A-10 Tempo Thursday: February 24, 2022

By Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

Heading for the homestretch, Davidson maintains a narrow lead over Dayton and VCU. St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis are not far behind. Richmond, outside of a one-sided loss at VCU, has played better of late. George Mason has come down to earth with losses in five of its last seven. The Patriots can be a major factor when the Atlantic 10 tournament convenes in Washington, D.C.

Two teams you may not want to match up with are Fordham and George Washington. The Rams can defend and are playing with a lot more confidence. George Washington has improved a great deal as of late. Neither of the two will likely run the table in our nation’s capital, but both have the ability to send a higher seed on a premature trip home.

Efficiency and Records

1) Dayton (+19, 12-3)

2) Saint Louis (+12, 10-5)

3) Davidson (+11, 13-2)

4) St. Bonaventure (+10, 10-4)

5) VCU (+7, 12-3)

6) Richmond (+4, 9-6)

7) George Mason (0, 6-7)

8) Rhode Island (-4, 7-7)

9) Fordham (-5, 6-8)

10) Saint Joseph’s (-6, 4-11)

11) George Washington (-7, 7-7)

12) UMass (-9, 5-9)

13) La Salle (-11, 2-13)

14) Duquesne (-21, 1-13)

George Washington, on first glance, appears to be a mystery with its .500 A-10 record and a negative efficiency margin. On closer look, one must study how Jamion Christian’s team has played as of late. Beginning with a win at UMass on February 9, the Colonials have won three of five. Victories also came against Duquesne and Rhode Island, while losses were to Dayton and Richmond. Over that stretch, the Colonials posted a plus-1 efficiency margin (101 vs. 100, compared to 99 vs. 106 on the year).

As of late with everyone starting to come together as a unit, the offense shows a slight improvement. The defense during that five-game stretch, even with a 119 factored in against powerful Dayton, shows the most improvement. Despite an 84-71 loss to Richmond last night, the Colonials did have a bright spot. Joe Bamisile led the way with 29 points. Brayon Freeman added 19 points and James Bishop 13. Bamisile and Bishop account in total for 61 percent of George Washington’s shots. Having a third consistent option like Freeman can only help taking defensive pressure off the aforementioned duo.

A look at the A-10 leaders in percentage of team shots:

1) James Bishop, George Washington 30.5 

2) Joe Bamisile, George Washington 30.2 

3) Josh Oduro, George Mason 29.7 

4) Grant Golden, Richmond 28.9 

5) Nick Sherod, Richmond 28.9 

6) Darius Quisenberry, Fordham 28.4 

7) Josh Nickelberry, La Salle 26.9

Offensive Efficiency:

Davidson 114

Saint Louis 110

St. Bonaventure and Dayton 109 

Richmond 106

Defensive Efficiency:

Dayton 90 

VCU 94 

Rhode Island and Fordham 97 

Saint Louis 98

Dayton and Saint Louis are extremely dangerous teams. When you put together offensive and defensive numbers as these two are doing, you struggle to find a weakness to attack.

Deserving of mention in this conversation is St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies’ offense has come alive during their six-game win streak. Defensively they are just behind Saint Louis with a 99 efficiency.

Rhode Island is an enigma. One of the better defensive teams in the conference, the Rams have now dropped nine of their last ten. David Cox’s group is above average at forcing turnovers (fifth, at 20 percent). Their defensive calling card is contesting shooters inside and beyond the arc. Rhode Island has a 2-point percentage on defense of 46 and a 3-point percentage of 33. Both marks are good for third-best in the conference.

The struggles in Kingston are on offense. The efficiency is 93. They are at the bottom of the league in turnover rate and free throw shooting. In that string of nine of ten losses, six were decided by three possessions or less. The lone win was against Davidson. Obviously better offense, especially from the charity stripe, could have made a difference.

Tempo:

Fastest: UMass, George Washington and Rhode Island 69 possessions per game

Saint Joseph’s, VCU and La Salle 68

Deliberate: Dayton 63

George Mason and Davidson 65

St. Bonaventure and Duquesne 66

To take a deeper look into tempo, we will examine the average length of possession by each team:

1) Rhode Island 16.9 seconds

2) UMass 17.0 

3) VCU 17.1 

4) Saint Louis 17.5 

5) Richmond 17.6 

6) St. Bonaventure 17.7 

7) Duquesne 17.8 

8) Saint Joseph’s 17.9

9) George Mason 18.0

10) La Salle 18.0

11) George Washington 18.0

12) Fordham 18.4

13) Davidson 18.7

14) Dayton 19.1

Quick Hitters:

On Tuesday, St. Bonaventure defeated Rhode Island, 73-55, at Reilly Center. It marked the tenth A-10 victory for the Bonnies. That’s eight consecutive years with ten or more conference wins, a streak not matched by any other team. In that game, Osun Osunniyi, trying to avoid a shot clock violation, hit his first career 3-point shot.

Saint Louis’ 72-61 decision over Saint Joseph’s on Tuesday saw both teams commit just seven turnovers for an outstanding 11 percent turnover rate.

George Washington’s 84-71 loss to Richmond was not due to turnovers. The Colonials were guilty of just four.

Davidson romped over Duquesne 74-50 on Wednesday. The Wildcats were lights out from 3-point range, shooting 48 percent on the night. Hyunjung Lee led the way for Davidson with a game-high 27 points on 6-of-9 shooting from downtown. Lee shot better from three than 2-point range on the night.

In Sunday’s loss at Fordham, Josh Oduro had a solid 9-point, 10-rebound, 4-block outing for George Mason. The column on his stat sheet Oduro may not want to remember was the game-high eight turnovers. 

In that 50-47 victory, Chuba Ohams of Fordham posted a solid 17 -point, 12-rebound double-double. Ohams was also turnover-prone, with six miscues on the afternoon. Wednesday’s 60-54 win over La Salle saw Ohams register another double-double. The line read 20 points and 13 rebounds, both game-highs.

A 72-66 victory over George Mason made it nine of their last ten for a white-hot VCU team who forced the Patriots into 18 turnovers and a 26 percent rate.

Speaking of hot streaks, Dayton won its eighth of nine, defeating UMass on Wednesday, 82-61. Balance was the key for the Flyers, with five players in double figures. Koby Brea and Mustapha Amzil came off the bench to post 16 points each.

