By: Ryan Chichester
The Quinnipiac men’s basketball team has had almost a week to enjoy its current three-game winning streak, but that streak is about to be put to a tough test when it heads to New Rochelle to face Iona on Friday night.
The Gaels currently sit fourth in the MAAC at 7-3, just above the fifth-place Bobcats. After a frustrating triple-overtime loss to 3-7 Fairfield, Iona will be looking to get back on track on its home floor. The reigning conference champs are 6-1 in their own building and haven’t lost consecutive games since the first month of the season.
Here is what you need to know as the Bobcats begin a tough four-game stretch against the top four teams in the MAAC with a combined 30-10 conference record:
Don’t get torched by the trey
The Bobcats are 10th in the conference when it comes to defending the three-point line, but an improved defense helped hold Fairfield to a 20-percent clip from beyond the arc in Saturday’s win. Of course, Fairfield is the worst three-point shooting team in the MAAC in terms of three-point percentage, so the Bobcats will have to be even better against an Iona team that shoots 39.3-percent from downtown, which is one tenth of a percentage point off the MAAC lead.
Iona’s Schadrac Casimir has made a living off the three this season, shooting the deep ball at 47-percent, just behind Jacob Rigoni for the best mark in the MAAC. The Stamford native has drained at least three triples in a game eight different times this season, including a 5-for-7 night against Manhattan last weekend. Isaiah Washington has emerged as one of the Bobcats’ top defenders, and will have to be attached to Casimir’s hip like he was to Tyler Nelson in Saturday’s win against Fairfield.
If Casimir can’t find open looks, Iona has an enviable second option in Jan Svandrlik, the Czech Republic native who is shooting 46.4-percent from three, good for fourth-best in the conference. Svandrlik is one of Iona’s top bench producers this season, and his early shots are crucial to establishing a rhythm, so the Bobcats should look to get in his face as soon as he checks in.
Disciplined defense
The Bobcats will have to be active around the perimeter to take away those Iona threes, but they will have to be careful of getting too aggressive and drawing foul calls. Iona is the wrong team to put in the bonus and send to the line, as they shoot 75.5-percent from the free throw line, easily the best in the MAAC.
The Bobcats attempted more free throws than their opponent in all three games of the current winning streak, which is a trend that will be crucial to continue against the Gaels. Iona’s shooters will look to get the Quinnipiac defenders off their feet and into foul trouble, so Chaise Daniels and Abdulai Bundu will have to stand their ground and keep Iona off the foul line, and keep themselves off the bench. Defense has been the key for the Bobcats in the last three games, and that will really be put to the test against Iona’s strong shooters on Friday.
