Iona MBB vs. Rider In MAAC Semifinal on MSG2 Sunday at 4 PM

Written By: Robert Cox

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For complete notes:
http://www.icgaels.com/fls/14900/stats/mbasketball/2010-11/gamenotes/MAAC/11-03-06-Rider.pdf

Printable Stats:
http://www.icgaels.com/fls/14900/stats/mbasketball/2010-11/teamcume.pdf

Digital Yearbook:
http://www.icgaels.com/fls/14900/stats/mbasketball/guide/00-MBB_Guide.pdf

2011 Spark Energy MAAC Championship Semifinal
No. 2 Iona (21-10,13-5 MAAC; RPI: 72) vs. No. 3 Rider (23-9, 13-5 MAAC; RPI 10)
Bridgeport, CT – Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard
Sunday, March 6, 2011 – 4:00 pm

LISTEN LIVE – www.ICGaels.com/insider – Gary Stanley and Ed Ingles
WATCH LIVE – MSG+ / ESPN3 – Doug Sherman and Rob Kennedy

LISTEN LINK: http://www.icgaels.com/newMediaPlayer/sl/console.htm?id=&type=live&oemid=14900
LIVE STATS: http://www.icgaels.com/newLiveStats/Basketball/index.dbml?GAME_STAT_ID=536057&db_oem_id=14900

PREVIOUS RESULTS/STREAKS
3/5: Iona 94, Siena 64 (Bridgeport, CT)
3/5: Rider 79, Canisius 64 (Bridgeport, CT)

The Gaels have won eight straight; Rider has won six straight

THE HEADLINES:
The No. 2 seeded Iona College men’s basketball team (22-10, 13-5 MAAC) takes on No. 3 Rider (23-9, 13-5 MAAC) in the second semifinal matchup of the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC Championship. The Gaels dropped three-time defending MAAC Champion Siena 94-65 last night in the quarterfinal. After winning its first tournament game in five years, the Maroon & Gold seeks its first MAAC final win since 2006.

IONA VS. RIDER – SERIES HISTORY
Rider brought the series within one game (23-22, Iona) after winning the last contest between the two teams. The victory snapped the Gaels three-game winning streak vs. the Broncs. Iona has won seven of the 13 meetings. The Gaels are 1-1 vs. the Broncs at the MAAC Championship.

BIG LIGHTS WILL INSPIRE YOU
With its 21-10 record in 2009-10, Iona held both the highest win total and win percentage of the 14 New York City Metropolitan Area Division I basketball programs within 30 miles of the center of NY College basketball, Madison Square Garden. In 2010-11, Iona’s 21 wins and .677 winning percentage are tied for second best in the area standings. Eight of the top 10 teams in terms of winning percentage boast first-year coaches in St. John’s, Rutgers, Hofstra, Columbia. Wagner, St. Francis and Iona. In the last 15+ seasons, Iona is second to the Pride in both wins and win percentage. Hofstra took over the lead after Iona’s devastating 2-28 season in 2006-07.

MACHADO TIED AT NO. 2 IN THE NCAA IN ASSISTS
Junior Scott Machado has matched Ohio’s D.J. Cooper with 230 assists in 31 contests but the pair stand behind UAB’s Aaron Johnson for the NCAA assist lead. Machado has averaged a MAAC best 7.42 dimes per game, nearly one assist more than Iona’s record of 6.5 apg set by Glenn Grant in 1988-89. He became the second player (Marvin McCullough) at Iona to record 100 or more assists in his first three seasons at Iona. Against Marist, he passed Grant’s 194 assists in 1988-89 for the single-season school record. Iona’s junior guard has nine double-doubles this season, the third highest MAAC total (behind Glover and Siena’s Ryan Rossiter) and 10 in his career, all of the points-assists variety. He ranks seventh in the MAAC in scoring and first in assists.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
Iona has committed an average of 12.74 turnovers per game. The mark stands as the lowest total in school history since the stat has been recorded in the 1980-81 season. The standard was set last season at 13.55 per contest. Prior to last year, the previous record stood at 14.21 per game in 1995-96. Iona’s assist-to-turnover ratio is also over 1.0 (1.359) nearly .30 more than the previous school record set in 2002-03. This season marks just the seventh time in the last 30 seasons Iona has posted more assists than turnovers.

