Guest Contributor Ray Floriani -- Siena at St. Peter's

by Ray Floriani

Jersey City, NJ- The MAAC opener for both Siena and St. Peter's was played Thursday night at St. Peter's in Jersey City. While it is still early, the conference teams play two games prior to the new year. Getting off to a good start in league play is vital.

St. Peter's took advantage of home court and some outstanding defense posting a 51-44 victory. The pace and efficiency:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
St. Peter's	54	94
Siena	54	82

Basic grind it out style of play as noted by the extremely low count of 54 turnovers. The key for St. Peter's in this one…

Defense.
To little surprise St. Peter's limited Siena to an 82 offensive efficiency, the Peacocks forced a 26% turnover rate and limited the visitors to a 38% eFG mark. Siena shot 3 of 18 (16.7%) from three point range.

Siena trailed by 16 early in the second half but was able to tie it in the stretch. They never were able to get a lead which was significant from a momentum standpoint.

The Saints excelled at…offensive rebounding. They enjoyed a 39-25% edge in that area.

Chris Prescott of St. Peter's paced the scorers with 16 points. OD Anosike led Siena with a strong 12 point 10 rebound effort.

Manley efficiency leader.
Yvon Raymond of St. Peter's. Raymond put up a 'Manley' number of 18. He scored 15 points, pulled down 9 rebounds, had 2 assists, one block and only one turnover.

St. Peter's improved to 2-4 while Siena fell to the same won-lost record.

The coveted MAAC Championship Banner
Hangs in the Yanitelli Center in Jersey City

Between Patrick & Joseph -- Villanova's Record on March 18

The Pause Between the Feasts...
While folks have mulled the subject of Villanova's record on St. Patrick's Day and even lately (ok here) the Wildcats' record on St. Joseph's Day, the day that separates the two has gone largely undocumented. Late enough in March to consist entirely of post season games, in fact Villanova's first post season tournament, the inaugural NCAA tournament in 1939, was played over this two day time period. While the Wildcats were victorious on St. Patrick's day 1939, defeating Brown 42-30, when they moved on to the first National Semi-Final, they were eliminated by Ohio State, 36-53, on the Palestra floor the following night.

After that first NCAA appearance, Villanova and March 18 went on a 29 year hiatus. Villanova continued to play in the post season, and March 18 continued to serve as a play date for the NCAA and NIT. The twain just didn't meet again until 1968 in the NIT quarter-finals, when Villanova lost to Kansas, 49-55, at Madison Square Garden. Since "breaking the ice", the Wildcats have played on March 18 seven more times in the ensuing 43 years.

March 18 by the Numbers...
Villanova has played nine post season games on March 18, going 4-5 (0.444) on the Day Between the Feasts. The record...

Year	Opponent	Location	Score	W/L	Tourn.
1939	Ohio State	Palestra	39-53	L	NCAA
1968	Kansas	Madison Square Garden	49-55	L	NIT
1971	Fordham	Raliegh NC	85-75	W	NCAA
1972	South Carolina	Morgantown, WV	78-90	L	NCAA
1988	Arkansas	Cincinnati, OH	82-74	W	NCAA
1992	Virginia	Pavilion	80-83	L	NIT
2003	Siena	Albany	59-74	L	NIT
2005	New Mexico	Nashville, TN	55-47	W	NCAA
2010	Robert Morris	Providence, RI	73-70	W	NCAA

The abundace of losses, especially when compared to St. Patrick (6-6) and St. Joseph (6-1) is intriguing as Villanova has a winning record in both the NCAA (49-31, 0.613) and the NIT (24-17, 0.585). The timing -- March 18 was the date for second and later round games (in both tournaments) through 1972. Which explains, to some degree, Villanova's less than stellar 1-3 record through that period. Note the games from 1988 through the present, played on March 18, are opening round games. Villanova's record through that period is 3-2. Let's hope the Wildcats can continue the opening round winning trend, and even the record in 2011.

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: First Day at the MAAC Tournament

by Ray Floriani

BRIDGEPORT, CT. - Friday's MAAC 'marathon' session is in the books. Six games. The four women's quarterfinals followed by a men's first round double header. All at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.

About 9 am at Harbor Yard
Note the Sleepy's ad -- How appropriate.

The scores...

