It is officially March and that means one thing, conference tournaments. Tonight the seventh-seeded Quinnipiac Bobcats (10-20 overall, 7-11 MAAC) take on the tenth-seeded Siena Saints (8-23, 4-14 MAAC) at 7 p.m. This will be the third time this season that Siena and Quinnipiac play each other; the Bobcats have beaten the Saints both times this season. This will be the Bobcats toughest game against the Saints because the MAAC tournament is played at the Time Union Center, which is Siena’s home court.
Players to Watch
Siena – Prince Oduro
Prince Oduro is Siena’s second-leading scorer with 9.2 points per game. Abdulai Bundu and Chaise Daniels will defend Oduro for Quinnipiac. Oduro will have the height advantage against Bundu who is two inches shorter and Oduro will be able to get Daniels in foul trouble because Daniels is an aggressive defender. Oduro is shooting 48.3 percent from the floor this season, which is tenth in the MAAC.
Quinnipiac – Cam Young
Cam Young has emerged as one of the top scorers in the MAAC this season after only playing six minutes all of last season under former Quinnipiac head coach Tom Moore. Young was named to the All-MAAC second team earlier this week and he will look to continue to build on his successful season by helping Quinnipiac get its first win in the MAAC tournament since its inaugural season in the conference in 2013-14. Young scored 18.9 points per game this season, which was fourth in the conference, and it will take a good performance from Young and his teammates if Quinnipiac wants to advance in the MAAC tournament.
Keys to the Game
Siena – Use Home Court Advantage
Technically this game will go down as a neutral site game but Siena is playing on its home court tonight. It is important that Siena get off to a fast start so that its home crowd can get into the game and give it an extra boost. During last year’s MAAC semifinals against Monmouth Siena’s home crowd gave the Saints some motivation to upset the top-seeded team. Siena will need to get its crowd into the game if it wants to beat Quinnipiac for the first time this season.
Quinnipiac – Keep Siena’s fans out of the game
It is important for Quinnipiac to get into an offensive flow early on so it can silence Siena’s loud fans. Young will need to show why he is one of the top scorers in the MAAC by hitting his early shots so that he can get into a groove early on. Rich Kelly who made the All-MAAC rookie team will need to show how he has matured throughout the season if he wants to guide Quinnipiac past Siena. Kelly will need to remain calm in a tough environment if he wants to organize his teammates on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.
The Game
You can listen to @QBSN broadcast of Quinnipiac and Siena from the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. at 7 p.m. Ryan Chichester and Bryan Schwartz will have the call tonight. Link to broadcast: mixlr.com/qbsn
