St. Francis Brooklyn 63, CCSU 51: Ray Floriani's Tempo-Free Analysis

The CCSU dance team poses at Madison Square Garden. (Photo courtesy of Ray Floriani)

New York City­ - The dean of Northeast Conference coaches, Howie Dickenman, brought his Central Connecticut team to New York for their first game on the storied Garden floor. The result was a competitive effort in a 63­-51 loss to first-place St. Francis Brooklyn. The pace and efficiency:

Possessions: 59, given both schools brought dance teams, we’ll call this tempo a waltz.

Offensive efficiency: St. Francis 107, CCSU 86

The Four Factors:

eFG%: St. Francis 56, CCSU 46

FT Rate: St. Francis 26, CCSU 18

OREB%: CCSU 32, St. Francis 26

TO Rate: CCSU 27, St. Francis 17

What CCSU did well: Shoot beyond the arc. The Blue Devils hit 7-of-17 from downtown for a 41% rate. Their two point shooting was 38% on 12-of-32 attempts. Leading scorer Matt Mobley epitomized the performance, hitting 4-of-8 deep and just 2-of-7 inside the arc.

What St. Francis did well: Force turnovers while caring for the ball on their end. The Terriers imposed their defensive will, especially after halftime. They forced CCSU into a high 27% TO rate while outscoring them 20­-6 on points off turnovers. Glenn Braica’s club committed only 10 turnovers for an impressive 17% rate.

Leading scorers:

CCSU: Matt Mobley, 17 points

St. Francis: Brent Jones, 22 points

Efficiency leaders:

CCSU: Brandon Peel, 12

St. Francis: Brent Jones, 24

Peel scored eight points while adding a game high 10 rebounds. Mobley of CCSU was hindered by 6-of-15 shooting. Besides 22 points, Jones had a game high 6 assists against one turnover. Jalen Cannon added 15 points for St. Francis. Cannon shot 7-of-11, adding six boards en route at a 20 efficiency that trailed only teammate Jones in that category. In a game with 14 lead changes, St. Francis showed their inside prowess with a 36-­22 edge in points in the paint. The Terriers shot just 2-of-11 (18%) from three-point range.

CCSU dropped to 0­-7 in NEC play. St. Francis leads the conference at 6­-1.