Women's Quarterfinals:

Team	Score			Team
Loyola	68	OT	53	Canisius
Manhattan	59		47	Iona
Marist	61		33	St. Peter's
Siena	36		33	Fairfield

The Men's First Round

Team	Score			Team
Marist	73		61	Niagara
Siena	68	OT	66	Manhattan

Game of the Day...
Loyola's 68-53 win over Canisius in overtime. The regulation finish sparked the ongoing debate, when you have a three point lead with seconds left do you concentrate on defense or give a foul or two even if it puts an opponent on the line?

Micayla Dysdale of seventh seeded Canisius hit two free throws to give the Griffs a three point lead with three seconds left. Canisius coach Terry Zeh discussed fouling with his staff during the time out after Drysdale's shots. Zeh decided not to foul. Following the time out, Loyola pushed the ball and Miriam McKenzie proceeded to release a defended three that saw nothing but net at the buzzer.

Head Coach Terry Zeh (r) discusses the first half
with his Canisius staff

In overtime, Loyola scored first, then got a defensive stop. Even with over four minutes to play Canisius was a beaten team. The efficiency numbers bear this out. At the end of regulation the score was tied at 49. Each team had 58 possessions and an 85 offensive efficiency. Let's look at the totals for overtime:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Canisius	10	40
Loyola	10	190

Clearly, Loyola was dominant in the extra session from tip to buzzer. The final numbers:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Canisius	68	78
Loyola	68	100

Credit McKenzie's shot for the huge swing in second seeded Loyola's favor. Zeh could only second guess. "To the day I put my foot in the grave I will regret the decision not to foul," he said. His philosophy is if you are small do not foul as the opponent can rebound a missed second shot. But as Zeh noted Canisius is big, rebounding wasn't a major issue. He just made a decision that did not work in the long run. The Four Factors:

		FTA
	eFG%	FGA	OR%	TO%
Canisius	28	24	38	18
Loyola	43	43	27	16

Not a bad way to start with the 9:30 a.m. game. Turnover rates were impressive. Griffs owned a 20-10 edge on the offensive glass. Their 1 of 11 overtime shooting had a negative result on eFG. Trailing early in OT, Canius got into an early fouling mode which explains the free throw rate disparity.

Official Jon Levinson during a break in the action.

Record Game of the Day...
Siena's 36-33 victory over Fairfield set the record as the lowest scoring women's game in MAAC tournament history. The halftime score was 15-7 Fairfield. In 27 possessions the offensive efficiencies:

	Effs
Fairfield	56
Siena	23

Saints shot 3 for 25 (12%) the opening 20 minutes. They did put the first points on the board on a Serena Moore baseline jumper five and a half minutes into the contest. The final efficiencies:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Fairfield	54	61
Siena	57	63

Imagine giving up an efficiency of 63, and still losing? The Four Factors:

		FTA
	eFG%	FGA	OR%	TO%
Fairfield	30	8	24	20
Siena	26	26	32	24

Three of the four factors were relatively normal. Even the TO rate was borderline but not excessive. The field goal shooting, as both coaches pointed out, was most affected by defensive efforts which were present on both ends. The game had two double digit scorers with Maja Gerlyng of Siena leading the way with 14 points. Moore of Siena, a versatile threat had a commendable 9 point 10 rebound effort, but was 2 of 14 from the floor. The two teams shot 49% from the field, combined. Fairfield checked in at 26.5% while Siena was 23.4%. As Siena coach Gina Castelli said, "it (the game) was hard fought, there was some great defense, especially on Fairfield's part the first half, out there but face it. It was ugly. Everyone saw it."

The Guiness stand.
An 'oasis' yours truly had to bypass.

Men's First Round
It has been another struggle for the Marist men but they did earn a quarterfinal berth with their win over Niagara. The pace and efficiency:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Marist	66	111
Niagara	67	91

Marist entered the game with a -18 efficiency margin (offense minus defense). Their average offensively was 91 and defense checked in at 109. So this was as good a performance as the Red Foxes have had this year. The Four Factors:

		FTA
	eFG%	FGA	OR%	TO%
Marist	51	24	34	15
Niagara	36	38	38	19

Chucky Martin's team clicked on all cylinders. Marist shot the ball well and took care of the ball, two vital areas. They were only 5 of 17 (29%) from three but were 22 of 41 (54%) from two point range. An impressive showing.

In the paint Marist enjoyed a 42-26 scoring edge. While Niagara did not commit many turnovers, they paid dearly was the Red Foxes had a 20-10 advantage in points off turnovers.

With little consistent help, Niagara's fine senior guard Anthony Nelson led all scorers with 28 points.

