Big Ten Forward Robbie Hummel, who tore his ACL late in the year and will miss the rest of the season.  Hummel was averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds a game.  Since Hummel’s exit, the Boilermakers have struggled, going 3-2 and culminating in a 27-point loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament. Purdue scored 11 points going into halftime, their lowest total since 1950 and the lowest ever in a Big Ten tournament game.

Purdue was ranked in the top 5 for most of the year, and were on their way to a possible #1 seed in the tournament before the loss of Hummel.  They went undefeated in non-conference play with wins over Tennessee, Wake Forest, Alabama, and West Virginia and tied for first in the Big Ten during the regular season with Ohio State.  While the loss of Hummel is significant, this is still a Big Ten team with major conference athletes and experience.

Hummel’s exit won’t mean that they will be without effective scorers.  6’10 Junior C JaJuan Johnson averages 15 points a game while grabbing 7 rebounds per contest, and 6’4 Junior G E’Twaun Moore averages 17 points a game.  It will come down to these two players finding a way to get to their averages, and having others step up, to keep up with the Saints in the scoring column.

While Purdue should still be able to get their points against the Saints, Coach McCaffery has been preaching to his players all week that this Purdue team is most likely the best defensive team they will face all year, if not the best overall team they have met.  The Boilermakers hold their opponents to an average of 60 points per game.  Purdue will play a traditional, slow-it-down/ugly-it-up Big 10 style game, even though they average over 70 points a game.  The biggest difference in both teams, and the one area that may be the deciding factor on Friday, is rebounding margin.

Purdue averages less rebounds per game than their opponents (33), while Siena averages more than 4 boards per game against theirs (38).  It’s going to be on Siena to hold the rebounding edge, and then to get out on the break and create quick scoring opportunities.  If Siena can produce off those breaks, it will allow them to set up their 1-2-2 press, which has been effective across the board at getting teams sideways all year.

Siena will be paced by Ronald Moore at the point, who leads the nation in assists.  The Siena frontcourt is led by MAAC conference player of the year, 6’5 F Alex Franklin who averages 16 points and 8 rebounds per game.  He is joined by Junior C, 6’9 235lb. Ryan Rossiter, who averages 14 points per game and 11 rebounds per game, getting double-doubles in 21 games this year.  While JaJuan Johnson may be the superior athlete, Rossiter has developed in to a player that many experts have said could play in the Big East.  Rossiter’s craftiness and basketball IQ, paired with the athleticism of Franklin in the frontcourt, will go a long way in determining the outcome of the game.  The Saints’ wingman is 6’6 Edwin Ubiles, who is averaging 15 ppg.  Ubiles has battled injury all year, but finished with more than 20 points in the last two regular season contests and a clutch performance in the conference tournament finals scoring 27 against Fairfield.

In last year’s NCAA tournament, Rossiter went for 16 and 15 against Ohio St. while Edwin scored 20, and Edwin led the Saints against the Cardinals with 24 points and 8 rebounds in the losing effort.

One mitigating factor for the Saints on Friday is the possible loss of two guard Clarence Jackson who was averaging 14 points per game, but rolled his ankle in practice over the weekend.  Clarence left Loudonville without crutches, and did practice today, but McCaffery still said that his playing time will be determined on whether or not he can be as explosive defensively and scoring wise as he is capable of being, and not just game ready.  He is the Saints main three point threat, so others like Ubiles, reserve guard Kyle Griffin, and probably starter in Jackson’s place Sophomore Kyle Downey will need to step up.

Neither team is much of a threat from three, though, as they both average 5 or less made per game at a clip of 32% made per team.  Spectators can expect to see a clean, hotly contested game as neither team to turns it over much, each averaging less than 12 turnovers per contest, and fouls should be kept to a minimum – Purdue fouls an average of 19 times a game, but Siena leads the nations in fouls committed with 14 per game.  If outside shooting is not the deciding factor the better rebounding team will be able to impart it’s pace on the other, and in NCAA tournament games, the team that can dictate the pace is the team that usually finds the way to win.

Jeff Washburn has been covering sports for 38 years and has covered Purdue men’s basketball for the last 16 years. Washburn joined the Dan Dakich show Monday to give his take on the Purdue Boilermakers here.

Siena Saints Blog: Purdue was held to many season lows in their loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament, including least points in a half since 1950 and a season low in points and field goal percentage. E’Twan Moore was held to 1/14 from the floor.. What’s going to be key to get his game going?

Jeff Washburn: The key for Moore is having someone else, like Senior Keaton Grant step up and make shots. Since Robbie Hummel’s season-ending knee injury February 24th at Minnesota, Moore is 21 of 70 [30%] from the field.

Siena Saints Blog: I’ve heard people say that Purdue has struggled so far without JR Robbie Hummel, what did Hummel bring to the offense and defense that it lacks right now?

Jeff Washburn: Hummel brought all of the intangibles — rebounding, good spacing, perimeter shooting. He made 8 treys in one half against Ohio State and led the Big Ten in free throw shooting at 90.2 percent.

Siena Saints Blog: What will be the matchup you will keep your eye on Friday afternoon?

Jeff Washburn: JaJuan Johnson vs. Ryan Rossiter. Johnson is a better athlete and has played relatively well since Hummel got hurt.

Siena Saints Blog: How many times has Purdue played up-tempo teams like the Saints? Will they have trouble handling the 1-2-2 or 3/4 court press Siena poses after most baskets?

Jeff Washburn: Purdue has faced all sorts of up-tempo. Remember, Purdue beat Tennessee, Alabama, Wake Forest and West Virginia.

