The last time the Saints played a meaningful game on the floor of the Times Union Center, fans were rushing on the court as the Saints clinched their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance with an overtime win over Fairfield.

The Saints will be remade under new coach Mitch Buonaguro and will feature new lineups and rotations to replace Edwin Ubiles, Ronald Moore and MAAC Player of the Year Alex Franklin.

Among Buonaguro’s assets include Preseason MAAC Player of the Year Ryan Rossiter and senior Clarence Jackson. However, the Saints will be without Kyle Downey who hurt himself in practice last week. Downey, who started in the NCAA Tournament game against Purdue last year and scored 6 points on 2 of 10 shooting, was expected to see more playing time after leading the Western New York team to the gold medal of the Empire State Games this past summer.

Siena will have plenty of time to develop younger players this season including sophomore O.D. Anosike who scored 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in Siena’s exhibition win over Adelphi on October 30th. The Saints will allow LaSalle transfer junior Kyle Griffin to run the point who has had a positive assist to turnover ratio in limited playing time at both schools thus far.

Meanwhile the Catamounts, under sixth year head coach Mike Lonergan, lose their top players Marqus Blakely, Maurice Joseph, Nick Vier and Garvey Young in a group that made the NCAA Tournament last year. That depleted experience led to Vermont being picked fifth in their preseason poll. The Catamounts return preseason all-conference senior Evan Fjeld who helped carry the offense late in the season to lead them to their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. Fjeld is the only returning starter will be assisted by UMass transfer Matt Glass who scored 20 points in Vermont’s 69-60 win over Division II school St. Michael’s.

Not only has the roster received an adjustment, so has Siena’s home court. Fans will see new video boards and a brand new game presentation – which not only includes new video presentation but includes luxury courtside seats and different Siena student fan placement. Siena has extended its presence at the Times Union Center by two years and will play there until the 2015-16 season according to the Albany Business Review.

Fun Facts: The last time the Saints and Catamounts squared off was January 2, 2006 in Fran McCaffery’s first season. The Saints beat the Catamounts on the road 76-65 behind an 18 point performance by freshman Kenny Hasbrouck. Future Saint Josh Duell, who played for Vermont at the time before transferring to Siena, scored 11 points.

Siena is 18-5 all time against Vermont dating back to their first meeting during the 1946-47 season. The last time Siena lost its home opener was November 29, 2006 to Hofstra 84-80.

Here’s a stellar speechless promotional video that features a flattering 3 second shot of Josh Duell. Yup– somehow that made the cut.

So the MAAC game now has another splash of corporate in it. I mean, I guess that is the market in Albany, but it’s just so far from what a College Hoops game should be.

Check out this illustration below… this has got bad news written all over it.

Overall this is a really funny way to try and cut down on student seating and attempt to generate extra revenue. Did anybody else notice that the only people that very few people sat in these things when they first launched them 2 MAAC Tournaments ago?

I’ve never coached a game at Siena that he (Hasbrouck) didn’t start in. So it will be new foreign territory for me. But what I told the players after the game was he set the standard for how you work and how you prepare. And I think when you look at the junior class mark that you mentioned, the reason that they play with the intensity level and the determination that you just witnessed is because of the great senior leadership that we got from Kenny and from Josh Duell. So the standard has been set, and our intention, of course, is to keep the program moving forward. That said, we know it’s not easy. It’s not easy to win a regular season championship, a tournament championship, and to get back here. But we know what it’s like. We know what a phenomenal experience it is, and that gives you the incentive that you need to continue to prepare to get better and to reach your potential. We have a great recruiting class coming in, and I have great expectation for our team next year.

And Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino‘s opening statement to the media:

Well, first I want to congratulate Siena. What I told our guys before the game is that Siena could compete in the Big East, be in the top half of the league, and I really meant it in watching them. … I said, guys, they’re not going to go away. I said they’ve played Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Kansas on the road. They’re not going away. And they didn’t, obviously. And they made some big defensive plays by slapping down and coming up with steals. And we could say it was our carelessness with the ball, but it was more their great plays. And you gotta give them all the credit in the world. … A lot of people said you press and this and that. And we knew our press was not going to create a lot of turnovers tonight. We wanted to wear them out so they didn’t shoot the ball well. But I wasn’t sure about our team. When people asked me how good they were, I couldn’t answer it honestly when we were down 4 and we had to make big plays offensively and we had to make big rebounds defensively. … I’m proud of them and my respect level for Siena was extremely high before the game, and it hasn’t changed. They’re a great basketball team.

Whoever the Saints are matched up with, they will be looking to match (or improve upon?) last year’s success.