The Streak Lives
The nightcap saw Siena defeat Manhattan in overtime. Siena, winner of three straight MAAC championships has not lost a conference tournament game since 2007 when Niagara defeated the Saints, ironically at Harbor Yard in the final.

The pace was in the moderate range:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Manhattan	64	103
Siena	66	104

Siena had a high 26% TO rate. They were able to offset that a bit with their 51% eFG mark and a 44% OREB percentage. The Jaspers managed only 39% in that latter category.

Ryan Rossiter, Siena's 'double-double machine' , scored 17 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. A big difference was Clarence Jackson. The Siena senior guard stepped up and hit a game high 24 points for the Saints. Interestingly neither Rossiter nor Jackson has experienced a MAAC tournament loss in their careers.

The obligatory cheer shot -- Siena cheerleaders

Notes
With overtime games to start and end the 6 game session, fans were treated to almost 15 hours of basketball.

On the officiating front, a number of friends worked games during the tournament. On the women's side Joe Barrise and Jon Levinson, whom I have had the pleasure to work with, had Marist-St. Peter's. Gary Schimel, an instructor at a few officiating camps I attended, had the 'famous' Siena-Fairfield matchup. In the evening Brian O'Connell and Brian Dorsey, again another pair I have been fortunate to work with, had Marist-Niagara.

No predictions but…Marist, with a defensive efficiency of 69 for the year (they held St. Peter's to 47 in the quarterfinal), will be awfully tough to dethrone from the top spot in the women's tournament. On the men's side, Fairfield is the favorite but any of the other top four seeds, Iona, Rider or St.Peter's, could challenge.

Harbor Yard on the exit
as Paul Simon would say 'late in the evening'

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: Siena at St. Peters, WBB

by Ray Floriani

JERSEY CITY, NJ - It was a pleasant homecoming for Siena guard Cristina Centeno. She led all scorers with 21 points as Siena defeated St. Peter's 57-40 in a women's game at Yanitelli Center on Saturday.

Outside of the Yaniitelli Center
looking south on Kennedy Boulevard
at St. Peter's College

Efficiency numbers:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Siena	65	88
St. Peter's	63	64

Siena entered the game a 64 possession team in MAAC play. Their efficiency margin was a +5 with an offensive mark of 85 and a defense of 80. A 40% opposing eFG percentage was further testament of their defense.

St. Peter's' possessions were at 68. The efficiency margin was a woeful -13. Good blame is on offensive struggles as the offensive efficiency stood at 79 and the defense 92. That defensive mark is respectable and the opposition's 45% eFG percentage and 26% turnover rate are further examples that St. Peter's can play some D.

The Four Factors:

		FTA
	eFG%	FGA	OR%	TO%
Siena	45	27	43	34
St. Peter's	31	15	40	33

St. Peter's led 28-22 in points in the paint and actually got to the line almost as frequently as Siena. They didn't capitalize on their chances and trailed in free throw rate. Siena shot 13 of 15 (87%) from the charity stripe while St. Peter's was 8 of 13 (62%).

St. Peter's struggled mightily getting any shot to go down. They were 0 for 8 beyond the arc. A tough shooting day, yes, but credit Siena's defense. They utilized a 1-2-1-1 full court press to wear St. Peter's down then defended very well in half court. The TO rate inflicted on St. Peter's is another indication of Siena's defense.

game action Siena-St. Peter's at Yanitelli

On their behalf St. Peter's did not defend that bad. The efficiency, eFG and TO rates of Siena bear this out. An 88 defensive efficiency mark should win you a lot of games. But not when you are putting up a 64 on your end of the floor.

Centeno a junior guard out of Belleville, Nj played her high school ball at nearby Marist in Bayonne. Her 21 points came on 7 of 13 shooting (2 for 3 from three). She was 5 of 6 from the line as well.

Serena Moore added 15 points, 12 rebounds. A 6-2 senior forward, Moore has the versatility to play inside and handle the ball against the press or on the perimeter.

Cristina Centeno's cheering section
with a sign for her # 25

Notes
Siena is 11-14 (9-6 in the MAAC). St. Peter's falls to 3-23, 3-12 in conference. Junior center Quiana Porter came off the bench to pace St. Peter's with 14 points. They were almost even in turnovers (Siena 22 St. Peter's 21) but the Saints were more opportunistic. They enjoyed a 22-15 edge in points off turnovers. Score was tied at 13 late in the half before Siena went on a 15-2 closing run to take a 28-15 lead into the locker room at the half. Siena has won three of the last four and visits Fairfield on Monday. St. Peter's has dropped eight straight and hosts MAAC leading and nationally ranked Marist on Monday. Siena coach Gina Castelli is in her 21st season at Siena. She was on the sidelines when St. Peter's coach Stephanie DeWolfe played for the Peahens in the late Nineties.