Upcoming Schedule:

February 25: Saint Louis at Richmond

February 26: Duquesne at Rhode Island 

Dayton at La Salle

Fordham at Davidson

VCU at UMass

St. Bonaventure at Saint Joseph’s

February 27: George Washington at George Mason

February 28: UMass at Fordham

March 1: Dayton at Richmond 

St. Bonaventure at VCU

March 2: George Mason at Davidson 

Saint Joseph’s at La Salle

Saint Louis at Rhode Island 

Fordham at UMass

Duquesne at George Washington

All-KenPom

Josh Oduro, George Mason 

Luka Brajkovic, Davidson

Vince Williams, VCU 

Hyunjung Lee, Davidson 

Grant Golden, Richmond

A-10 Aggregates:

Efficiency: 102 

Tempo: 67 

Effective field goal percentage: 50 

Turnover percentage: 18

3-point field goal percentage: 35

2-point field goal percentage: 49

Home court winning percentage: 59

Close game percentage: 22 

Blowout percentage: 18

Tempo is an interesting metric. There is only a range of six possessions from lowest (Dayton at 63) to fastest (three at 69). In a 14-team circuit, it’s rare to see a cluster as tight as this. And not one team is pushing the ball at the NASCAR pace of 70 or more possessions.

Home court is now more of a factor. Early in the campaign, home teams were barely winning at a 50 percent clip. That has changed significantly. Chalk it up to travel, tough home crowds and just plain talent, as it’s becoming more difficult to defeat upper-echelon teams on their home floors.

5 Thoughts: Seton Hall outlasts Butler to reach .500 in Big East play

Tyrese Samuel ignited Seton Hall’s second-half run to push Pirates past Butler. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, N.J. — Another day, another tough game in the Big East Conference. 

Needing to once again hold serve at the Rock, the Seton Hall Pirates used a 20-2 run in the second half to vault in front, and then held off a late comeback by Butler to win, 66-60, and get back to .500 in conference play.

Here are the thoughts from a late night in Newark:

- Hard Hats

Seton Hall and Butler have both been programs that pride themselves on toughness. It really is an ingrained part of the culture of both teams, and after a quick 7-0 Seton Hall run to begin the game, Butler answered with an 8-0 run of its own by upping the toughness on both ends.

Down the stretch in the first half, and certainly at the start of the second half, neither team could get a real good run going as both teams dug their heels in. Seton Hall then followed, however, by tightening the screws even further on defense, and finally getting some shots to go down on offense, leading to a 20-2 run that put the Pirates ahead for good. 

"We had a good defensive unit out there with Jamir, Jared and Myles," head coach Kevin Willard said. "But I thought Lex and Tyrese did a really good job. We got lost in the first half, we lost (Bo) Hodges twice and they made some threes, and I thought we did a really good job of just staying home. We just kind of made everything difficult for them, and then capitalized on the break."

- Get To The Point

Seton Hall again was shorthanded at the point guard position tonight. So much so that, even though Kadary Richmond started the game, he only played 16 minutes due to still not having recovered from a triple-digit fever he had been dealing with for the last few days. 

Enter Jamir Harris, the 3-point sniper who was forced to expand his game tonight and held his own well, finishing with 10 points, but also four assists and some tough defense. Only Jared Rhoden (39) and Myles Cale (36) played more minutes than the graduate transfer from American (29).

"He was phenomenal," Willard said. "We worked two days with Jamir running the show, and I thought he did a great job of getting us to that 16-point lead. The next evolution for him will be to manage that 16-point lead a little better, but I was proud of him not only the way he played offensively, but the way he played defensively."

Willard went on to say that Richmond feels better now, but because he hadn't practiced in four days that he wasn't back to being his normal self on the floor, hence the need for Harris to step up, which he did.

- Tyrese Throwdown

The other player who stood out tonight was Tyrese Samuel, who was outstanding on both ends of the floor. He had two memorable baskets in the second half after scoring eight points in the first half: A posterizing, full-extension slam dunk on the baseline that ignited the aforementioned 20-2 run, and a 3-pointer in that same run. 

"The prior games I wasn't in my zone," Samuel said. "Today was one of those days that I felt like I was back to where I was pre-COVID. I'm just going to take it one game at a time and see how I progress forward from here."

But he also played fantastic defense, staying with smaller players and staying tough against bigger ones. Before the dunk, he had two rebounds and a blocked shot, adding a steal later in the big offensive wave for the Hall.

"He looks like he's back to what he was in December," Willard said. "It's taken big guys a little bit longer to come back (from COVID), but he looks like he's got great bounce. Defensively, he's playing much more physical than he was, he's hit the weight room hard, which helps. He looks much, much better than he did just two weeks ago."

- No Ref Show Redux

I can't have been the only one who looked at the referees before tonight’s game and rolled their eyes. James Breeding, Ron Groover, and Nathan Farrell all worked the intense, controversial game the previous night between Villanova and UConn, during which Breeding ejected Dan Hurley for pumping up his own fans and a couple late borderline calls went against Villanova to allow UConn to prevail.

Tonight, though, aside from a lot of monitor reviews late, there wasn't a lot to be said either way about the officiating. It helps when there were only eight total fouls called in the first half, allowing two physical teams to get into the flow of the game and not have it become a parade to the free throw line.

- Cohesion At Mealtime

A theme of tonight's game was cohesion among the Pirates. It was brought up after the game, as every player who saw the floor tonight contributed in some way to the win, and helped them stay locked in when things got hairy down the stretch.

"They've played well this year," Willard said. "They've been together, they've had some huge wins, they work hard, it's a great group to be around. And they've overcome some really tough obstacles, to be honest with you."

All those obstacles (COVID, losing Bryce Aiken with a concussion, starting off 0-2 in conference play) have bonded this Pirates team. But there was something else that also helped: Sharing meals with each other. Willard said that during the team's COVID pause, he changed a lot of what the team did, and happened to mention "the way they ate." Asked for more details, Willard went into a great story.

"I moved everyone up into my offices," Willard said. "I made them come up to my offices, and we got all our meals catered up there up until last month, I think, because I was getting tired of having lasagna all over my carpet. I'm the first one in the office, and I would be cleaning up from the meal the night before. I finally lost my mind."

Willard went on.

"We don't really have a place to eat, we make due with what we have, and I said, ‘it's a new team, let's all get together, bring them up into the office so they can eat together, eat with the staff.’ In the past, for meals, I just let them eat, but we all had COVID, so it was like, 'let's all just eat together, what does it matter at this point?' The guys liked it, so we just kept doing it, and sometimes meals are the best way to talk."

Food brings people together, even if those people happen to play Big East basketball.

