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.

Even without Ronald Moore for 15 minutes of the first half, the Saints were able to hold a 10 point differential at the half. The Griffs could never trim it to less than 7 after the break.

The absence of one Kyle (Downey) has given another Kyle (Griffin) a chance to step up. Today he was perhaps as impressive as he’s ever been– finishing up with 5 assists in limited minutes. Griffin is more a of a stop and pop kind of shooter, as he brought the ball down in transition and scored his only bucket. Today’s game didn’t feature any follow up to the Robert Goldsberry drama from last month.

Siena will head back to campus and then continue their current road trip. Next Saturday morning features the highly anticipated Siena @ Butler Bracket Buster.

The Gaels are led by sophomore G Scott Machado, who is averaging 11.8ppg and 4.2 apg.  He is followed by junior F Alejo Rodriguez and freshman G Kyle Smith, who both average 8.8ppg.  Coach Kevin Willard has developed a young team by preaching defense, and the Gaels have responded – they hold opponents to just under 62ppg on less that 40% shooting.  What the team lacks in size inside they make up for by hot shooting from the outside – Iona shooters are making almost 38% of their shots from 3-point land.  Excitement has returned to New Rochelle, and this team is gunning for the first place Saints.

Meanwhile, the status quo has remained unchanged in Loudonville.  The Saints had all week to prepare for the Gaels after learning that they will face Butler in the Bracketbuster on Saturday, February 20.   The coach and players would have told you what they’ve been telling you all year, though – they truly are taking one game at a time, and all they care about at this moment is beating Iona.  Edwin Ubiles should be back in the starting lineup as he’s been seen practicing with the team all week.  Kyle Downey is still nursing his broken foot and should not be expected back until at least the MAAC Tournament.  What looked like a team who was losing players to injury has seemed to gain experience on the bench.

In what will be the third sell-out of the year, the Times Union Center will be rocking out for the “Gold Rush,” with fans being urged to all wear gold shirts or attire.  Since there are only single tickets left, and few of them at that, the powers that be have decided to  televise the game on Time Warner Cable 1.  Game time is 7:00pm.

First place is not on the line Friday night, but the Gaels want the win – an upset Friday night would go to prove that Siena can be beaten on their home-court, which is what every team is going to need to do if they want to win the MAAC tourney come March.  The Saints want to keep streaking – an at-large bid is still unlikely and would not be likely unless they ran the table, but an unbeaten conference season gets closer with each win.

Friday night may be the big match up of MAAC foes this year where the immovable object meets the unstoppable force – as Iona and Siena renew their conference rivalry fans should be in for a heck of a game.

KEYS TO THE GAME

• A HEALTHY EDWIN IS A HAPPY EDWIN: Eddie scored 15 points off the bench at Marist on Saturday, and looked good doing it.  He was active and energetic, and even though he admits that the shoulder (non-shooting) is sore he knows he can play through it.  While Alex Franklin and Ryan Rossiter have been bearing the brunt of the work (literally) the Saints are going to need as much of Eddie being Eddie as they can get the rest of the season.  He is the X-Factor that each team needs to scheme for, and he’s going to relied on every game the rest of the way.
• HOW DEEP DOES THE BENCH GO?: Right now, it seems to be getting deeper.  During Edwin’s absence Owen Wignot got the starting nod each time – and while he still has yet to build on his athleticism and get in the scoring column more often he has looked terrific on defense and has played very productive minutes.  Right behind him is freshman OD Anosike, who continues to mature with each game.   His rebounding ability is outstanding, as are some of the post moves he’s starting to display.  While coach has seven strong to start, he is getting Kyle Griffen, Jonathan Breeden, and Davis Martens in more – each minute a bench player takes gives the starters that much more of a rest, which is invaluable this time of year.  Unfortunately, don’t expect to see TOO much of the bench Friday night, because…
• ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?: This is the time of the year when Coach McCaffery and his Saints don’t lose.  The team’s record in February and March is stellar, much for one reason – Coach has no problem riding his starters.  Expect all five to log big minutes Friday night – the conditioning of the team is excellent, and this is nothing new to them.  They’ve been doing it for four years now.

Last season Siena lost their 13th conference game at Rider to break their undefeated streak.

Siena comes off their most contested MAAC win with a six point victory over Loyola. Both teams were forced to play without key players due to injuries, and it was reflected in the score as the Saints scored below the 70 point margin for just the second time in MAAC play.

In their previous meeting with Manhattan the Saints won by 15 at home. Alex Franklin led Siena with 23 points, and Kyle Downey put up career numbers with 16 points the day before breaking his foot. Manhattan’s Rico Pickett led all scorers with 26 points, but didn’t receive much help from teammates.

Since last playing Siena last Monday, Manhattan suffered a 56-53 point loss to Iona. Rico Pickett scored 22 points for the Jaspers and Darryl Crawford contributed 17 points. However, as a team Manhattan struggled to find offense, and only shot 32.8% from the field. That loss to Iona was their fourth straight, and the seventh loss within the team’s past eight games.

Combine that with the uncertain status of Edwin Ubiles because of his back issues and Siena might be shorthanded against Loyola Thursday.

