What to watch for: QU continues Jersey trip

What to watch for: QU continues Jersey trip

By Matthias Gausz, QBSN Co-Director

The Bobcats men’s basketball team (12-10) travels to West Long Branch, N.J. to take on the Monmouth University Hawks (7-17) at the Multipurpose Activity Center on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are tied for sixth place in the Northeast Conference at 5-6.

Quinnipiac has won three out of the last four games, the lone loss coming against Wagner last Saturday by the score of 51-50. The Bobcats come off a good 65-48 victory on Thursday at Fairleigh Dickinson. Sophomore forward Ike Azotam (Boston, Mass.) led the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and James Johnson (Queens, N.Y.) added ten points. Quinnipiac, second in the nation in rebound margin, dominated the boards 44-28 with Ousamne Drame (Boston, Mass.) grabbing 10 and 11 from Dave Johnson (Jackson, N.J.).

Quinnipiac has had many close games in conference play, being in every game since the conference opener against Sacred Heart. Their other five losses in conference play have been by a combined 12 points. The conference race is sorting out as the top three teams are starting to pull away from the rest. Long Island-Brooklyn is in first at 10-1, right behind them is Wagner and St. Francis (NY) tied at 9-2. Robert Morris and Central Connecticut are both two games back of second place at 7-4. Then there is Quinnipiac and Monmouth sitting in sixth with identical 5-6 records. Just one game back is Sacred Heart, St. Francis (PA) and Mount St. Mary’s, tied for the crucial eight spot. Bryant and Fairleigh Dickinson occupy the basement with 1-10 records apiece.

Monmouth comes in as winners of four out of its last five and is one of the surprise teams in the NEC this year. Under first year head coach King Rice, Monmouth has had a brutal non-conference schedule with trips to Villanova, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Rutgers and North Carolina. This young team has definitely been a tough out as of late. They are a smaller team that likes to slow the tempo, as they only score 64.5 points a game. Junior guard Jesse Steele is the only player in double figures for the Hawks averaging 12.5 points per game. Their next eight players average between 8.7 and 4.6 points per game, making for a very balanced squad.

Monmouth weakness is on the boards as it averages 30 rebounds per game. The leading rebounder is Ed Waite, a 6-foot 3-inch power forward who manages 5.5 boards a game. The Hawks are a very scrappy team and want to grind it out and force turnovers. They will not overpower anyone; they don’t have the firepower to do so.

Key for the Bobcats:

Quinnipiac needs to hit the boards hard and control the paint like it did on Thursday night. James Johnson needs to get back into his role as being a scorer by taking much smarter shots and not forcing anything. Azotam and Drame can and need to dominate inside to play with the grind-it-out style.  If the supporting cast can add their points as well, they should be able to come away with the weekend sweep.

Key for the Hawks:

The Hawks are going to play multiple players which allows them to play their grind-it-out style. The defense that they play will ultimately decide the outcome, if they can get the Bobcats to slow it down. If Monmouth falls into running up and down with Quinnipiac, it can find itself behind quickly. For any chance to come away with a W, they must find a way to challenge them on the boards.

Last Meeting: February 24, 2011 in Hamden. Quinnipiac won 64-59. Justin Rutty led the Bobcats with 17 points and 17 rebounds. Quinnipiac won the battle of the boards 44-21. For Monmouth, James Hett had 15 points, four assists and three rebounds. Due to the unbalanced schedule, this is the lone meeting in the regular season.