Kevin Willard quote book: Butler

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

On Jamir Harris at point guard:

“He was phenomenal, Jerry. And again, Kadary gave us everything he has and I’m proud of his effort, but we worked two days with Jamir running the show, and I thought he did a great job getting us to that 16-point lead, and the next evolution for him is going to be how to manage that 16-point lead a little bit better, but I was proud of not only the way he played offensively, but the way he played defensively.

On Kadary Richmond:

“He was feeling better today, which is great. The problem is he had spent the last four days in bed, so he felt better, which is great news, but the problem is he’s been in bed for four days. Although he felt better, he hasn’t done anything for four days. His energy level was obviously zapped.”

On Seton Hall’s 20-2 run:

“We had a good defensive unit out there — Jamir at the point, obviously Jared and Myles — but I thought Lex and Tyrese did a really good job. Everyone just kind of got lost a lot in the first half, we lost (Bo) Hodges and they made some threes. I thought we did a really good job of staying at home and we had a really good defensive lineup out there that just made everything difficult for them, and we were able to capitalize on the break.”

On team contributions:

“It’s a veteran group. It’s not a cohesive group because we haven’t had that lineup out there that long, ever, but they’re a veteran group that has a lot of confidence. I loved what they were talking about in the huddle, they just kept talking like, ‘let’s just keep getting stops.’ I think they kind of knew we were a little limited in what we could run at that point, but it was a veteran group that was just talking about getting stops. That was nice to hear.”

On Seton Hall’s belief in one another:

“They should. They’ve played well this year. They’ve been together, they’ve had some huge wins, they work hard, they have a great attitude. It’s a great group to be around, and I think they’ve overcome some really tough obstacles, to be honest with you. A tough COVID outbreak, that kind of took a little momentum out of us, and then losing Bryce the way we lost Bryce and to start league play 0-2 with no chance of winning two games, to be 8-8 I’m thrilled. I’m more than thrilled because the circumstances these guys have had to come through, I think that gave them confidence.”

On Tyrese Samuel:

“He looks like he’s back to what he was in December. It’s taken big guys a little longer to come back, but he looks like he’s got great balance. Defensively, he’s playing much more physical than he was, he’s hit the weight room hard, which has helped because technically, three weeks without lifting does damage to a big guy’s body. But he looks much, much better than he did two weeks ago.”

On Seton Hall’s free throw shooting:

“As long as the right guys are taking them, Jerry, we’re pretty good. (Butler) were 10-for-12, so they were pretty good, too.”

On momentum entering Big East tournament:

“You need to ask these old guys. There’s one focus, and one focus only, and that’s Saturday. And we have a tough — I know Xavier lost a tough one in triple overtime — that’s all we’re focused on right now. This time of year, you’re not worried about anything else besides your next game.”

On grinding out close wins:

“I think it’s our shooting. We don’t shoot it great, so we’re going to have to grind out a lot. From a coach’s standpoint, we don’t shoot it great, so we’re always in a close game. It’s a veteran group, and again, I blame COVID for everything, but COVID kind of helped this team gel a little bit early when we all got it in September. When we got it, we kind of had to just hunker down together and we had to change a lot of things that we were doing, and I think I changed the way we ate, I changed the way how we were kind of doing things. In that first shutdown, I think everybody got sick and everybody was kind of just together, and so we kind of just grew as a team and got to know each other because we were just stuck with each other.”

“We don’t have a locker room anymore anyway, but I moved everybody up into my offices. So I made them come up into my offices, and we got all our meals catered up there all the way up until last month, I think, because I was getting tired of having lasagna all over my carpet, so I think I moved them down about a month ago. I’m the first one in the office — me and Kevin Lynch — and I would be cleaning up from the meal the night before. I felt like I finally lost my mind. But we don’t have a place to eat, it’s probably my biggest pet peeve about our facilities, we make due with what we have to do and I said, it’s a new team, let’s all get together, bring them up to the office so they can eat with us, eat with the staff. I made them go around the conference table — I got that big conference room table — and I made them come up. And in the past, I’ve kind of just for meals, let them eat, if they want to take it and go back to their room. But I value these guys’ time tremendously, but it was such a new team and we all had COVID, so I was like, let’s all just eat together. What does it matter at this point? So the guys liked it, we kept doing it, and sometimes meals are kind of the best way to talk and bust balls. I finally stopped, I walked in one day and there had to be three trays of lasagna sitting on the conference table. And I was like, ‘man, I can’t do this anymore.’ The office smelled like lasagna, there’s chicken parm over here, I’m like, ‘man, this is enough.’” 

Siena looks to refocus for fourth game in seven days, last four of regular season

Still tied for second in MAAC, Siena aims to reset after Tuesday's loss to Monmouth as it heads to Quinnipiac. (Photo by Siena College Athletics)

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. — While most will look at Siena’s current standing — tied for second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference — and see a team that has outperformed an eighth-place prediction, those within the locker room will admit the team has had its share of hiccups, the latest of which coming Tuesday in a loss to Monmouth where both head coach Carmen Maciariello and forward Jackson Stormo admitted the Saints came out flat in a first half that saw 21 percent shooting and almost six minutes without a field goal.

“I think that’s constantly been the battle with this group,” Maciariello said when navigating an arduous February made difficult by reschedules games from December and January due to COVID-19, but not making excuses for a group that has hit its bumps in the proverbial road. “Continuing to be in character and being humbled by losses, right? We get swept by Manhattan, we split with Marist, we had a 10-point lead against them, Rider — a game at home where we’re playing well and we don’t show up — and then obviously I was expecting us to play well on one day prep and being on the road. I thought our focus would be a little better, but also for this group, it’s their first time playing here so it’s a learning lesson. For me, they’re always teaching moments.”

“We just can’t take this one to heart,” Stormo echoed as Siena now sets its sights on Quinnipiac Thursday in Hamden, seeking a season sweep of the Bobcats. “We’ve got a big game on Thursday now. I’ve been saying for the past couple of weeks that every game’s a big game, but we’ve got to go take care of this one on the road. It was big that we didn’t fold.”

Although the No. 1 seed in the MAAC tournament is no longer up for grabs after Iona clinched it as a result of the Saints’ loss Tuesday, a share of a third straight regular season crown is still in play, provided Siena wins each of its last four games while the Gaels lose all of their four remaining contests. It may seem improbable, but not impossible, and the latest learning experience has afforded a pragmatic and wizened outlook on the last remaining hurdles before the MAAC descends on Atlantic City in two weeks.

“This can help a lot,” a confident Stormo admitted. “We saw what happens when we come out flat, and we know what we have to do for the next four games and the tournament, but I like the optimism. I hope it helps us. We’ve got a night and then tomorrow to prepare. It’s a quick turnaround for us, but we’ve proven that we can do it, so we’ve got to move forward.”

