Saint Peter's 56, St. Francis Brooklyn 45: Ray Floriani's Tempo-Free Analysis

John Dunne discusses Saint Peter's win over St. Francis Brooklyn in Peacocks' penultimate tuneup before MAAC play resumes. (Photo courtesy of Ray Floriani)

Jersey City, NJ -­ MAAC play has already started, and Saint Peter’s is 2­-0. The ‘meat’ of the schedule is after the new year, and coach John Dunne wants his club running on all cylinders. Defensively, the Peacocks were dominant, posting a 56-­45 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn Tuesday at the Yanitelli Center. The numbers of note:

Possessions: St. Francis 68, Saint Peter’s 66

Offensive Efficiency: St. Francis 66, Saint Peter’s 85

Four Factors:
eFG%: St. Francis 40, Saint Peter’s 42
Free Throw Rate: St. Francis 40, Saint Peter’s 58
Offensive Rebound %: St. Francis 22, Saint Peter’s 32

Turnover Rate: St. Francis 31, Saint Peter’s 24

Leading Scorers and Effectiveness Factors:
St. Francis: Tyreek Jewell (13 points, EF 18)

Saint Peter’s: Quadir Welton (17 points, EF 26)

What St. Francis did well: While talk centered on the Saint Peter’s defense, the visiting Terriers did a respectable job. Holding an opponent to a 42 percent eFG mark, forcing a 24 percent turnover rate, and showing an 85 defensive efficiency are not too shabby.

What Saint Peter’s did well: Defend at a high level. The 40 percent eFG defense (4-of-22 for 18 percent from three-point range) and 31 percent turnover rate comprised the primary factors in the excellent 66 defensive efficiency.

It is the Christmas season, so we will be kind saying neither team was a ball handling maestro. St. Francis had five assists against 21 turnovers. Saint Peter’s struggled as well, with nine assists to go with 16 miscues. 

Welton, effective inside and Saint Peter’s guard Trevis Wyche, shared game-high rebounding honors with eight each. Backcourt performers hit the boards hard, as St. Francis was paced by Tyreek Jewell with seven rebounds.

St. Francis did not help their cause with two second half technical fouls. In fact, the Terriers were whistled for 27 personal fouls on the night. Saint Peter’s was guilty of 15.

Saint Peter’s shot just 2-of-10 from three-point range. With the inside game clicking, the long range shots were not a dire necessity.

St. Francis fell to 4­-8, while Saint Peter’s is now 4­-6.

Final Thoughts
“I thought they (St. Francis) started out like they did against Liberty (a win on Sunday). We were able to get control, we defended, and Trevis Wyche was outstanding. They (St.Francis) missed some shots, but we were able to ‘shrink’ the court and get some deflections. Chris Hooper was a problem inside, but we decided not to double him low and leave someone on the perimeter open. We were sluggish in the first half, but were able to grind it out and get the win.” ­- Saint Peter’s coach John Dunne

“We got in foul trouble the first half. We could not establish our normal rotation and never got any offensive consistency. You can’t turn it over 21 times and shoot under 50 percent from the floor and hope to win. That’s ridiculous.” ­- St. Francis coach Glenn Braica