Our Cut: The 2010 Siena Saints

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2009: One Shining Moment

2008: Siena – Vandy

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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.

When Rider faced Siena this earlier this season, the Saints’ dominant performance began Siena’s record 15 game winning streak. Siena has clinched the #1 seed in the MAAC Tournament, while Rider is still in the hunt with Niagara and St. Peter’s for the #4 seed.

Friday night will feature the two leading candidates for MAAC Player of the Year on each side of the court. After a slow start to the season, the preseason MAAC POY, Ryan Thompson, has been on fire of late. Over the last 8 games, Thompson is averaging 23.8 PPG and 3.8 APG, yielding 5 Rider wins and 2 close overtime losses, one to their Bracket Buster opponent, Hofstra. Alex Franklin has scored 20+ points in six out of his last ten games, and is averaging 16 PPG – 7.7 RPG – 1.5 APG on the year. Contrast that with Thompson’s season numbers; 17.1 PPG – 5.1 RPG – 2.7 APG, and this game could be the final judgement call for MAAC POY.

The Saints physically dominated their previous meeting, with Franklin and Rossiter both posting double-doubles. The Broncs didn’t help their cause, shooting 0-15 from beyond the arc and ultimately losing by more than 20. Siena held Ryan Thompson assist-less, and to just 4 total points that night. In what could be Ryan’s last game against the Saints, it would be a tall order to expect that same result. With all of Siena’s losses coming on the road this year, look for this game to be much more competitive.

• Siena Saints Blog catches up with David Woods of the Indianapolis Star to talk about the Butler Bulldogs in advance of their matchup on February 20th. Go buy his book! The Butler Way: The Best of Butler Basketball which came out at the end of last year and is available on amazon.com.
• We got into some more reading on Tuesday. RushTheCourt, The Indianapolis Star and the Times Union all reacted to the Siena-Butler matchup and Yahoo!’s The Dagger talked to Ryan Rossiter.
• The night of the announcement we scooped up all the important links from Andy Katz, Joe Lunardi and a great New York Times story on Siena’s Senior class.
• Just past 6:30, we found out Siena’s BracketBusters opponent, and will be traveling to Butler to play in the first game Saturday at 11am on ESPN2HD and ESPN360.com.
• Our pre previews covered the array of options while sorting out Siena’s most likely opponents, to Matt’s opinion piece calling for Butler, to a potential Utah State matchup.

Rider opened up their home schedule with an 11-0 run to start and would not surrender the lead in a 15 point win over Lehigh. Rider shot 48.4% for the game which included an absurd 16 of 29 from three point range (55.2%). Novar Gadson led the Broncs with 20 points, Ryan Thompson (7/13, 5/9 from three point range) added 19. Andy Katz posted on Monday that Rider hopes the Mississippi State win comes in handy for March:

The Broncs aren’t done, either. If they don’t slip where they’re not supposed to (like, say, against Lehigh on Monday night) and possibly steal a road game Thursday at Virginia, even if they lose Saturday at Kentucky, they already will have done a lot to keep them in the at-large discussion come March. All this might sound a bit premature in November, but it’s not that far fetched, especially if the MAAC continues to be as strong as it is showing so far.

Rider has got votes into the AP poll for the first time in school history. This is Rider’s second 2-0 start since 1974-75.

Tuesday

St. Peter’s opened the morning for ESPN’s marathon at 6am and put a hurting on Monmouth. St. Peter’s had a lead as large as 26 in their 58-34 win. Wesley Jenkins led the Peacocks with 10 points and  8 rebounds. This was a great win for the Peacocks after losing a heart breaker at Seton Hall. They are my sleeper team this year and could be a tough team in the conference schedule. I don’t care what you say about it, the 24 hours of basketball was a well executed idea that led to a lot of excitement on campuses you might not normally see.

Niagara did not make things easy in a 76-69 victory over Drexel. Niagara held a lead as large as 15 but Drexel used a six minute run to cut that to two possessions. In a game that was tight, without Tyrone Lewis, the Purple Eagles were able to survive. Reports were good that Lewis would be back for the Drexel game on Saturday. Rob Garrison led the Purple Eagles with 20 points, 10 of which came from the free throw line. Niagara did not shoot well (40.5% effective FG%) but was helped by going 25 for 31 (80.6%) from the free throw line.

However, the main story is that Lewis was ruled out of the game and watched with street clothes in a protective boot. Things did not appear to be any clearer after the game as the Niagara Gazette reported:

“I don’t know exactly what the injury is,” [Joe] Mihalich said. “It’s a long word.”

When asked about when he’d return from reporters, Lewis said he’d be ready for the next game.

Iona went down to Hampton and won 68-63 propelled by a great first half. Iona shot 48.3 eFG% in the first half with 22 points coming from off the bench. Iona took a lead as large as 14 with 14:38 to play and were barely holding on as Hampton used a 13-1 run to cut the lead to 1 with 5:33 to go.  Junior center Alejo Rodriguez is making his run as being the Gaels go to guy, scoring 17 points in 23 minutes, going 7 for 8 from the field and adding three free throws. Add that  with a good win over Boston University and the new-look Gaels are looking pretty good.