St. Peter's players
graciously host a post game autograph session
for local youth

Guest Contributor: Ray Floriani -- MAAC Media Day

by Ray Floriani
NEW YORK CITY, NY -- On the media day circuit the MAAC held it event at BB King’s in midtown Manhattan. King’s ‘70 hit ‘The thrill is gone’ is a personal favorite and looking over some of the memorabilia of the noted artist was an added extra.

The MAAC rocked the house
at BB King's

On the basketball side, the media day once again gave an opportunity to take an informal survey of MAAC coaches utilizing tempo free statistics today.

Did not get a chance to speak with every MAAC mentor regarding tempo free but the ones inquired, had some opinions of note.

Ed Cooley, coach of pre-season favorite Fairfield noted, "I’m not really big on statistics except the final score. I’m old school, we have two teams the one with the most points is the winner." On further discussion Golden did admit his staff keeps very close attention to, charting and breaking down stops during a game. It was pointed out the discussion with Xavier’s Chris Mack over stops. With Mack, three straight stops are a 'kill' and seven kills in a game almost guarantee a win. "I’ll go along with that idea," Golden said. "To us during a game stops are vital and is a major statistic we want to keep track of."

Coach Ed Cooley of conference favorite Fairfield
discussing his club's outlook

Tom Parrotta of Canisius did not give much thought in the past to tempo free but may take a look at the numbers thanks to a certain software 'package'. "when I was recruiting at a tournament in Las Vegas a representative of Synergy showed me his product," Parrotta said. "I said 'show me Canisius’ out of bounds plays.' He put in some data and remarkably the sets we used on out of bounds series came up. I was sold."

According to Parrotta Synergy represents a great tool to utilize in scouting. "It shows everything," he said. "It breaks down everything by numbers so if one wants to use tempo free stats Synergy will have the entire breakdown." For Parrotta, his new found coaching aide will supply vital information on opponents and his own club just as well.

Tim Cluess of Ions is not only new to his school and the conference, he's the D I 'rookie' as well. From high school through Division II Cluess has been very successful on the sidelines. He takes a very enthusiastic approach to his current position at Iona. Tempo free statistics is something he is very interested in but until now unable to further investigate. "I would have liked to really get into those type of (tempo free) concepts in the past," Cluess admitted. "On the Division II level you are limited in staff and personnel. Here at Iona we have a full compliment so statistical breakdowns are something I will get into more."

Certain to play a major role for Cluess in stats breakdown area is Zak Boisvert. Zak realized playing college ball was out so he decided to work towards becoming a college coach. The last three years as student manager at Fordham Boisvert immersed himself in the game. Watching games when Fordham wasn’t playing, he would diagram plays, write them up on Fastdraw and submit them to the mens basketball hoop scoop site. His work on that site drew rave reviews from monitor Scott Peterman, a former college coach. Boisvert’s passion and love of the game no doubt landed him in New Rochelle. Beside film exchange, film edits, putting out a coaches' newsletter and related tasks, Boisvert promises to get involved more in tempo free studies. He’s read Dean Oliver’s Basketball on Paper, which is as good a start as any.

On the women’s side, got to speak with Megan Gebbia a Marist associate coach and integral part of the program’s outstanding success. Marist has been the MAAC’s flagship program on the women’s side for several year now.

Megan noted that Brian Giorgis and his Marist women’s staff do not utilize tempo free stats per se but it is a concept that interests them. Discussing some of the four factors she was intrigued, especially regarding turnover percentage. "I would like to know our (TO pct)," she said. "That is something we need to improve on."

To get into the analytical groove the following can serve as a 'shoot around'. A Four Factor breakdown of Marist women in 2009-10.