However, the Greyhounds are also dealing with losses. Brett Harvey has missed time with a sore shoulder, Jamal Barney has left the team for personal reasons and Anthony Winbush might be limited against the Saints.

Video: Kyle Downey 1/18
Downey talks about his career-high 16 point performance against Manhattan

Siena came through without Edwin Ubiles (VIDEO) thanks to help from Kyle Downey’s (VIDEO) career-high 16 points. Alex Franklin (VIDEO) led the way with 23 points for the Saints who have won nine straight. Fran McCaffery (Postgame press conference VIDEO) got his 100th win as Siena Saints Head Coach. Make sure to visit SienaSaintsBlog’s YouTube channel and here where we will have more exclusive content!

Monday 1/18/2010 Manhattan at Siena

Preview: Siena vs. Manhattan
Top Play: Alex Franklin Jams in Transtion (VIDEO)
Recap: Siena 83, Manhattan 68
Siena Saints Postgame: Ronald Moore 1/18 (VIDEO)
Siena Saints Postgame: Edwin Ubiles 1/18 (VIDEO)
Siena Saints Postgame: Kyle Downey 1/18 (VIDEO)
Siena Saints Postgame: Fran McCaffery Press Conference 1/18 (VIDEO)]]> http://sienasaintsblog.com/2010/01/19/2891/monday-coverage-wrap-siena-83-manhattan-68/feed/ 0 http://sienasaintsblog.com/2010/01/18/2883/siena-saints-postgame-kyle-downey-118/ http://sienasaintsblog.com/2010/01/18/2883/siena-saints-postgame-kyle-downey-118/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 04:44:47 +0000 Tim http://sienasaintsblog.com/?p=2883 Kyle Downey talks about his career-high 16 point performance in Siena’s 83-68 win over Manhattan. Visit our video page for more!

With Edwin Ubiles held out of the lineup due to back spasms, the Saints found themselves down by four points halfway through the first half. The Siena offense soon woke up, however, going on a 10-0 run starting at the 7:41 mark. The run was highlighted by 3-pointers by Kyle Downey and two 3’s from Clarence Jackson. The teams went into the half with Siena taking an 8 point lead, 39-31.

Alex Franklin (VIDEO) scored the first five points for the Saints to lead off the second half, adding to his dominant performance of 23 points. In typical Saints fashion, the offensive statistics were balanced. Ryan Rossiter contributed yet another double-digit effort with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Siena also had dual perimeter offensive weapons tonight as Jackson scored 15 points, and Downey put up a career high 16 points. Ronald Moore maintained his season assist average with 8 dishes.

Photo: Norbert Kosinski

Manhattan was never able to recover from their 8 point halftime deficit. For a short while they were able to stay within 8 to 13 points, before the game extended into a 20+ lead for Siena as the game was winding down. The Jaspers committed two intentional fouls on Saints players going to the basket. In the first half, Brandon Adams shoved Rossiter before he could connect on a layup. With 8:53 left in the game, Laurence Jolicoeur fouled Jackson hard as the junior went airborne. Rico Pickett, the MAAC’s current leading scorer showed why he has earned that mark with a 26 point game. Antoine Pearson also scored 10 points for Manhattan.

Jackson has started all 17 games, averaging 25.6 mpg. His 40 made 3-pointers and 38.5% from 3-point land are by far the best on the team. Not only is Jackson contributing on the offensive end with his 14.5 ppg, but he is also tied for most steals with 32. His season high in scoring so far was 25 points against UAlbany. Coach Fran McCaffery recently commented on Jackson’s impact to Siena:

We’ve seen a very consistent Clarence Jackson. He’s had a couple off games, but pretty much night in and night out he’s been pretty good. He’s not turning the ball over like he did as a freshman… We used to hide him a little bit defensively, but now we’re, ‘OK, now you got so-and-so.’ He’s becoming the kind of complete player we always thought he could be.

Meanwhile, Downey has started one game (Niagara) and averages just over 15 mpg. After overcoming some early season struggles, he now is putting up 5 ppg and has connected on 9 three’s. Known for his defensive hustle and high basketball IQ, Downey is often asked to be involved in a variety of game situations. Now that he is getting into a bit of a rhythm, the coaches have been relying more and more on Downey. The past two games he has played 24 and 29 minutes, and has put up his first multi 3-point game of the season against Canisius. McCaffery’s comments on his dependable 6th man:

(Kyle) is rock solid. In the Mount St. Mary’s game it didn’t seem like we could make a shot, and he comes in and makes two shots right away…He’s probably as good driving the ball as he is shooting from the outside…He’s got to keep working to get more minutes and stay ready if somebody does have an injury he’ll be able to step in. I have no problem starting him. When Eddy (Ubiles) was late, we started Kyle.

The Jackson/Downey combo have been rotating playing time throughout the season. What pleases coach McCaffery is how well they are handling their positions on the team:

To their credit they go at each other at practice, but they have tremendous respect for one another and pull for one another, legitimately. Anything short of that and we wouldn’t be as successful as we are.

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