“I think the magic number for us is 13,” Maciariello said with regard to conference wins. “We’re at 10 wins right now and we’ve got four games left, we got the Buffalo trip, we have a home game against Monmouth and we’re at Quinnipiac. We’ve got to get to that magic number 13 with some tough road games and only one being at home, but I think this group is a resilient group and I think their focus is strong. Hopefully we can make sure we’re getting our legs back.”

Monmouth’s aggressiveness and resilient veterans returning just in time for stretch run

Nikkei Rutty’s emergence as rim protector and rebounder has taken on added importance as Monmouth gears up for MAAC tournament. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. — King Rice envisioned nights like Tuesday from his veteran Monmouth team, one that has made a habit of bouncing back from losses and rough breaks by asserting itself as a team capable of playing with anyone, as evidenced by a non-conference season headlined by wins over Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, as well as a near-upset of St. John’s.

What Rice got from the Hawks Tuesday, when the longtime coach became the winningest in Monmouth’s history as a Division I program following a 71-59 victory over a Siena team also jockeying for position near the top of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference leaderboard, was a validation of sorts for a team with perhaps the most experience in the program since Justin Robinson led it to heights that have yet to be revisited.

“I think so,” Rice said when asked if he would attribute the grit and resolve to veteran leadership. “But it’s also a credit to the younger guys. The younger guys have kept their heads in a good place, and now they’re really challenging these guys in practice. These kids are starting to get it also, and now they can push these guys to another level. It’s all of us just being a close-knit group and really talking about the issues this year. These guys will say it to each other, and they’ll receive it the right way.”

Through several team meetings, and a dinner among Monmouth’s fifth-year seniors — a core that includes George Papas, Shavar Reynolds, Walker Miller and Marcus McClary — has only forged the bonds on and off the floor, which manifested in a suffocating defense that limited Siena to 21 percent shooting and only 19 points in the first half as Nikkei Rutty attacked the glass for 11 of a career-best 19 rebounds.

“Tonight, our defense carried us through,” said Rice. “It starts with our point guard. Early in the year, I was on the guys about some of those things, and I backed off a little bit. These guys are grown men, so we started talking about it. George is a better defender when Shavar picks up the ball and gets after the point guard. Nikkei’s a better defender when Shavar and (Samuel) Chaput and Myles (Ruth) really get after the point guard.”

For Rutty, who also tallied 13 boards on Friday's win over Rider, the channeling of Ben Wallace in that his offense took a backseat to rebounding in order to help his team is nothing new. In fact, it is merely harvesting at an opportune time, the forward says.

“I don’t think my mindset has changed too much,” Rutty reflected. “I definitely have a job to do and I’m trying to win out these next couple of games. The way I’m coming on the boards is the way I’ve been trying to do it all season, but they’re just coming to more and I’m going after them a little bit harder. Everything’s going my way, I can’t complain.”

“What I see is when Nikkei starts off games the way he did, like, 11 rebounds in the first half, all our energy is up,” Papas proclaimed. “I don’t know if you saw, but when he had 19, Coach kept him in the game for an extra possession. When players do the little stuff like that, that elevates us so much higher than me hitting a bunch of threes. That little stuff that Nikkei’s doing is giving us such a boost, and like he said, he’s always had that in him. It’s just awesome that it’s coming out now at the perfect time.”

And much like Reynolds declared Friday, Rice also reiterated that Rutty was simply returning to the form his coaches and players always knew was present in his game.

“When we won all those games early, Nikkei was the MVP,” Rice gushed. “Nobody talked about it because George scores and Shavar scores, and Walker came from Carolina. Nikkei was the MVP of our team early in the year. It’s hard to do what he does all the time, and not only grabbing boards.”

“He’s guarding dudes. Today, he guarded Anthony Gaines. All of a sudden, Nikkei is on guys and they’re not having their best nights, and now he’s grabbing all the rebounds and he’s talking. And when he talks on defense, that makes (George) talk and he doesn’t talk a lot, that makes Walker talk, who doesn’t talk a lot. We’ll be really good, and with Nikkei, he comes and he gives you an honest effort every single time.”

With four games remaining in the regular season, the next two against Saint Peter’s and the same Siena team Monmouth just beat — all three are tied for second in the MAAC standings — the questions of whether the Hawks’ edge had disappeared are gone, replaced by optimism and convictions that were reinforced through belief in one another.

“I don’t think we lost it,” Rice again stated. “We just weren’t as sharp. And these guys have been talking to each other a lot and meeting, and just reaffirmed with each other, ‘why did we do this? If we’re going to get to this point and not really be together, why did all of us come back? And I think each one having the opportunity to talk and say what they were feeling — and they had some hard conversations because some things probably needed to be said — they got it out of the way, and now they’re starting to play how we’d all like them to play. I like our chances down the stretch as long as we keep guarding.”

MAAC Monday: Rider’s growth entering stretch run, stat leaders, power rankings

Rider’s timely surge has Broncs positioned as MAAC tournament sleeper, despite Kevin Baggett feeling his team is capable of more. (Photo by The Rider News)

The third-to-last MAAC Monday of the season casts the spotlight on the third of the New Jersey schools before refreshing stat leaders and power rankings, one whose relative youth last season set the stage for a year marked by continued growth and a step back to where the program has grown accustomed to being.

In Kevin Baggett’s decade at Rider, the Broncs have usually been a consistent mainstay in or near the top half of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, despite never having advanced past the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament in his tenure. And after having one of the youngest teams in the nation a year ago, Rider has navigated the pandemic and gotten back to developing a roster with tremendous upside, having won four of five before missteps this past weekend at Monmouth and Manhattan.

“We’ve gotten way better,” point guard Dwight Murray, one of the few Broncs with experience on last year’s roster, said Friday. “It’s just little things, and that’s kind of good for a team to always have something to work on towards the end. We’ve got a couple more games, but we found out how to play together, and with the tournament coming in, that’s when we have to start gluing together.”

“This team here, we gel a lot better than we did last year. Corey (McKeithan) is a big person to come off the bench for me or (Allen Powell), we have a lot more scoring than we did last year, and we play great defense. I feel like we’re a team that’s still working.”

The return of Dimencio Vaughn as a graduate transfer has gone a long way toward shoring up the depth, as has the arrival of South Alabama transfer Mervin James. Those two, along with Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson, have become more integral to Rider’s operation this year after Tyrel Bladen went down in the preseason with a torn ACL, forcing Baggett to restructure his rotation.

