Under the Radar Game of the Day – Monday, February 1: Monmouth at Siena

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Monmouth at Siena, 7:00 PM Eastern

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The Monmouth Hawks have been one of the most entertaining stories of the 2015-16 season, and not just for what Justin Robinson, Micah Seaborn, Deon Jones and company have done on the court, but also for what the Monmouth Bench has been doing on the sidelines.  The Bench has been entertaining us with its antics all season long and has become the reason why Monmouth can truly promote itself as having the “Best Bench in Basketball”.  Although having such a fun group of kids in the NCAA Tournament would be a great thing in our opinion, in order to qualify for the Big Dance, their resume needs to be there.  And right now, the argument can be made that if they need an at-large bid, the Hawks are close to being out of strikes.

Heading into tonight’s game, Monmouth is 17-5 overall, 9-2 in MAAC play and in sole possession of first place.  The Hawks’ power rating numbers are solid with an RPI of 37, BPI of 71 and KenPom of 58.  Although Monmouth has four good to very good wins away from home (at UCLA, at Georgetown and neutral court wins over USC and Notre Dame), they have given away almost all the goodwill bought by those victories with three sub-200 losses (at Canisius, at Army and at Manhattan).  Losing at Siena tonight would not be a sub-200 loss (in fact Siena’s RPI sits at 87), but it would be a lost chance to put one more solid road win in their pockets this season — and this may be their last chance to do that before the Selection Committee convenes.  Obviously, the goal for the Hawks this season is to win the MAAC Tournament and not have the Committee debate whether they belong in or not.  But with the MAAC Tournament also being on Sena’s home floor in Albany, it doesn’t hurt to pick up as many wins as possible (in other words — win the rest of their regular season games), just in case.

Siena enters play today tied with Iona at 8-3 in MAAC play, one game behind the Hawks.  The Saints are 15-7 overall, with an RPI of 87, BPI of 121 and KenPom of 104.  They have not lost a home game yet this season, and their home wins include St. Bonaventure, Hofstra, Albany and Bucknell (the last three of which are all currently among the leaders in their respective conferences).  The Saints are led by Brett Bisping, Lavon Long, Nico Clareth and Javion Ogunyemi.  Bisping was the clear star last time out in a win over Marist, scoring 27 points while pulling down 18 rebounds.  If Siena can continue to work their home court magic, and get another strong effort from Bisping, the Saints can clearly establish themselves as the second best team in the MAAC this season (something I did predict before the season started — though we won’t discuss where I had Monmouth ranked), and just may take away Monmouth’s last chance at being able to get an at-large bid.