CHASING HISTORY
With 15 points vs. Fairfield, junior Scott Machado jumped to 25th on Iona’s all-time scoring list. He is 18 points shy of No. 24 Ray Hyland. Against the Jaspers on Feb. 7, Machado became the ninth junior in school history* to eclipse 1,000 points and the first since Steve Burtt in 2004-05. In the win over Loyola on Jan. 10, Machado also became the ninth player in school history to reach the 400-assist mark. With 494 for his career, he is No. 3 on the list, and passed both Glenn Grant and Marvin McCullough at Liberty (*-three sophomores Ruland, Springer and Burtt are not included)

TRIPLE 30’S
Perhaps fueled by being passed over for MAAC Player of the Year, junior First Team All-MAAC performer Mike Glover erupted for 31 points and 11 rebounds in the quarterfinal win over Siena last night. It was Glover’s third 30+ point effort of the year and first since recording back-to-back games in December. Glover got the best of the MAAC’s Player of the Year Ryan Rossiter in the game, who was held under his season average with just 11 points and six rebounds including just three second-half points.

20/20 VISION
Earning its 20th win in the regular season finale vs. Fairfield, Iona earned its second straight and 15th all-time 20+ win season in the 70-year history of the program. In his first season a the helm of the Gaels, Tim Cluess becomes the second (of 12 all-time) head coach in school history to earn 20 wins in his inaugural season in New Rochelle. Former head man Tim Welsh posted a 21-8 rookie campaign for the Gaels in 1995-96 en route to an NIT appearance that season.

IONA IS NO. 7 TEAM IN ASSISTS
The Gaels have recorded 12 20+ assist efforts this season and stand at No. 7 on the NCAA leader board averaging 17.41 assists per game. Iona is the No. 2 Mid-Major* program on the chart, just behind the Southland’s Sam Houston State. In terms of sheer number of assists, the Gaels’ 519 helpers are 15 behind the nation’s leader Kansas. Iona is also No. 12 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio. *-defined as a member of one of the 22 conferences eligible for CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Poll

WE’RE GOING STREAKING…
With its eighth straight win last night vs. Siena, the Gaels have matched the 10th longest winning streak in its history. It matches Iona’s longest winning streak from last season. Iona has recorded three streaks of at least five games this season. The feat marks just the third time in school history that the Maroon & Gold has done so, matching the accomplishment in both 1984-85 and 1999-00. With two this year, Iona has recorded eight streaks of eight or more in the last 30 seasons. The longest winning streak during the time frame came in 1997-98 when the squad rolled off 15 in a row in January and February. Iona’s longest streak last year was eight Jan. 9- Feb. 1. The school record is 17 in a row set in 1979-80. The last time Iona won at least nine games in a row was in the 1999-00 campaign

SCHOOL RECORD #1 – ASSISTS
With 21 assists last night, Iona set a new standard for assists in the season and now stand at 540. The Maroon & Gold’s 17.42 assists per game stands as the second-highest single season mark behind 17.78 apg in 1992-93.

SCHOOL RECORD #2 – THREE POINT FIELD GOALS
Iona surpassed its single-season record of 227 three-point field goals at Liberty and have now hit 21 more this year than its recording setting season a year ago. The Maroon & Gold has also eclipsed its record 619 three-point attempts from 2009-10. Iona has shot 258-for-671 (36.96%) from beyond the arc, just over .29% ahead than last season’s 36.67%.

GETTING OFFENSIVE
Averaging 79.6 points per game this season, the Gaels have maintained the largest scoring improvement from one season to the next in school history, posting 13.5 ppg more than 2009-10. The next highest improvement came from 1989-90 to 1990-91 where the program saw a 11.4 points per game increase.

