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Pregame Shootaround 2.1.13: The return of Ivy League Friday nights

needham

Game of the Night: Rider at Fairfield (7:00 p.m.)

With the bottom four teams in the MAAC standings at season’s end having to play in the first round of the conference tournament, tonight’s home game is very important for the 4-6 Stags. The host a Rider squad that had won five straight league games before losing to both Canisius and Manhattan last weekend, averaging just 50.5 points per game in the defeats. For Kevin Baggett’s team last week’s offensive struggled were a flashback to December, when Rider lost five straight with one of the defeats being a 65-52 home loss to Fairfield (December 9).

And frankly that was one of the ugliest games of the entire season as the two teams combined for a staggering 53 turnovers, with Rider accounting for 30. Hopefully the guard matchup between Rider’s Nurideen Lindsey and Fairfield’s Derek Needham results in a lower number of turnovers, but look for the rematch to be another affair in which points come at a premium. Also of importance for Fairfield is the need to keep Rider’s Daniel Stewart (10.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg) under wraps, as the junior struggled in both games last week (5.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg).

Who’s Getting Upset? Detroit (vs. Youngstown State, 9:00 p.m. on ESPNU)

Youngstown State head coach Jerry Slocum shouldn’t have to say much to motivate his Penguins in advance of this game. Just hand out a box score of the first meeting this season, a 101-60 Detroit victory in Youngstown. Slocum wasn’t too thrilled with the way Ray McCallum Sr.'s Titans handled the final five minutes of the game (that question gets asked at the 0:52 mark of this video), one in which Detroit hit 11-of-20 from beyond the arc.

Ray McCallum Jr., Jason Calliste and Nick Minnerath can give opposing teams fits, and YSU will need to be at their best defensively in order to combat that firepower. The Penguins hold opponents to 37% shooting from the field and in veterans Kendrick Perry and Damian Eargle they’ve got two players capable of causing problems on the other end. Youngstown State has won four straight, and the motivation of that first meeting could be enough to push them past Detroit.

Ivy League Matchup of the Night: Columbia at Pennsylvania (7:00 p.m.)

Since all of the games on tonight’s schedule involve mid-majors switching things up a bit in honor of the first Ivy League Friday night of the season. The game to keep an eye on involves the Lions, a team that has the talent needed to hang with preseason favorites Princeton and Harvard, and a young Penn squad that has struggled this season. Leading scorer Fran Dougherty has missed the last eight games due to mononucleosis, but he’s expected to return this weekend and would provide a welcome boost to the lineup. Columbia will counter with guards Brian Barbour and Grant Mullins, who combine to average 24.7 points per game.

Five Things to Watch For

1) Both Manhattan and Siena (7:00 p.m., ESPNU) have struggled this season with injuries being a major reason why. Keep an eye on Manhattan’s Rhamel Brown and Siena’s O.D. Anosike, two of the MAAC’s best front court players. Anosike posted the fourth 20 point/20 rebound game of the college basketball season on Sunday (20 points, 21 rebounds in a win at Marist).

2) Mercer looks to extend its home win streak to 11 games tonight when they host Kennesaw State (7:00 p.m., ESPN3). While a win would move the Bears into a tie for first place that’s no gimme, as KSU beat Mercer 83-75 on earlier this season.

3) Harvard looks to move to 3-0 in Ivy League play tonight when they host rival Yale in Cambridge. The Crimson have won six of the last seven meetings in the series, and the tandem of freshman point guard Siyani Chambers and sophomore forward Wesley Saunders have led the way for Tommy Amaker’s team.

4) Valparaiso hosts struggling Milwaukee, and a win would keep the Crusaders alone in first place in the Horizon League. Ryan Broekhoff accounted for 26 points, ten rebounds and four assists in the first meeting this season, a 76-52 Valparaiso victory.

5) Princeton has won 16 straight Ivy League home games and they’ll put that streak on the line tonight against Cornell. The streak is the program’s longest since winning 26 Ivy League home games in a row from 1996-99.

Other Notable Games

Yale at Harvard, 7:00 p.m.

Cornell at Princeton, 7:00 p.m.

Manhattan at Siena, 7:00 p.m. (ESPNU)

No Top 25 games scheduled

Photo credit: Fairfield Athletics (Derek Needham)

Raphielle also writes for the NBE Basketball Report and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.