Before Super Bowl Sunday festivities ensue, the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team must prepare for a home tilt against Rider that has massive importance. The Bobcats (9-14 overall, 6-5 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) look to secure a signature win against the top team in the conference, as the Broncs (16-7 overall, 9-2 MAAC) will attempt to repeat their previous performance against Quinnipiac, a 78-60 thrashing of the Bobcats on January 12.
Quinnipiac is coming off of one of their best performances of the season, albeit in a bitter 87-82 loss in double overtime at rival Iona on Friday night. Rider, on the other hand, defeated Monmouth University 92-85 last Monday.
Keys to the Game
Quinnipiac
Good Shot Selection – Quinnipiac loves to shoot the three ball, and with players like Jacob Rigoni, Andrew Robinson, and Isaiah Washington, it’s easy to see why. The Bobcats live and die by the three; however, they’ve been doing a lot of the latter so far this season. They shoot around 34 percent from beyond the arc as a team, which is okay. But they continue to jack them up like they shoot 50 percent, which is simply not the case. Quinnipiac has attempted over 100 more threes than their opponents collectively this season (627-506), but have only made 14 more of those attempts than their adversaries (212-198). This will never be a formula for success, and with talented players like Chaise Daniels, Cameron Young, and Rich Kelly, who thrive with mid-to-close range shots, the emphasis and gameplan should center more around them and their strengths.
Rider
Free Throws – There’s no way to sugarcoat this; the Broncs have been anemic from the line this season. They’re called “free” throws for a reason, yet Rider has shot a horrendous 60 percent from the charity stripe and other teams have started to take notice. Rider has taken 607 free throws as a team this season, over 100 more than they’ve allowed other teams to attempt (488). Yet, similarly to Quinnipiac from three, the quality level has most certainly not met the level of quantity. Rider has only made 13 more free throws than opponents this season (366-353), despite the large attempt disparity. It says a lot about this Rider team that they can struggle so heavily in a key category, yet are still in first place in their conference. This team is so talented and should be better than their already impressive record. The squad as a whole should look to start making this improvement against the Bobcats.
Make sure to tune in at 2:30 p.m. Sunday as Quinnipiac looks to knock off the top team in the conference in the Rider Broncs. Steven Pappas and Kevin Higgins have the call on mixlr.com/qbsn.