Loyola of Chicago took a lead close to the middle of the first half and never gave it up in a 20 point win over Canisius. Elton Frazier was the only starter for the Golden Griffins to not have 4 or more turnovers. Canisius’ 22 turnovers will be a problem but being down forced them to jack up three’s which they only shot 6 of 21 from behind the arc (28.6%). Julius Coles led the Griffs with 18 points, Frank Turner scored 17 and Greg Logins scored 11 in the loss. The defense was another problem as Loyola shot a 64.5% effective FG% including an 11 of 18 mark from three point land. Canisius has not won a season opener since 2003.

The good news is Fairfield had a 12-7 lead with 12:10 to go in the first half. The bad news? Maryland would open the game up after that and take a lead as large as 29 in their 71-42 win over the Stags. Freshman Derek Needham was the Stags only double digit scorer with 15. Needham led the Stags on Sunday in a win over Fordham with 19 points.  Fairfield was only down 8 at halftime but Maryland turned up the heat to give the Stags their first loss:

“Inexperience showed all over the place,” Fairfield coach Ed Cooley said. “I thought we had good spurts but didn’t have the experience to sustain it.”

There are some rumors that Greg Nero might not return this season due to his sinus surgery. Nero, Yorel Hawkins and Warren Edney have not appeared yet for the Stags. This will give the younger players a chance to play early and see if the Stags can build some much needed depth for the MAAC regular season.

Wednesday

Wednesday did not appear to be a great day for the MAAC. Princeton went on a 16-2 run to cut a 7 point Manhattan lead and beat the Jaspers 61-54. Princeton was able to outscore Manhattan by 10 in the second half despite shooting a 33.3% effective FG% and only making 6 shots from the field. Princeton made up their scoring at the line, making 16 of 20 (80%) from the line.

One noteworthy achievement in this game, Darryl Crawford scored his 1,000th point with 9:11 to go in the game. Crawford and Rico Pickett led the Jaspers with 14 points each. Crawford notched a double double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Loyola grabbed a great local road win in a 69-66 victory over UMBC. Jamal Barney scored 14 of his team-leading 21 in the second half which included the game deciding layup with 11.7 seconds left. Former Siena Saint Chris De La Rosa scored 6 and dished out 8 assists for UMBC.

It took Marist about 25 minutes to score 38 points against Rutgers on Saturday in their seven point loss to the Scarlet Knights, but it took them a lot longer to get to that number in West Hartford on Wednesday in an embarrassing 75-38 loss. This appears to be the least amount of points scored in a loss Marist Men’s Basketball Division I history. (*In quickly scanning the Marist Media Guide, the least amount of points in a loss in Marist history appears to be 41 in a 43-41 loss in February of 1984) Marist 2nd year Head Coach Chuck Martin did not sugarcoat this one either:

“Arguably the worst game I’ve ever been affiliated with in my 12 years” [Martin] told the [Marist] broadcast team after the game. “The score is really hard to swallow,” said Martin, adding the Red Foxes’ “selfish play” was “something as a staff, we’re not going to tolerate.”

Marist shot a 30.5% effective FG% and went 7 of 27 from three point range. Marist had one double digit scorer in Candon Rusin and freshman have led the Red Foxes in scoring in both of their games. Friend of mine (and so, the site) Greg Hrinya posted his quick take on his site. The good news? They get a long time to practice before their next game at New Hampshire.

Fran McCaffery commented about Siena’s schedule a few days ago:

“Fortunately (Georgia Tech head coach) Paul Hewitt stepped up and he’s gonna play us in a guarantee game.”, McCaffery added.  “But beyond that, we’re in the Philly Classic.  Our schedule, while we try to make it as difficult or more difficult, actually is probably not quite as difficult just as a result that people aren’t ready to play us right now.”

Siena, also looking for another guarantee game, will not play at Mississippi State on December 16th because it coincides with finals week. The game would have been on ESPN if the two teams came together on the game.

An interesting quote from the Rivals article:

Chaskin has contacted plenty of schools that haven’t completed their schedules; some are even looking to fill games on the same dates Siena has available. Whenever he calls those schools, Chaskin typically get the same response: “Yes, we need a game and we know you need a game also. We’re also talking to other teams. Frankly, we’re hoping to hear from those other teams because we don’t particularly want to play you. But if we have to play you, that’s what we’ll do.”

Siena has two more dates to fill. They have until the conference schedule is released in mid-September to fill the dates.

Much thanks to Pete Iorizzo from the Times Union on the story credit; his update on the story:

An ESPN spokesperson wouldn’t confirm that the network is doing another college-basketball marathon this season, let alone that Siena and Northeastern will be a part of it. My guess is that ESPN is planning its own announcement of the full schedule at a later date.

As of his report, Siena is looking for three more games. Most likely they will be a road game, a home game and a guarantee ($) game.