Pace : 67 possessions per game
Offensive points per possession:	1.00
Defensive points per possession:	0.86

The Four Factors for the Lady Red Foxes:

		FTA	Off
	eFG%	FGA	Reb%	TOv%
Offense	47%	26%	31%	20%
Defense	40%	17%	36%	23%

[Note -- Defense is opponents' offensive efficiency]

A little surprised Marist’s offensive efficiency (points per possession * 100) was 100. But all games in a 26-8 season were factored. The MAAC is a respectable conference and out of the league Giorgis opts for good competition. Megan was right on the money regarding turnovers as frequently noted 20% or more is too high. Defensively Marist did the job. The opponents points per possession was only .86, but the turnover rate of 23% and effective field goal percentage , a paltry 40%, shows Marist not only forced miscues but dictated the shots the opposition was getting. And not particularly successful in converting.

Coaches are copy cats. If someone won a national championship and in post game interviews attributed it to tempo free statistical research and studies, every D I staff in America would follow suit. By the next morning. Many schools do not utilize this tool fully. But they aware of the existence. That’s a good start.

MAAC pre-season player of the year
Ryan Rossiter of Siena poses with a Special Olympian
and guest of the MAAC

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: At the MAAC Men's Quarter-Finals

by Ray Floriani

ALBANY, NY - The men’s first round games on Friday were the fifth and sixth of the day at the Times Union Center. The women’s quarterfinals proceeded and the men got their tournament rolling at 7:30.

Albany Times Union Arena

The first game saw a mild surprise with ninth seeded Manhattan knocking off eight seed Loyola 94-79. In a 71 possession (Manhattan 72 Loyola 69) game:

	Off		FTA
	Eff	eFG%	FGA	OReb%	TO%
Manhattan	131	48	66	46	13
Loyola	115	56	40	46	25

As noted in the women’s rundown no team hit 100 for offensive efficiency. This game was an aggressive wide open contest with a lot of offense and at many times, token defense.

Rico Pickett of Manhattan had 23 at the half and finished with a game high 33 points. On the other end Shane Walker, a 6-10 Loyola sophomore, had two at halftime and went on a tear to finish with a team pacing 26 points.

Both teams had high free throw rates as evidence of the physicality and frequent trips to the line. Manhattan shot 38 of 46 while Loyola went 21 of 30.

Jaspers also had a slight edge 17-14 on the offensive glass. Loyola shot the ball better but that 25% turnover rate did the offense in. For a wide open affair, Manhattan did very well caring for the ball with just 9 turnovers.

The efficiency numbers saw Pickett, a junior guard, with a 30 in 34 minutes for an impressive .882 eff/min metric.

Walker had an efficiency of 31 and an excellent .969 eff/min rating. Pickett shot 10 of 18 from the floor and was 3 of 8 from three. To put it very kindly, his shot selection was ‘liberal’.

The nightcap saw Canisius end the Marist campaign at 1-29 with a 72-54 decision. The numbers in a 61 possession (Canisius 62 Marist 60) game:

	Off		FTA
	Eff	eFG%	FGA	OReb%	TO%
Canisius	120	56	32	44	18
Marist	87	48	8	27	26

As they have done through the long season, Marist battled gamely. It was a two possession game until the Griffs hit a last second trey to go into the break ahead 34-26. That shot basically took its toll as the Red Foxes ended their long season.

Once again, youth (a 26% TO rate) and lack of consistent inside play doomed Marist. The offensive rebound disparity as well as that from the foul line illustrate some of the interior problems Chucky Martin’s Marist club has faced all season. Canisius shot 13 of 25 (52%) from two point range, another sample of evidence regarding Marist’s interior problems.

Canisius was very impressive in the TO rate category. That’s the difference. Tom Parrotta has the ball in the hands of an excellent senior lead guard, Frank Turner, one turnover in 37 minutes. Martin is relying on mostly first and second year players. Whom he hopes will only get better.

“I am foaming at the mouth.” - Manhattan guard Rico Pickett regarding a quarterfinal meeting with top seed Siena.

“We wanted to come to the (MAAC) tournament to play our best. To us it’s a new season” - Manhattan coach Barry Rohrssen

Darryl Crawford, Manhattan College
answers reporters questions

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: MAAC Conference Wrapup

by Ray Floriani

JERSEY CITY, NJ - Iona edged St.Peter’s on Sunday at Yanitelli Center. The game drew the MAAC regular season to a close. The following is a final regular season tempo free breakdown of the MAAC, with conference games only factored in.

The offensive and defensive efficiencies are subtracted to give us the efficiency margin on the far right. Naturally, a figure in the positive is desired. Pace is the average number of possessions a team uses per game.

