MAAC Monday: Inside Dunne's first year at Marist, stat leaders, power rankings

By Jaden Daly (@jadendaly) and Vincent Simone (@VTSimone)

MAAC Monday returns today for its third installment of the 2018-19 season, with two weeks of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play now complete and the proverbial quarter pole having been passed in the league schedule as Monmouth and Siena tip off later tonight in Albany. Before we refresh the stat leaders around the MAAC in our second segment and unveil our latest power rankings, however, we welcome a new team into our opening spotlight, that being Marist, which played its first league road game yesterday at Saint Peter's in a contest that marked head coach John Dunne's return to Jersey City after spending the last twelve seasons overseeing the Peacocks through a MAAC championship and CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament crown.

At 6-10 on the season following Sunday's 72-63 setback at the hands of Saint Peter's, the Red Foxes started out strong, opening the game on an 8-0 run and leading by as many as eleven points before cold shooting and an inability to stop the Peacocks on the boards -- Marist was outrebounded by a final margin of 40-20 -- proved to be the downfall for Dunne's pupils as they attempted to pick up what would have been an emotional victory for their leader. Regardless of the slow start -- each of Marist's three conference losses has come by nine points or less -- Dunne sees encouragement in what his players have produced, and is banking on the wide-open nature of this year's MAAC to potentially signify a surge could be in the works as the calendar heats up.

"I feel like the league is wide open, and you've got to try to hold serve at home and try to win as many road games as you can," he said as Marist continues its three-game trek away from McCann Arena this weekend, traveling to Iona Friday and Manhattan one week from tonight. "I kind of feel like, up to this point, it's where I thought it would be at. You've got a lot of close games, Iona and Rider, those were two of the top picks in the league. The better teams win the close games throughout the season, so I think you can expect a war most nights in every MAAC game, and the more consistent teams will win those close games."

Particularly for the Red Foxes, the defensive commitment Dunne has been renowned for instilling in his teams has made its presence known throughout the year. For the season, Marist is yielding just over 69 points per game on average, a far cry from the near-80-point clip the Red Foxes surrendered in MAAC play last year under Mike Maker. The team offense has slightly improved, save for the free throw shooting and lack of consistent scoring options behind Brian Parker -- Marist is 0-7 when unable to post more than two double-digit scorers in single game -- but the overall barometer projects a positive image heading into late January.

"There's still room for us to grow," Dunne proposed. "I don't think we've shot the ball as well as we're capable of, and I still think there's some room for improvement on the defensive end. We've been a little inconsistent with taking care of the ball, so I think there's still room for improvement for the group, and with the exception of two games -- Buffalo and Brown -- we've been in every contest. We've got good spirit going on, and we're anxious to get through our next few games here."

"We're confident that we could be in the mix in the top half of the MAAC, but at the end of the day, you have to perform on the court to make it happen. Our whole thing, regardless of record, is we'd love to be in the top five. We'd love to get a bye, and I think the guys are confident that there's no reason why we can't be in the top half of the league."

Scoring Leaders
1) Cameron Young, Quinnipiac (19.6 PPG)
2) Davauhnte Turner, Saint Peter's (17.8)
3) E.J. Crawford, Iona (17.5)
4) Evan Fisher, Siena (17.1)
5) Takal Molson, Canisius (17.0)
6) Marvin Prochet, Niagara (16.9)
7) Rickey McGill, Iona (15.5)
8) Brian Parker, Marist (15.1)
9) Jalen Pickett, Siena (14.7)
10) Landon Taliaferro, Fairfield (13.2)

Rebounding Leaders
1) Marvin Prochet, Niagara (8.2 RPG)
2) Jonathan Kasibabu, Fairfield (7.9)
3) Tajuan Agee, Iona (7.1)
4) Evan Fisher, Siena (7.0)
5) Tyere Marshall, Rider (6.2)
6) Dominic Robb, Niagara (6.1)
7) Isaiah Reese, Canisius (6.0)
8) Frederick Scott, Rider (5.9)
T-9) Kevin Degnan, Siena (5.5)
T-9) Quinn Taylor, Saint Peter's (5.5)

Assist Leaders
1) Jalen Pickett, Siena (7.4 APG)
2) Rickey McGill, Iona (5.2)
3) James Towns, Niagara (4.5)
4) Stevie Jordan, Rider (4.4)
5) Isaiah Reese, Canisius (4.0)
6) Brian Parker, Marist (3.8)
7) Neftali Alvarez, Fairfield (3.4)
T-8) Malik Johnson, Canisius (3.1)
T-8) Davauhnte Turner, Saint Peter's (3.1)
T-10) Dallas Watson, Saint Peter's (2.9)
T-10) Kimar Williams, Rider (2.9)

