By: Ryan Chichester
The Quinnipiac men’s basketball team may still be battling exhaustion from its double-overtime thriller against Iona, but it will have to return to full strength in a hurry as the Bobcats host another tough test in first-place Rider on Sunday afternoon.
After traveling to New Rochelle to host the Gaels and their third-best offense in the MAAC, the Bobcats continue their tough stretch when the Broncs and their second-highest scoring offense in the conference comes to town. The Broncs are averaging 81.4 points per game, and handled the Bobcats 78-60 back in mid-January.
Here’s what to watch for when the Bobcats look to avoid the start of a losing streak on Sunday:
Pressure in the paint
The Bobcats have struggled to assert themselves at the rim for much of the season, and it almost cost them a loss at Nassau Coliseum against Fairfield when they were outscored 34-22 in the paint. Baker Dunleavy wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again, and was pleased with how quickly things improved against an aggressive Iona team on the road.
“It’s not been an area of strength for us, our guys were able to respond to a challenge,” Dunleavy said after the narrow loss to Iona. “We talked a lot about our guards starting to rebound more and help our forwards. We definitely showed some growth there.”
If the Bobcats are to make a quick return to the win column, they will have to continue to show that growth against one of the toughest interior teams in Rider. The Broncs simply out-muscled the Bobcats in the teams’ last meeting, owning a 48-24 advantage in points in the paint. The Broncs also lead the MAAC in rebounding margin, and will look to decide this game at the rim and on the boards. Chaise Daniels, who had a great performance off the bench on Friday night, will have to have a repeat performance, while guards like Isaiah Washington and Cam Young will have to be ready to crash the boards and give their big guys some help. If Rider asserts their dominance inside early, it could be a long day for the Bobcats.
B-E Aggressive
We alluded to this before the Bobcats’ first matchup with the Broncs, and given how it turned out, it becomes even more prevalent for Sunday. The Broncs are easily the worst free throw shooting team in the conference with a painful collective free throw percentage of 60.3-percent. Back in January, the Broncs shot just 5-for-16 at the charity stripe against the Bobcats, but did plenty of damage from the field to make up for their ugly night at the foul line.
If the Bobcats have to be overly aggressive on defense to slow down Rider’s offense and send them to the line, so be it. The Bobcats showed they can stay in games against superior teams when they slow the pace down like they did against Iona in the first half on Friday. Giving up free throws seems counter-productive when facing one of the MAAC’s best offenses, but given how Rider has been at the free throw line all year, it might be the Bobcats’ best shot of an upset.