		Efficiency			Eff
Team	Record	Off.	Def.	Pace	Mgn
Siena	17-1	109	91	70	18
Fairfield	13-5	103	98	68	5
Iona	12-6	94	90	67	4
St.Peter’s	11-7	91	88	67	3
Niagara	9-9	101	95	69	6
Rider	9-9	95	101	69	-6
Canisius	8-10	96	98	67	-2
Loyola	6-12	96	100	67	-4
Manhattan	4-14	94	99	68	-5
Marist	1-17	85	107	64	-22

Siena, the class of the conference, has the impressive numbers to back it. The defensive numbers in the MAAC are noteworthy especially those of St.Peter’s. The offensive efficiency was not too great in Jersey City but when you hold opponents to an 88 DE you will win games.

Last season Chucky Martin arrived at Marist with th dribble drive motion offense. This season Marist was the most pedestrian team in the conference. Little worked this season for a painfully young Marist squad.

A 9-9 mark is not bad but many expected more of Rider. A quick look shows the defense was too generous and the efficiency margin, one of the poorest in the conference.

Conference tournament is March 5-8 at the Times Union Center in Albany.

Dinneen Hall
St. Peter's College

The St.Peter’s-Iona game was a 59 possession (Iona 56 St. Peter’s 62) contest , with the efficiencies and four factors as follows:

	Off		FTA
	Eff	eFG%	FGA	OReb%	TO%
Iona	88	40	23	18	25
St.Peter’s	77	37	25	25	23

At Stake. A lot, namely third place. The winner would secure third in the MAAC standings. Beyond the pride of a higher finish was the knowledge that tournament favorite Siena would not (possibly) be faced until the final game.

With all that in mind, these two teams got together in an intense, defensive struggle with 7 ties and 4 lead changes, that was not decided until the final possession.

Interestingly Iona ,which took 40% of their attempts from three point range (19 three point attempts of 47 total tries), got the game winning points due to a penetration. Sophomore guard Scott Machado was fouled going to the basket with 5 seconds left and converted both shots. St.Peter’s countered with a drive by Eddie Leon who was stripped of the ball by Iona’s Jermel Jenkins.

One of the discernible differences was in rebounding where St.Peter’s had an edge. That was offset by Iona’s defense. St.Peter’s led 27-24 at the half but shot 7 of 26 (27%) the final twenty minutes. The Gaels were only slightly better at 8 of 22 (36%) but they knocked down three treys (st>peter’s had one) and that slight margin was enough in a very close finish.

Numbers. Jenkins led Iona (21-9 overall) with 13 points. Machado was the other double figure scorer for the Gaels with 10. St.Peter’s (16-13) had two players hit doubles with Ryan Bacon and Wesley Jenkins both scoring 12 points.

The MAAC. St.Peter’s wanted that third seed but what they are getting is not too bad. The Peacocks will face Rider at 2:30 on Saturday in Albany. The two teams split this year and Rider struggled this weekend getting waxed by Siena on Friday and barely surviving Canisius (both at home).

Iona draws Niagara in a 10 pm game on Saturday. Gaels coaches and players all said the right thing but deep down the 10 pm contest is a coaching nightmare. Awaiting is a Niagara team that played fairly well down the stretch.

“We had a tough weekend at Fairfield and St.Peter’s. We finished 12-6 (MAAC) and 21-9 that’s what I’m most proud of.” - Iona coach Kevin Willard

“I’m disappointed we didn’t get the win and finish third but I’m proud of my team. We are playing with passion.” - St. Peter’s coach John Dunne

Kyle Smith (l) and Jermel Jenkins (r) of Iona
interview with Sean Brennan of the Daily News

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: Siena at St. Peter's

by Ray Floriani

JERSEY CITY, NJ - St.Peter’s saw their five game win streak ended by the leaders of the MAAC, Siena. The Saints earned a hard fought 66-58 victory at the Yanitelli Center on Thursday evening.

In a 71 possession game, the Efficiency and Factors:

	Off		FTA
	Eff	eFG%	FGA	OReb%	TO%
Siena	93	41	21	33	16
St.Peter’s	82	47	5	31	27

St.Peter’s entered the game averaging 65 possessions in MAAC play and sporting an offensive efficiency of 97. Siena forced the Peacocks into a faster pace and a 19 turnover evening. The turnover situation was a very sore point for St.Peter’s coach John Dunne. Turnovers and 41% shooting (credit the Siena defense) largely contributed to St.Peter’s low OE.