“I wish we had ’Rel,” Baggett lamented. “We’re really struggling in the post, and we’re struggling of late. Those guys have done a good job, but we need some help down there. That’s where Nehemiah (Benson)’s helped us some, but we need some more presence down there. I think Ajiri’s kind of hitting a wall, and I’m concerned for him. I don’t think he’s playing well of late.”

“They’ve meant a lot to us, even when Tyrel wasn’t hurt,” Murray said of Vaughn, James and Ogemuno-Johnson. “But when he got hurt, it was hard for us because Mervin came in about to play the three and the four, and he has to move to the five when Ajiri’s out. At the end of the day, I think that was the problem for us at the beginning. People didn’t like the position they had to play, but when we found out, everybody rose and started playing together.”

Still, while Murray believes Rider has yet to peak, his coach was quick to point out tactical flaws and crucial mistakes that could loom large going into Atlantic City, where Rider hopes to play spoiler.

“I’m not happy, man,” Baggett stated with regard to his team’s performance. “We just continue to give games away down the stretch and play not nearly as good as I hope. It’s disappointing, and at this time of year, we’ve played teams that got up in us before and we figured it out.”

His counterpart Friday night, however, was more bullish on the Broncs’ chances, dismissing the struggles as Rider simply needing time to work out the kinks.

“Sometimes it just takes time for things to work right,” Monmouth head coach King Rice assessed. “I saw them early at Bucknell and I called Kevin, and we just rapped about some things. Everybody was new and they weren’t together yet, and now just watching them mesh on the court, I think they’re starting to believe in each other right now. Maybe they should have earlier, but you never know with kids. It just takes time sometimes, and right now, they’re playing pretty good basketball.” 

“That team can beat anybody,” he elaborated. “You better catch them on a night when you’re playing well and maybe they have an off night. They have veterans, they can out-tough you, they can outboard you, they could get rolling on offense and they can stop you. I’m anxious to continue to watch them, I’m going to see them the last game of the season, but Rider is a problem. They’re going to go to this tournament and nobody’s going to want to play them because they’ve got a lot of guys over there. It hasn’t gone their way early, it’s starting to look like it’s going their way now.”

Scoring Leaders

1) Jose Perez, Manhattan (19.4 PPG)

2) Marcus Hammond, Niagara (17.8)

3) George Papas, Monmouth (15.3)

4) Jao Ituka, Marist (15.3)

5) Walker Miller, Monmouth (15.0)

6) Tyson Jolly, Iona (14.6)

7) Matt Balanc, Quinnipiac (14.6)

8) Ricardo Wright, Marist (14.2)

9) Shavar Reynolds, Monmouth (14.0)

10) Colby Rogers, Siena (13.7)

Rebounding Leaders

1) Kevin Marfo, Quinnipiac (10.6 RPG)

2) Nelly Junior Joseph, Iona (8.2)

3) Supreme Cook, Fairfield (8.1)

4) Dimencio Vaughn, Rider (7.8)

5) Nikkei Rutty, Monmouth (7.3)

6) Fousseyni Drame, Saint Peter’s (7.1)

7) Anthony Gaines, Siena (7.0)

8) Jackson Stormo, Siena (6.9)

9) Josh Roberts, Manhattan (6.5)

10) Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson, Rider (6.5)

Assist Leaders

1) Jose Perez, Manhattan (4.8 APG)

2) Dwight Murray, Jr., Rider (4.4)

3) Kevin Marfo, Quinnipiac (4.1)

4) Noah Thomasson, Niagara (3.6)

5) Ahamadou Fofana, Canisius (3.3)

6) Elijah Joiner, Iona (3.2)

7) Matthew Lee, Saint Peter’s (3.1)

8) Dylan van Eyck, Iona (3.0)

9) George Papas, Monmouth (3.0)

10) Marcus Hammond, Niagara (2.8)

Field Goal Percentage Leaders

1) Josh Roberts, Manhattan (.709)

2) Jordan Jones, Marist (.656)

3) Warren Williams, Manhattan (.581)

4) Jackson Stormo, Siena (.545)

5) Nelly Junior Joseph, Iona (.542)

6) Supreme Cook, Fairfield (.540)

7) Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson, Rider (.539)

8) Jordan Cintron, Niagara (.535)

9) Jao Ituka, Marist (.526)

10) Malek Green, Canisius (.505)

Free Throw Percentage Leaders

1) Daryl Banks III, Saint Peter’s (.889)

2) Doug Edert, Saint Peter’s (.880)

3) Shavar Reynolds, Monmouth (.866)

4) George Papas, Monmouth (.843)

5) Quinn Slazinski, Iona (.843)

6) Taj Benning, Fairfield (.826)

7) Marcus Hammond, Niagara (.824)

8) Matt Balanc, Quinnipiac (.813)

9) Jose Perez, Manhattan (.804)

10) Samba Diallo, Manhattan (.773)

3-Point Field Goal Percentage Leaders

1) Javian McCollum, Siena (.450)

2) Doug Edert, Saint Peter’s (.447)

3) Caleb Green, Fairfield (.429)

4) Colby Rogers, Siena (.407)

5) Anthony Nelson, Manhattan (.397)

6) Ricardo Wright, Marist (.397)

7) Tyrese Williams, Quinnipiac (.397)

8) Daryl Banks III, Saint Peter’s (.392)

9) Nick Hopkins, Siena (.385)

10) Tyson Jolly, Iona (.385)

Steal Leaders

1) Dimencio Vaughn, Rider (1.8 SPG)

2) Anthony Nelson, Manhattan (1.7)

3) Nick Hopkins, Siena (1.7)

4) Jordan Cintron, Niagara (1.6)

5) George Papas, Monmouth (1.4)

Blocked Shot Leaders

1) KC Ndefo, Saint Peter’s (2.7 BPG)

2) Nelly Junior Joseph, Iona (2.0)

3) Jackson Stormo, Siena (1.3)

4) Josh Roberts, Manhattan (1.2)

5) Jordan Jones, Marist (1.2)

Power Rankings

1) Iona (22-5, 14-2 MAAC)

Last Week: 1

Last Game: Sunday 2/20 vs. Fairfield (W 76-58)

Next Game: Friday 2/25 vs. Canisius, 7 p.m.

2) Siena (13-10, 10-5 MAAC)

Last Week: 2

Last Game: Sunday 2/20 vs. Saint Peter’s (W 84-70)

Next Game: Tuesday 2/22 at Monmouth, 7 p.m.

3) Monmouth (17-9, 9-6 MAAC)

Last Week: 4

Last Game: Friday 2/18 vs. Rider (W 60-58)

Next Game: Tuesday 2/22 vs. Siena, 7 p.m.