Field Goal Percentage Leaders
1) Jonathan Kasibabu, Fairfield (.565)
2) Evan Fisher, Siena (.557)
3) Dominic Robb, Niagara (.534)
4) Stevie Jordan, Rider (.525)
5) Samuel Idowu, Saint Peter's (.519)
6) Warren Williams, Manhattan (.516)
7) Frederick Scott, Rider (.508)
8) Rickey McGill, Iona (.503)
9) E.J. Crawford, Iona (.503)
10) Jesus Cruz, Fairfield (.489)

Free Throw Percentage Leaders
1) Nehemiah Mack, Manhattan (.914)
2) James Towns, Niagara (.835)
3) E.J. Crawford, Iona (.797)
4) Cameron Young, Quinnipiac (.780)
5) Rickey McGill, Iona (.769)
6) Asante Gist, Iona (.762)
7) Diago Quinn, Monmouth (.759)
8) Davauhnte Turner, Saint Peter's (.758)
9) Takal Molson, Canisius (.752)
10) Dominic Robb, Niagara (.750)

Three-Point Field Goal Percentage Leaders
1) Andrija Ristanovic, Iona (.500)
2) Landon Taliaferro, Fairfield (.467)
3) Marvin Prochet, Niagara (.435)
4) E.J. Crawford, Iona (.431)
5) Kevin Degnan, Siena (.422)
6) David Knudsen, Marist (.403)
T-7) Tyler Reynolds, Manhattan (.400)
T-7) Cameron Young, Quinnipiac (.400)
9) Ben Perez, Iona (.397)
10) Felix Lemetti, Fairfield (.392)

Steal Leaders
1) Dimencio Vaughn, Rider (2.5 SPG)
2) Rickey McGill, Iona (2.5)
T-3) Jalen Pickett, Siena (1.9)
T-3) Isaiah Reese, Canisius (1.9)
5) Stevie Jordan, Rider (1.7)

Blocked Shot Leaders
1) Dominic Robb, Niagara (2.8 BPG)
2) Samuel Idowu, Saint Peter's (1.6)
3) KC Ndefo, Saint Peter's (1.4)
4) Kevin Degnan, Siena (0.8)
5) Marvin Prochet, Niagara (0.7)

Power Rankings
1) Rider (9-7, 4-0 MAAC)
Last Week: 1
Last Game: Sunday 1/13 at Niagara (W 104-84)
Next Game: Saturday 1/19 vs. Manhattan, 7 p.m.

2) Iona (5-10, 3-1 MAAC)
Last Week: T-2
Last Game: Sunday 1/13 at Canisius (W 88-70)
Next Game: Friday 1/18 vs. Marist, 7 p.m.

3) Quinnipiac (8-7, 3-1 MAAC)
Last Week: 4
Last Game: Sunday 1/13 vs. Fairfield (W 80-78)
Next Game: Thursday 1/17 vs. Canisius, 7 p.m.

4) Fairfield (5-12, 2-3 MAAC)
Last Week: 8
Last Game: Sunday 1/13 at Quinnipiac (L 80-78)
Next Game: Thursday 1/17 at Monmouth, 7 p.m.

5) Canisius (5-11, 2-2 MAAC)
Last Week: T-2
Last Game: Sunday 1/13 vs. Iona (L 88-70)
Next Game: Thursday 1/17 at Quinnipiac, 7 p.m.

T-6) Monmouth (3-14, 2-2 MAAC)
Last Week: 10
Last Game: Saturday 1/12 vs. Manhattan (W 65-49)
Next Game: Monday 1/14 at Siena, 7 p.m.

T-6) Saint Peter's (5-11, 2-2 MAAC)
Last Week: 11
Last Game: Sunday 1/13 vs. Marist (W 72-63)
Next Game: Thursday 1/17 vs. Manhattan, 7 p.m.

8) Niagara (8-9, 1-3 MAAC)
Last Week: 6
Last Game: Sunday 1/13 vs. Rider (L 104-84)
Next Game: Thursday 1/17 at Siena, 7 p.m.

9) Siena (6-10, 1-2 MAAC)
Last Week: 9
Last Game: Friday 1/11 at Marist (W 71-66)
Next Game: Monday 1/14 vs. Monmouth, 7 p.m.

10) Marist (6-10, 1-3 MAAC)
Last Week: 5
Last Game: Sunday 1/13 at Saint Peter's (L 72-63)
Next Game: Friday 1/18 at Iona, 7 p.m.

11) Manhattan (3-13, 1-3 MAAC)
Last Week: 7
Last Game: Saturday 1/12 at Monmouth (L 65-49)
Next Game: Thursday 1/17 at Saint Peter's, 7 p.m.