Siena was without injured Edwin Ubiles their outstanding 6-7 senior swingman . Picking up the pace on this veteran club were forward Ryan Rossiter, a game high 21 points along with 9 boards. Point guard Ronald Moore, 10 points, 9 assists, 2 turnovers, 40 minutes- this is a typical Moore night. Alex Franklin added 9 points 10 rebounds but muscled his way in the paint for a crucial field goal with just under a minute to play.

For a veteran cast that’s been around, Siena did start a junior (Rossiter) and sophomore forward Owen Wignot.

St.Peter’s attempted almost a quarter of their shots (14 out of 59) beyond the arc. Thus a relatively low FT rate. Peacocks did go 50% (7 of 14) from three but were defended inside shooting 17 of 45 (38%) from two point range.

Wesley Jenkins led St.Peter’s with 13 points while Nick Leon added 12. Ryan Bacon did not get a lot of low post touches (5 of 8 shooting) but scored 11 and added a game high 15 rebounds.

Arguably the game breaker of a stat: Siena held a 20-5 edge in points off turnovers.

Siena travels well and had a few hundred fans. The attendance, mostly St.Peter’s faithful, was 1,609. “It was a great atmosphere,“ Dunne said, “the best atmosphere since our 6 AM game (in November).”

Siena is now 18-4, 11-0 in the MAAC. St.Peter’s is 12-9, 7-4.

“Siena’s 1-2-2 zone is tough. It didn’t turn us over that much but it forced us to stand around and use a lot of clock.” - St.Peter’s coach John Dunne

“I expected a close game. No one blows them (St.Peter’s) out. I expected and we prepared for a close game.”- Siena coach Fran McCaffery

Siena Assistant Coach (and former Villanova Assistant Coach) Mitch Buonoguro

NCAA First Round -- Conference Progress Report

Looking at the results from the first round games, I was curious to see how the power conferences did...

	Seed				Record
Conf.	#1-#8	#9-#16	Bids		W	L	Pct.
Big 12	5	1	6		6	0	1.000
Big East	7	0	7		6	1	0.857
PAC10	4	2	6		5	1	0.833
Big Ten	4	3	7		4	3	0.571
ACC	6	1	7		3	4	0.429
SEC	1	2	3		1	2	0.333

The Big 12 looks like they fared best among the power conferences. Especially notable given they had one team seeded in the lower half of the field (Texas A&M, seeded #9 beat BYU out of the Mountain West Conference). A&M fell to Connecticut 92-66 in the 2nd round. The Big East did fairly well, though it was to be expected given all 7 bids were seeded #1 through #6. The conference's lone 1st round casualty was West Virginia, the Mountaineers running into a deceptively deliberate Dayton team and falling 60-68. The Pac10s two underseeds, Arizona (#12) and USC (#10) managed to pull upsets over their 1st round opponents (Utah & Boston College, respectively), even as favored California (#7) fell to their underseeded ACC opponent Maryland. For the Mountain West Conference losses for both BYU and Utah managed to close out the conference's tournament presence. The MWC finished 0-2 this season, especially given that Utah and BYU had both earned higher seeds (#5 & #8 respectively). Only two of the Big Ten's high seeds (Michigan State and Purdue) won, the conference's reputation salvaged by low seeds Michigan and Wisconsin. Neither of those winners should be shocking. Michigan coach John Beilein is well known to Big East fans as he did a turn at West Virginia, taking several underrated Mountaineer teams deeper into the tournament than most believed they could go. Wisconsin's Bo Ryan is noted for his defense, and true to form, the Badgers strangled their first round opponent, Florida State, in a 59-61 game. Most disappointing to date has to be the ACC, which looks more like a "North Carolina, Duke & the 10 Dwarves" conference. Despite having 6 high seeds, the conference pulled a dismal 3-4 in the 1st round, the third win coming in an upset engineered by veteran Maryland coach Gary Williams. High seeds Wake Forest (#4), Florida State (#5), Boston College (#7) and Clemson (#7) all fell.