4) Saint Peter’s (12-11, 10-6 MAAC)

Last Week: 3

Last Game: Sunday 2/20 at Siena (L 84-70)

Next Game: Friday 2/25 at Monmouth, 7 p.m.

5) Marist (13-13, 8-9 MAAC)

Last Week: 10

Last Game: Sunday 2/20 vs. Quinnipiac (W 67-66)

Next Game: Friday 2/25 vs. Manhattan, 7 p.m.

6) Manhattan (14-11, 7-9 MAAC)

Last Week: 9

Last Game: Sunday 2/20 vs. Rider (W 84-78)

Next Game: Friday 2/25 at Marist, 7 p.m.

7) Quinnipiac (12-12, 7-9 MAAC)

Last Week: 5

Last Game: Sunday 2/20 at Marist (L 67-66)

Next Game: Thursday 2/24 vs. Siena, 7 p.m.

8) Niagara (12-13, 7-9 MAAC)

Last Week: 8

Last Game: Saturday 2/19 at Canisius (W 65-54)

Next Game: Friday 2/25 at Rider, 7 p.m.

9) Rider (10-16, 6-10 MAAC)

Last Week: 6

Last Game: Sunday 2/20 at Manhattan (L 84-78)

Next Game: Friday 2/25 vs. Niagara, 7 p.m.

10) Fairfield (12-16, 6-11 MAAC)

Last Week: 7

Last Game: Sunday 2/20 at Iona (L 76-58)

Next Game: Sunday 2/27 at Manhattan, 2 p.m.

11) Canisius (8-19, 4-12 MAAC)

Last Week: 11

Last Game: Saturday 2/19 vs. Niagara (L 65-54)

Next Game: Friday 2/25 at Iona, 7 p.m.

5 Thoughts: Seton Hall survives scare against DePaul

Jared Rhoden carried Seton Hall to victory Saturday with 18 points and 18 rebounds against DePaul. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, N.J. — Seton Hall came home after a pair of road losses in the mega-tough Big East, and thanks to a sluggish offensive performance by most of the team, found itself needing to be mega-tough down the stretch against the DePaul Blue Demons.

Down five points with five minutes to play, it wasn't pretty, but the Pirates rallied for a 66-64 victory, avoiding a resume-damaging defeat to the lowly Blue Demons.

After a long time away from the Rock, here are the Thoughts:

1. Locked In

Seton Hall came in ready to work tonight. Its defense in the first half was outstanding, and even though its offense was delayed in catching up, the Pirates harassed the Blue Demons into a 1-for-17 start and a 5-for-28 first half. 

Javon Freeman-Liberty, who came in averaging over 20 points per game, didn't make a single basket in the first half, scoring two points on free throws to avoid a bagel on the scoreboard. Kevin Willard credited Myles Cale, his best perimeter defender, for bottling up the Demons' star player and setting the tone early.

After giving up 52 points in Chicago in the first 20 minutes in the first matchup between the teams, and knowing how important holding serve is at home, it was great to see the Pirates show that fight on the defensive end. Unfortunately, Cale was also saddled with foul trouble for most of the game, and it limited him in the second half when Freeman-Liberty got going (more on that in a bit).

2. Kadary K.O.

Despite the fantastic defense to start, the Seton Hall offense was slow to pick up speed, and one of the reasons why was Kadary Richmond, not because of poor play, but because of what he went through leading up to this game. Richmond didn't practice at all in the two days leading up to this game because of a 102-degree fever.

"What that kid did today was exceptional," Willard said. "He wasn't even supposed to play. He came up to me right before the game (after) getting an IV all the way up until warmups, and he said, 'just don't take me out, I'm fine.' That's what I love about his toughness. It's also why I gave him the ball without calling timeout at the end of the game because I think he's developing into a really good player."

Richmond ended up scoring 11 points with seven rebounds and five assists, and as Willard alluded to, he drove inside and scored what proved to be the game-winning layup. If Jared Rhoden didn't have the game that he had, Richmond would have been the player of the game based solely on what he had to do just to be on the floor tonight.

3. Rhode(n) Island

With all those misses by the Blue Demons in the first half, there were a ton of rebounds to be had. Rhoden put the Hall on his back in this regard, with eight points and 13 boards en route to a monster night of 18 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, the most of any Big East player this season in any game. 

"It's something I take pride in," Rhoden said. "I only had two rebounds last game, so I took that kind of personally. I just have to get back to my old self, being gritty."

For most of the game, Rhoden was the only Pirate who was really doing damage on the floor on both ends, in fact, as the supporting cast mostly had tough shooting nights. But with Cale in foul trouble, it was Rhoden who stepped up late on defense as well. 

With time winding down, Freeman-Liberty had the ball in his hands and attempted a 3-pointer that would have put DePaul in front by two had it gone in. But Rhoden got a piece of the shot, and DePaul would not be able to control it on the baseline, giving the Pirates their biggest stop of the night.

"Being here for a long time now, I know what's at stake," he said. "I know how important these games are, especially home games. Gutting it out and grinding it out is important. Making the tournament is important to me in my last year, so I'm going to will us any way I can."  

Willard also put it well in his comments, saying that Rhoden "played like a guy that understands what time of year it is and where we are."

4. Don't Give Me Liberty

Without his best defender coming down the stretch, I asked Willard about what he wanted to do with Freeman-Liberty since it was obvious that he was going to have the ball in his hands.

"Pray," the skipper said, earning chuckles from the attending media. "Sometimes you just gotta hope the big man's on your side and that he misses a shot."

Willard then broke it down in detail.

"The first possession, the one he shot the airball on the three, we switched our pick-and-roll coverage. We were just going to trap him, and I thought we did a really good job. The second time after we missed a free throw, he made a good move and just missed a tough shot. I would say that praying had something to do with it when the ball was up in the air."

Willard would prefer to have Cale on the floor 100 times out of 100 in that situation, but the Pirates were able to make the most of the tough spot, and won the game at the end because of it.

5. Don't Call It Ugly

A lot of observers would call this an "ugly win." But don't tell that to Rhoden, who made an astute point about this game afterwards.

"I wouldn't call it an ugly game. I'd say that's what the Big East is about," Rhoden said. "You play in this league for so long, there are a million games like that. That's what the Big East is about, especially with two hard-nosed teams. At the end, you never know what you're going to get."

There is some truth to that. Perhaps the barometer that fans should go by when it comes to Big East games is that no game is ever ugly, that the games that are ugly on the surface are just regular Big East games, and that if you get an aesthetically pleasing win, you should savor it as a rare gem.