Andy Katz previews championship week and says among other things:

Albany always supports this event, and a third meeting between Niagara and Siena this season would certainly pack the place. Niagara and Siena have the talent to win a first-round game in the NCAA tournament.

Pete Iorizzo says that Siena F Josh Duell will play Saturday in the Saints Quarterfinal game:

Duell, who missed the final two regular-season games because of a calf injury, expected to miss practice Tuesday and wasn’t sure when or if he’d practice this week.

“If my leg isn’t getting cut off, I’m going to play,” Duell said. ”That’s what I told the trainers, and coach (McCaffery) knows that. I just want to go out there and help the team whatever way I can.”

Kyle Whelliston swears, talks about conference tournaments and mid major at-larges in a zero-sum fashion:

As it stands now, your team will get into the NCAA Tournament, or it won’t. It might be lucky, or it might be screwed. Your team can avoid all this cosmic randomness by winning the next three or four games. But if the Saints or Bluejays or Gaels lose before Selection Sunday, they’ll have a lot to answer for. If your team doesn’t make it, there will be a reason why, and it will begin with “Because it lost.” Your level of denial may vary, and so may your insistence that conference tourneys are dumb and should be replaced by something else.

Raphielle Johnson gives us the season series information for Friday/Saturday matchups.

Jeff Goodman of FOXSports.com says that Siena is in danger along with Utah State and Davidson of needing to win their conference tournament:

Siena? The Saints will be on the fence after failing to get a resume win and also losing at Niagara last week. Fran McCaffery’s team will need to win the MAAC title or else will be sweating it out a week from Sunday.

The Saints took the lead from the get-go and did not look back. It was Clarence Jackson who fueled the team in the first half, scoring 4 of his 5 attempted shots from beyond the arc. Jackson finished up with 14 points. Siena also got quality minutes from senior capitain Josh Duell. Josh finished up with 8 points and 5 assists (4 in the first half). It’s great to see Josh back and contributing, especially with Rossiter on the bench and in foul trouble. We will need that come Tourney time. Kenny Hasbrouck rounded out the Siena scoring with 16 points and 3 assists.

By the time halftime rolled around, the Saints opened up a 40-19 lead. The defense was really the story– holding UNI to under 23% from the floor and just 5 successful attempts.

Siena got comfortable in the second half and frankly took some poor shots; allowing Northern Iowa to sneak back into the game. From the 13:51 mark to 6:22, the Saints scored just two points and credit to the Panthers, they never quit.

Northern Iowa was sinking some ridiculous shots in the second half. Siena got out on D, but they were hitting shots with hands in their faces– which is why UNI is a dangerous team. Fran spoke in the post game about how disrupting UNI’s rhythm with the press was a primary goal.

The crowd went absolutely ballistic when Brendan Bradt hit a half court shot to win $25,000. All the players admitted to watching the shot and cheering for Brendan.

Fans will have the chance to wave goodbye to Kenny Hasbrouck, Josh Duell and Erik Harris tonight, even though the Bracketbuster pairing remains as the team’s last regular season home game.

Next year’s class will likely be regarded as the best recruiting class ever at Siena, but the impact of Kenny Hasbrouck as a program changer, Josh Duell as a big game player,  and Erik Harris as a team stalwart can not be overlooked.  The college owes a great deal to these three young men.

As far as the game goes, Manhattan will be looking to recover from an abysmal shooting night against Iona, a game the Jasper’s somehow managed to win.  They actually can shoot and score the ball, the question is ‘will they?’  If the Saints can continue to improve their perimeter defense, and Fran can find a way to extend the bench, they should be fine.

Come back later, as I will be live blogging at the game.  I’ll be there early for the Senior Night ceremonies as well, and hopefully I’ll grab some good pictures.  Feel free to comment along or ask questions as I’m writing.

I’m just trying to stay positive,” Magee said. “I do feel fine for the whole day, which is miles away from where I was before. I’m just hoping at the end, when I’m 40, I’ll have a wife and kids and be able to play sports with him.

Wow, that doesn’t sound too promising for next season, but if he does come back, it can be as a red shirt junior. We wish Cory all the best, and are hoping for successful results from the surgery.

Josh Duell dressed for the Iona game yesterday, but was not available to play. Coach McCaffery still believes he is a few weeks away.

Josh Duell is walking without crutches and working out in the pool as he works he recovers from the sprained knee that he suffered Jan. 6 against Kansas.

Though he said he doesn’t yet have a timetable for a return, Duell said before practice Tuesday that he feels much better. He was given an estimated recovery time of three to six weeks when he first suffered the injury, which should allow for a return before the MAAC Tournament begins March 6.

You can read the full story here.