Multi-bid and other Mids
Four mid-low major conferences received high seeds, with 3 conferences pulling down multiple bids. The highest seed in the group went to Memphis of CUSA, the Tigers getting a #2 seed in the West Region. Coming out of 1st round action, the A10 conference appears to be the most prosperous, having pulled in 3 bids (Xavier #4, Dayton #11 and conference tournament winner Temple #11), with two teams (Dayton and Xavier) advancing into the 2nd round. That gives the conference a 2-1 record so far. The Horizon Conference had a surprise turn, with Butler (#9) falling in the 1st round and overlooked Cleveland State (#13), the conference tournament champion, advancing, and so giving the conference a 1-1 record so far. Both team were low seeds (though at #9 it is arguable even with #8s), so the Horizon again made some unexpected noise. The Gonzaga Bulldogs, a #4 seed out of the West Coast Conference advanced as a high seed. Not a shock. Of the other low seed, mid majors who advanced Siena (#9) out of the MAAC should not surprise those who follow Northeastern basketball, and the Sun Belt representative Western Kentucky (#12) has made (counting this season) 22 NCAA appearances, compiling a 17-20 record.

Post Game: Siena -- Consistency

The Let's Go Nova posted a very brief recap with a promise for a more indepth look later. I Bleed Blue and White posted an emotional recap, "Sweeeeeet Sixteen!, filled with impressions and reactions to a number of good things done by Scottie and the team.. The Nova News Blog filed a more systematic recap, "Nova Cruises Past Siena to Sweet 16", as Tim provided a bit more detail on contributions each player made to the winning effort. He also provides a quick overview of some surprising developments from the second round. The official Athletic Department site posted an AP story about the game, "Villanova Tops Siena 84-72" to go with the official box score. And of course the Philadelphia press has been publishing stories all week. You can check them out over at philly.com -- sports. The breakdown by halves...

Opponent	Siena
	1st	2nd	Total
Pace	38.6	38.3	77.0
	Offense				Defense
	1st	2nd	Total		1st	2nd	Total
Rating	108.4	111.6	109.9		83.1	102.5	92.9
eFG%	58.3	59.6	58.9		32.8	50.0	41.1
TORate	20.6	18.6	19.6		15.6	17.9	16.8
OR%	25.0	14.3	20.0		26.1	22.2	24.4
FTA/FGA	33.3	53.8	42.9		69.0	70.4	69.6
FTM/FGA	23.3	42.3	32.1		44.8	48.1	46.4
ARate	53.3	46.7	50.0		62.5	33.3	45.0
Blk%	6.7	7.7	7.1		6.9	0.0	3.6
Stl%	12.9	8.0	10.5		7.8	12.8	10.3

This has to be the most consistent offensive output half-to-half I have seen from the Wildcats this season. Note the difference between the first and second half offensive ratings was 3.2 (just less than 3%). The numbers for pace, eFG%, Assist Rate, Turnover Rate, Block%, Steal% are extremely close for the halves. Remarkable consistency. The FTA/FGA difference was no doubt due to aggressive defense mounted by the Saints through the mid-portion of the second period. But since it did not cut significantly into the lead, Coach McCaffery curtailed it around the 5:00 minute mark. The Wildcat's defensive effort was not as consistent. Though the 'Cats won both halves, the Saints did improve on their offensive efficiency in the second half.

Odds and Ends...
1. Scottie Reynolds scored 25 points to go with his 21 point effort against Clemson. Scottie was 14-27, shooting 8-12 from the 3 point line. He also hit 10-14 from the line with 7 assists and 8 turnovers.
2. Corey Stokes recovered his groove with Siena after struggling with Clemson. Corey S. scored a career high 20 points on 8-12 shooting.
3. Casiem Drummond suffered a broken ankle in the first half. Cas had surgery on Tuesday, and should have a full recovery in time for next season.
4. Referee Notes -- The crew was manned by Paul Faia, Randy McCall and Mike Stuart. This was a strange game to watch because the Saints appeared to receive a good many "under dog" calls. Indeed while the 'Cats seemed to get to the line an "average" number of times, the Saints were the beneficiaries of far more attempts than usual. This did not change the outcome of the game, but it was a little strange to watch. While Nova's margin was not threatened after building a 10 point margin at the 14:22 mark of the first half (the Saints managed to get that bulge back down to 10 very briefly at the 10:30 mark of the second half), Anderson & Clark had 4 fouls, even as 5 others Wildcats had 3 each. No Wildcat fouled out.

Role Reversal?

Break out the home whites! Who would have thought last Sunday at 6:30 that the 'Cats would wear them at all in this tournament? According to Pomeroy's Villanova Schedule Page, this game will be played for about 71 possessions. The score 75-68 Villanova. The possessions and score ironically are identical to the Clemson-Villanova game. Except that Clemson was supposed to score 75 points. The log5 probabilities for this game favor Villanova 73-27. That is a bit more than Clemson was favored.

Go Wildcats!