And certainly, if you come out on the winning end of a Big East game, you take it no matter how it looked.

Kevin Willard quote book: DePaul

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

On Jared Rhoden:

“I think Jared played like a guy who understands what time of year it is and where we are. For him having to play 40 minutes this time of year, the intensity that he played at was really impressive.”

On surviving foul trouble:

“I think it’s a little bit of, we had a lot more guys before now, so if guys got in foul trouble, I would take them out and not put them back in. I just don’t have that luxury anymore, so we’re kind of really a four-guard rotation and if one of them gets fouls, I’ve got to put them back in. So I think it’s a little bit more of we were rotating five guards before, now we’re only rotating four, so we lost five fouls.”

On leaving Alexis Yetna in with four fouls:

“Lex was playing good, and at that point, it was such a close game. Tray had been on the bench for almost seven minutes, so I’d just rather roll with the guys out there playing the way he’s playing than have to put Tray in, instead of taking him out and something going on that you’ve got to put him back in, you just wasted minutes. So at that point in the game, I was just rolling with him.”

On Rhoden’s performance:

“We need everybody to play at an A-game right now. We’re getting a lot of looks at the rim, we’re just not finishing at the rim. That’s something that hurt us against ’Nova, it really hurt us against UConn in the second half because we’re getting to the rim. We’re just not finishing. We’ve gotta do a little better job when we get to the rim from getting in there, but we’re missing a lot of easy layups and we just need everybody to kind of finish them because it killed us against ’Nova, and it takes a lot of momentum away from us.”

On defending without Myles Cale:

“It was tough, and again, I thought the way he started the game on Javon was a big reason why they got off to such a tough start. I thought he was great. We didn’t take advantage of our opportunity on defense that we started, but we start the second half with him on the bench and it’s a different intensity without him out there.”

On grinding out an ugly win:

“It’s the end of February in the Big East. It’s gonna be what it is.”

On what he needs from Cale moving forward:

“Myles Cale has been playing great, he’s playing really good. He just got in foul trouble and it’s tough to play well when you’re sitting for long stretches of time, jumping in, jumping out, but he’s probably been our most dependable guy that we’ve had.”

On defending Javon Freeman-Liberty without Cale:

“Pray. Sometimes you gotta hope the big man’s on your side and he misses a shot. We trapped the first possession, then when he shot the air-ball on the three, we switched our pick-and-roll coverage  and we were just going to trap him, we were going to just make him pass it, and I thought we did a really good job. The second time, after we missed the free throw — that’s why I don’t like calling timeouts, but it was just — we switched the pick-and-rolls just to get him, he made a good move and just missed a tough shot. I would say that praying had a little bit to do with it when the ball was up in the air.”

On Kadary Richmond:

“I’ll tell you what: Kadary Richmond didn’t practice on Thursday, he didn’t practice on Friday, he has a 102 fever, he didn’t even go to walkthrough today. What that kid did today was exceptional. He wasn’t even supposed to be here, he came to me right before the game, he was getting an IV all the way up until warmups, he came up to me and he goes, ‘just don’t take me out, I’m fine.’ That’s what I love about him, his toughness. That’s also why I gave him the ball without calling a timeout at the end of the game, because I think he’s developing into a really, really good player. I’ve got a lot of confidence with him with the ball in his hands. I just think he’s growing every day, he’s shooting the basketball better, he’s getting guys involved, he’s being aggressive. He defended great at the end of the game, he’s developing into exactly what I thought he was going to.”

On Richmond’s fever:

“We didn’t get back from UConn until like, 3:00 in the morning Thursday. He woke up not feeling good, so he got a test for COVID, went through all that BS, didn’t have COVID, stayed in and got IVs on Thursday, woke up Friday and felt worse Friday. He didn’t come to practice and this morning, he woke up feeling a little bit better, tests again for COVID, he doesn’t have COVID. He just came up to me before the game and said, ‘I’m playing’ at 7:15. We practiced for two days with Jamir at point guard. That’s one reason why we were all kind of standing around out there, because Jamir didn’t know what to do out there, because we didn’t practice with him running one play that we could run with him in the game, so it’s really hard. And I know people are thinking it can’t be that hard to remember a play you’ve been running, but when you go two days and you just focus on what you have to do offensively and defensively at one position, and then all of a sudden, you get thrown into another one, it just takes your natural feel away, and that’s kind of what happened with Jamir today. We just spent two days working with him.”

(Kadary) loves to hoop. Like, his leg would have to fall off for him not to hoop, and that’s what I love about Kadary more than anything. He wants to play. He loves games, he loves when we get up and down in practice, he’s a hooper and that’s what I love about him.”

Hofstra honors Mihalich with comeback win over Northeastern

Speedy Claxton and Joe Mihalich share a pregame embrace before Claxton’s Hofstra team ended game on 11-0 run to stun Northeastern. (Photo by Jerry Beach/Defiantly Dutch)

By Jason Dimaio (@JasonDimaio1)

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — End on a make.

For each of his seven seasons as head coach at Hofstra, Joe Mihalich used those four words as his mantra in every practice and game during his tenure with the Pride, his team ultimately doing so two years ago to win the Colonial Athletic Association championship before the then-nascent COVID-19 pandemic left the NCAA Tournament in its tidal wave of destruction.

Saturday, with the Mack Sports Complex filled with nostalgia as Mihalich was honored for his contributions while raising the program up from its nadir in 2013 and Hofstra players wearing warmup shirts styled to replicate his trademark tan blazer, the Pride did so again, scoring the final 11 points of a come-from-behind 76-73 victory over Northeastern in the last 91 seconds of regulation.

For as much nostalgia was in the building, there was drama as well, as the Pride avoided what would have been a crippling loss, coming back from a 73-65 deficit to advance to 19-9 on the season and 11-4 in CAA play.

“Good teams find ways to win,” a relieved Speedy Claxton said after Hofstra capped off the finishing touches of its tribute to his predecessor, who retired last year. “We got the defensive stops when we needed and hit big shots when we had to. Credit Northeastern, they’re a good team and are a lot better than what their record says they are.”

Former players Desure Buie and Eli Pemberton were on hand to receive their 2019-20 CAA Championship rings, hand-delivered by Mihalich in an in-game ceremony, while Tareq Coburn returned to receive his framed jersey from his senior year on Long Island. Hofstra fans may have wished the trio was back on the floor in the first half, as the Pride missed 14 of its first 17 attempts from beyond the 3-point line. However, Aaron Estrada, as he has been apt to do on several occasions this season, put the hosts in his back en route to a team-high 21 points.

