After a wild final day to the MAAC?s regular season on Sunday, Monmouth was left with the MAAC Tournament?s No. 9 seed and a first-round meeting this evening with in-state rival and No. 8 seed Rider at the 7,300-seat MassMutual Center at 5 p.m.
The Hawks ended the season losing 10 of 11 and the Broncs, who opened conference-play 8-4 behind All-MAAC selections Danny Stewart and Anthony Myles, finished by losing seven of eight. The beauty of this time of year, though, is that none of that matters now. Everyone has a clean slate and everyone has the chance to write their own ending as the 11-team MAAC Tournament opens tonight with three first-round games.
When Monmouth (11-20, 5-15 MAAC) reconvened on Monday to begin preparing for Rider, head coach King Rice and his staff preached blind faith. That is especially important at this time of year for this group. On an awfully young roster, only three players, Andrew Nicholas, Max DiLeo and Deon Jones, have played in a conference tournament game. Of those three, only Jones has played a conference tournament game on a neutral floor. That came when he was a freshman at Towson in the 2012 CAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, Rice quarterbacked a North Carolina team that featured Hawks assistant coaches Derrick Phelps and Brian Reese to the 1991 Final Four. As juniors, Reese and Phelps were leaders on the 1993 Tar Heels squad that won the national championship.
Twenty-plus years after those March runs, Rice, Phelps and Reese are hoping to get this young group up this weekend in an effort to change this season?s narrative, which hasn?t changed much in the last month.
?We all had a talk about blind trust, so we?re gonna do what our coaches tell us to do, play the way they want us to play and we?re going to be successful,? Nicholas said. ?It?s tournament time, so the level of play is going to be ramped up. Anything can happen and I really do like the matchup we have going into Thursday.?
Rider (13-16, 9-11 MAAC) took both regular-season meetings from Monmouth, 89-83 on Dec. 5 in West Long Branch and 77-71 in overtime on Jan. 26 in Lawrence Township.
With the exception of the Broncs jumping out to a 37-20 halftime lead in the second meeting, both games were closely contested and ended with Monmouth having coming up a play short here or a few missed free throws there from changing the outcome.
On Dec. 5, the senior duo of Stewart and Myles combined to shoot 21-for-25 to help Rider pull out the win after the Hawks stormed back from an 11-point second half deficit. Monmouth, a poor free-throw shooting team this season, went 10-for-20 from the stripe that night.
In the return meeting, Rice started the second half with a group of reserves, which quickly closed that 17-point halftime deficit and made it a game over the final 12 minutes. A Justin Robinson 3-pointer off glass in the closing seconds of regulation sent the game to overtime, but 3-for-12 shooting in overtime and 5-for-14 from the foul line for the game ultimately did Monmouth in.
One key during the regular season games was Rider scored a combined 41 points off turnovers. This, after Monmouth registered more field goals than the Broncs in both meetings. It stands to reason that if Monmouth can clean up the miscues and shoot better from the foul line, it will give itself at least a reasonable chance to advance to Saturday?s quarterfinals.
?In both of those games, we made more baskets, but the game has come down to us fouling too much,? Rice said. ?Both of those games, we played pretty well against them, but we fouled too much and we took too many bad shots to give them transition points. If we take the right shots and don?t just turn it over so easily, that?s where we could come out on top.?
The winner of this game draws No. 1 seed and reigning MAAC Tournament champion Iona at noon.
Thursday?s other first-round matchups will see No. 7 seed Saint Peter?s take on 10th-seeded Fairifield at 7 p.m. and No. 6 seed Marist closing out the day by facing No. 11 seed Niagara at 9 p.m.
The Hawks ended the season losing 10 of 11 and the Broncs, who opened conference-play 8-4 behind All-MAAC selections Danny Stewart and Anthony Myles, finished by losing seven of eight. The beauty of this time of year, though, is that none of that matters now. Everyone has a clean slate and everyone has the chance to write their own ending as the 11-team MAAC Tournament opens tonight with three first-round games.
When Monmouth (11-20, 5-15 MAAC) reconvened on Monday to begin preparing for Rider, head coach King Rice and his staff preached blind faith. That is especially important at this time of year for this group. On an awfully young roster, only three players, Andrew Nicholas, Max DiLeo and Deon Jones, have played in a conference tournament game. Of those three, only Jones has played a conference tournament game on a neutral floor. That came when he was a freshman at Towson in the 2012 CAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, Rice quarterbacked a North Carolina team that featured Hawks assistant coaches Derrick Phelps and Brian Reese to the 1991 Final Four. As juniors, Reese and Phelps were leaders on the 1993 Tar Heels squad that won the national championship.
Twenty-plus years after those March runs, Rice, Phelps and Reese are hoping to get this young group up this weekend in an effort to change this season?s narrative, which hasn?t changed much in the last month.
?We all had a talk about blind trust, so we?re gonna do what our coaches tell us to do, play the way they want us to play and we?re going to be successful,? Nicholas said. ?It?s tournament time, so the level of play is going to be ramped up. Anything can happen and I really do like the matchup we have going into Thursday.?
Rider (13-16, 9-11 MAAC) took both regular-season meetings from Monmouth, 89-83 on Dec. 5 in West Long Branch and 77-71 in overtime on Jan. 26 in Lawrence Township.
With the exception of the Broncs jumping out to a 37-20 halftime lead in the second meeting, both games were closely contested and ended with Monmouth having coming up a play short here or a few missed free throws there from changing the outcome.
On Dec. 5, the senior duo of Stewart and Myles combined to shoot 21-for-25 to help Rider pull out the win after the Hawks stormed back from an 11-point second half deficit. Monmouth, a poor free-throw shooting team this season, went 10-for-20 from the stripe that night.
In the return meeting, Rice started the second half with a group of reserves, which quickly closed that 17-point halftime deficit and made it a game over the final 12 minutes. A Justin Robinson 3-pointer off glass in the closing seconds of regulation sent the game to overtime, but 3-for-12 shooting in overtime and 5-for-14 from the foul line for the game ultimately did Monmouth in.
One key during the regular season games was Rider scored a combined 41 points off turnovers. This, after Monmouth registered more field goals than the Broncs in both meetings. It stands to reason that if Monmouth can clean up the miscues and shoot better from the foul line, it will give itself at least a reasonable chance to advance to Saturday?s quarterfinals.
?In both of those games, we made more baskets, but the game has come down to us fouling too much,? Rice said. ?Both of those games, we played pretty well against them, but we fouled too much and we took too many bad shots to give them transition points. If we take the right shots and don?t just turn it over so easily, that?s where we could come out on top.?
The winner of this game draws No. 1 seed and reigning MAAC Tournament champion Iona at noon.
Thursday?s other first-round matchups will see No. 7 seed Saint Peter?s take on 10th-seeded Fairifield at 7 p.m. and No. 6 seed Marist closing out the day by facing No. 11 seed Niagara at 9 p.m.