Siena Saints Blog: Purdue is 7-1 in games decided by six points or less, what has been the key to their success in close games this year?

Jeff Washburn: Their close-game success is based on the fact they are juniors and seniors — thus experience is huge. This senior class has 101 victories, a Big Ten regular-season title and a Big Ten tournament Championship.

Siena Saints Blog: What is the status of sophomore Lewis Jackson for this weekend?

Jeff Washburn: Jackson’s left foot is sore, but he is expected to play. How effective will he be? We will find out at 2:30pm Friday.

His prediction for the game will be included in our Predictions piece later this week.

Marist alum Ryan Schneider, writing at WFAN.com, previews the South region and says he expects the Saints to pull off the upset.

The first round upset of the region goes to…

The 13 seeded Siena Saints. The boys from Albany are now accustomed to playing as an underdog in March. The Saints are a senior laden team led by potential NBA prospect Edwin Ubiles. Couple that with Clarence Jackson’s ability to knock down the long-ball and there are your perimeter threats. But wait we’re not done…I haven’t even mentioned MAAC player of the year Alex Franklin. He averaged 16 and 8 throughout the season and can dominate a game despite being an undersized forward. I have to love a team that has a past of successful upset bids against high quality opponents (they knocked off Ohio State last year and Vandy the year before).

Obviously the Boilermakers aren’t a four seed if Robbie Hummel is healthy. But he isn’t and Purdue is coming off their most embarrassing performance of the season (11 points in the first half? Not a confidence builder). Fran McCaffrey’s Saints may actually be favored come game-time.

Michael Ospioff of the Gary Post Tribune asks the question, Can Purdue regroup from an embarrassing loss to Minnesota?

Which begs the question: Can Purdue get back that fight? Can the team regroup after such a dismal game?

As far as the players are concerned, there is no question.

“Our team is still positive,” senior guard Grant said. “No one’s sad and pouting around.”

Said junior guard Moore: “If I didn’t think we could bounce back, I wouldn’t play the game on Friday. It’s (NCAA) Tournament time — anything can happen.”

Joe Sheehan of Basketball Prospectus offers his thoughts on the Saints, and the Boilermakers later today, in his 65 Teams, 65 Thoughts column.

Siena: I made this point with Oakland, so I should make it here: Siena played four top-50 opponents, went 0-4, and wasn’t really competitive in any of the games. They also lost to St. John’s. Their best nonconference win was over Northeastern. All of this is to say that the evidence that they can beat a #4 seed is limited. Fortunately, they drew a six-seed in What’s Left of Purdue, and they have a fighting chance. Siena never fouls, yet manages to pick up steals on 12.5% of possessions (23rd) and defends shooters reasonably well (127th in defensive eFG%).

RushTheCourt gives notes on the entire bracket.

Michael Osipoff: Well, it was obvious when Hummel got injured that it was going to dramatically change the outlook for Purdue. But it’s actually been amazing just how much the Boilermakers have struggled without him, particularly offensively and rebounding. Their game in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals against Minnesota, for example, was an absolute disaster. The scoring burden was going to fall on guard E’Twaun Moore and forward/center JaJuan Johnson, two all-conference players, and it hasn’t been easy for them as opposing defenses have focused their attention on them. And Purdue wasn’t a great rebounding team to begin with, and losing the 6-foot-8 Hummel, leaving the 6-10 Johnson and four guards in the starting lineup, has made hitting the glass an even bigger issue for the Boilermakers. Basically, Hummel seems to have been the guy who brought everything together — offense, defense, rebounding.

Siena Saints Blog: Who has to step up for the Boilermakers for them to make up for the loss of Hummel?

Michael Osipoff: Moore and Johnson pretty much have to score in the neighborhood of 20 points each in order for Purdue to be successful. And a third scorer needs to emerge from a group that includes players such as Keaton Grant, Chris Kramer and Lewis Jackson. Grant had a great stretch offensively late in the regular season, but has cooled off since. Kramer, a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and point guard Jackson aren’t exactly known as scorers, but they have to take — and make — the open shots other teams have given them for Purdue to have much of a chance.

Siena Saints Blog: In this matchup we have two teams that generate a lot of scoring inside, what matchup are you looking forward to watching?

Michael Osipoff: It’ll be interesting to see how Purdue, given its rebounding deficiencies, does in keeping Ryan Rossiter, as well as Alex Franklin, off the glass. Those two guys could have a field day in that area.

Siena Saints Blog: How much of an impact do you give the defenses in this game, Siena’s 1-2-2 and three-quarter court trap vs. Purdue’s tough, physical man-to-man halfcourt D?

Michael Osipoff: Purdue has been susceptible at times to various sorts of pressure, though many of those instances seem to have come before Jackson was hurt; he suffered a left foot injury and missed the first 19 games of the season. With his quickness, Jackson, who has returned to the starting lineup for the last four games, makes the Boilermakers better equipped to handle such defenses, but there still have been occasions when things have gotten dicey for them. Purdue’s defense is pretty nasty, with the hard-nosed Kramer setting the tone. You can get a feel for it on tape, but it could be jarring for some teams, especially those that aren’t accustomed to that style, when the game goes live.

Siena Saints Blog: How do you think Head Coach Matt Painter will choose to attack the Saints on Friday?

Michael Osipoff: Purdue won’t deviate much from its motion offense, which clearly doesn’t run as efficiently without Hummel as the four-man. And the Boilermakers are strictly a man-to-man defense. You more or less know what you’re going to get with them; Painter deeply believes in those principles, learned from former coach Gene Keady, and adheres to them.