Northeastern had its way with Hofstra throughout the afternoon in the interior, constantly going at Abayomi Iyiola and Jarrod Simmons and scoring at will. Notre Dame transfer Chris Doherty led the Huskies with 22 points and nine rebounds as Hofstra had no answer for the junior forward for a majority of the game. At one point, the Pride found itself down 11 points with eight minutes left, but started to answer back, trading baskets until the final two minutes, using the momentum of the crowd to will it to the finish. 

First, it was a Zach Cooks layup to cut the lead to six, then back-to-back stops on defense, followed by a Jalen Ray 3-pointer to cut the lead to three with 32 seconds left. A Cooks steal out of a timeout, followed by an Estrada layup to bring the Pride's deficit to one, brought the crowd to its feet. After Hofstra sent Northeastern to the foul line, Doherty could not convert on the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity, allowing the Pride to run out in transition for the eventual game-winning layup by Cooks with eight seconds left. Northeastern turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, unable to get a final shot up before sending Hofstra back to the line to ice the game and stun both the Northeastern bench and its own fans.

The switch to a zone defense proved prevalent in Hofstra's key to getting defensive stops down the stretch, and Claxton made sure to point that out. 

“It won us the game tonight,” he said of the change in tactics. “Our man-to-man defense wasn’t there. We had to switch to keep our smaller guys in the game offensively.”

An early-season theme of this team was the inability to close out games, but as the season has been going along, Claxton has had his squad making the right adjustments, all of which were much needed for a team that remains firmly in the mix for a CAA regular season crown. On Saturday, it showed.

“We were a new team and I am a rookie head coach, and we had a rough start,” Claxton said, giving a nod to the team chemistry that has developed. “But to these kids’ credit, they have a lot of faith in the coaching staff and we’re finishing our games now. We’ve had a lot of close games recently, and we’ve pretty much closed out all of them.”

But on such a special day, one could argue that the stars were simply aligned for the Pride.

“It’s everything,” Claxton remarked of the significance of winning for Mihalich. “It was a special night. We wanted to win for him and we made sure we did that. Now we’re going to go celebrate with him.”

Monmouth survives Rider, keeps regular season title hopes alive

Shavar Reynolds attacks basket in return to Monmouth lineup during Hawks’ win over Rider. (Photo by Monmouth University Athletics)

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. — Shavar Reynolds is no stranger to the situation in which he found himself yet again Friday.

With his Monmouth team leading archrival Rider by one point in the final minute of regulation, Reynolds was the beneficiary of a screen set by teammate Walker Miller to penetrate the lane. And the fifth-year senior, whose big-game resume from his time at Seton Hall includes a buzzer-beating game winner over St. John’s, delivered yet again.

After all, it seems as though all he does, and has done throughout his career, is make big shots.

Reynolds’ jumper in the waning moments at the OceanFirst Bank Center gave the host Hawks the cushion they would need, even after splitting a pair of free throws on the next offensive possession, as Monmouth held off Rider for a gritty 60-58 victory that kept its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season championship hopes alive.

“It feels good to be back,” Reynolds said in his return to the floor after a shoulder injury, tallying 17 points to help make up for lost time. “I feel like myself again. Coach made a great call, he trusted me to get to my spot and make the last basket, but Walk set a great slip screen and without that slip screen, I wouldn’t have been able to get there.”

“We need Shavar,” head coach King Rice added. “He settles me down, he makes me feel like if anything goes wrong, we’ve got a guy out there who will know what to do instantly, and he gets us to run our offense. When Shavar is playing, that plan gets executed. The stuff that I wanted to run, we ran more today. He kept us right for this game.”

Monmouth (17-9, 9-6 MAAC) needed every last drop from Reynolds, as Rider refused to go away at any stage of the evening, once again having a chance to win at the horn for a third time this season, only to be denied as Dwight Murray’s 3-point attempt knifed through the air after an apparent shooting foul was overlooked.

“I had seen it was like, three guys around me, so that’s why I paused a little bit to see if anybody on my team was down the court,” Murray recounted. “I just had to make a play.”

Leading by two at halftime before a 20-7 Monmouth run found the visiting Broncs (10-15, 6-9 MAAC) down nine, head coach Kevin Baggett would later reveal his team was grateful to even have a chance after what he termed a lackluster beginning to the proceedings.

“The way we started the game was disappointing,” he conceded. “I had to call two timeouts early. Tonight, I don’t know what was in their heads the first half, I have no idea. If we played better the first half, we’d have been fine the second half.”

“We played afraid the first half. We played scared, we played tentative, we played passive because they got up in us a little bit. They dominated us on the glass, that was the biggest thing at the end of the day, 17 offensive rebounds. That’s the story of the game right there. That’s toughness, and we lacked that.”

The toughness Baggett lamented for not being present in his team was clearly noticeable on the Monmouth front line, particularly in the form of Nikkei Rutty, who — despite not attempting a shot outside of one free throw — amassed 13 rebounds on a night where the Hawks ripped 45 caroms from the glass to hold Rider at bay.

“That’s one of the best games I’ve ever seen from anybody who didn’t attempt a shot,” said Miller of his frontcourt partner. “He impacted the game as much as anybody and you saw him beat up the boards the way he did tonight, so I think that kind of stuff is what’s going to make this team successful in the end and determine how far we can go.”

“Give him his flowers,” Reynolds chimed in. “He was really the best player on the court.”

Rutty’s backup, Myles Foster, also ensured the energy did not dissipate, posting 10 points and eight rebounds in just 15 minutes of action, adding up to another efficient night for the sophomore.

“Myles is such a talented kid,” Rice praised. “He scores as well as anybody. We’re trying to just get him to grow so he doesn’t always think he’s getting fouled, but on the floor, the kid has gotten better. He’s changed his body, he’s going to change it again this summer because then I think he can be unstoppable on offense, but what he’s given us when you have Walker holding down the five spot, that’s a lot of points from one position on our team.”

Now entering a pivotal stretch to conclude the regular season in which each of Monmouth’s next four games are against teams in the top half of the MAAC standings, Rice hopes the hard-fought win is a harbinger of things to come for a group he has credited for developing him in lockstep with his cultivation of its own talent.

“We’re super happy about this one,” he admitted. “I thought our defense carried us, and now maybe you win one like where maybe it could have gone the other way, maybe some good fortune is coming our way.”

“They make me want to be a better person. Not just a coach, they make me want to be a better dad, they make you want to be better because of how they are, how they approach it. They’ve impacted my life in this short amount of time, to being a basketball coach and a better man, they’ve impacted me more than I’m giving them.”