MORE OFFENSIVE NUMBERS
Iona’s 13.45 ppg improvement from last season is the third highest in NCAA Division I this season. The mark stands behind two reclassifying teams in the NEC’s Bryant (+16.60) and the Great West Conference’s Utah Valley (+13.07). The Gaels stand just ahead of Long Island University (+12.96) on the chart. Iona is 14th in Division I in scoring this season, a 227 spot improvement from its 241st ranking last season. The Gaels are also 215 places higher on the field goal percentage chart (+5.4%) and 115 higher on both the assists per game (+3.7) and assist-to-turnover lists (+0.4).

GLOVER AT NO. 8 IN FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Junior Mike Glover is 8th on the NCAA Field Goal Percentage shooting 59.8% for the season. He shot 12-for-18 (66.7%) in the Gaels wins last night. The percentage has been helped by a team-high 61 dunks on the season.

IONA’S RECORD WHEN…
Iona’s record when: Leading at the half, 21-4… Trailing at the half, 0-6… After a win, 17-3… On Sunday, 5-3… On Monday, 1-1… Scoring more than 79 points, 13-1… Less than 79, 8-9… Allowing less than 70 points, 16-1… Allowing 70 or more, 5-9… Shooting higher than 50%, 12-0… 45% or higher, 17-2… Less than 45%, 4-8… Out rebounding opponent, 16-2… Records more assists, 18-3… Machado records a double-double, 8-1… Glover records a double-double, 13-3… Smyth hits four or more three-pointers, 7-1… Armand has more than one three-pointer, 9-2… Machado has eight or more assists, 14-2… Seven or less, 7-8… When Rodriguez has nine or more rebounds, 8-1… Glover has 12 or more field goal attempts, 13-4… Less than 12 FGA, 8-6…. Leader in FGA: Glover 10-4; Machado 9-4; Jenkins 3-1; Smyth 1-3; Dwight 1-0; Armand 2-0.

EVEN MORE IONA RECORD WHEN…
Eight or more three-pointers made, 10-4… 25 or more three-point attempts, 7-4… 25 or less attempts, 14-6… 30 or more field goals made, 14-0… 67 or more field goal attempts, 5-0… 72.0% or higher free throw percentage, 4-5… 56.0% or lower free throw percentage, 7-0… Record 12 or more offensive rebounds, 15-3… Record 39 or more total rebounds, 8-0… Commit 18 or less fouls, 14-3… Dish out 16 or more assists, 16-1… Dish out less than 16, 5-9… Commit 10 or less turnovers 5-4… Commit 15 or more, 5-2… Hold opponent to less than 36.0% three-point FG%, 13-4… Hold opponent under 14 free throws made, 15-2… Hold opponent under 20 free throw attempts, 16-3… Allow 13 or more offensive rebounds, 4-5… Allow less than 13, 17-5… Allow 36 or more rebounds, 5-8… Hold opponent to under 36, 16-2… Hold opponent under 13 assists, 15-2… Allow opponent 13 or more assists, 6-8… Hold opponent under 24 field goals, 14-2… Allow 25 or more field goals, 7-8… Allow 55 or more field goal attempts, 12-4… Allow 51-55 FGA, 8-6… Hold opponent under 50 FGA, 6-1… Hold opponent to less than 46.0% from the field, 16-4… Allow opponent to shoot 46.0% or better, 5-6.

MAROON & GOLD ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
Follow Iona on Facebook and Twitter by logging on to www.facebook.com/ICGaels or www.twitter.com/ICGaels and receive immediate updates on the Gaels. A number of members of the Iona coaching staff are also on Twitter. Follow assistant coaches Jared Grasso (@JGras11) and Garee Bryant (@GB_22), Director of Basketball Operations Bob Paul (@rjpaul1130) and Recruiting Coordinator Zak Boisvert (@ ZakBoisvert).

ON TAP FOR THE GAELS
The winner of tonight’s game advances to the championship game tomorrow night at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard. The victor will take on either No. 1 Fairfield or No. 4 Saint Peter’s at 7:00 pm.