NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona College men’s basketball team (5-3) hits the road for the first of four games away from home at Dayton (8-2) and UD Arena. The Gaels look to rebound from a 102-89 defeat to St. Bonaventure in its last contest and return to Ohio for the second time this season.
The game will be televised live on NBC Sports Network. The game will be called by Steve Schlanger and Stan Van Gundy.
IONA VS. DAYTON – SERIES HISTORY
The two teams meet for the sixth time (Dayton leads, 4-1) in history and for the first time in 25 seasons. Iona is 1-1 on Dayton’s home court, last winning 84-77 on Jan. 6, 1988. The series began on Jan. 9, 1954 at Madison Square Garden.
IONA VERSUS THE ATLANTIC-10 CONFERENCE
The Gaels are 62-98 all-time versus current Atlantic-10 Conference members. Fordham has been the Gaels most frequent foe with an even-series through 62 match ups. The Gaels take on their third A-10 opponents in 2013-14.
LAST TIME OUT: ST. BONAVENTURE 102, IONA 89 (DEC. 14, 2013)
• St. Bonaventure found revenge for a 19-point defeat in Olean, NY in 2012-13 by handing the Gaels a 102-89 loss at the Hynes Center.
• Senior Sean Armand scored 30 points and sophomore A.J. English added 18 in the loss.
• It was Iona’s first home loss by double-figures since Dec. 7, 2009, a span of 53 games.
• Iona allowed more than 100 points in a regulation contest for the first time since a 107-72 defeat at No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 18, 2007. The 203-game stretch was nearly double the previous shot-clock era school record.
FOR STARTERS – POTPOURRI CATEGORY
• The Gaels continue their “mid-major gauntlet” non-conference schedule at Dayton. After slaying George Mason and Florida Gulf Coast and falling to St. Bonaventure, Iona travels to Dayton (A10), Nevada (MWC) and Northern Iowa (MVC) to complete the non-MAAC slate.
• Iona returns to the “scene of the crime” in UD Arena, the building that saw season-ending losses in both 2012 and 2013. The Gaels fell to BYU in the NCAA Tournament First Round two seasons ago and Ohio State in the Second Round this past March.
• Seniors Sean Armand and Tre Bowman were named back-to-back-to-back MAAC Players of the Week from Nov. 25 – Dec. 9. It was the third time in history the Gaels’ earned three straight MAAC Players of the Week and first time since Kyle Smyth (once) and Mike Glover (3x) accomplished the feat from Nov. 29 – Dec. 20, 2011. Tariq Kirksay, John McDonald and Kashif Hameed also tripled up in January 1998.
• Sophomore A.J. English has thrived in his new role as starting point guard averaging 15.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg and 5.6 apg over the last seven games. He had a career-high 21 points at No. 2 Kansas five games ago.
• Armand’s four three pointers vs. George Mason allowed him to surpass Steve Burtt Jr.’s career record of 263, sealing his status as Iona’s “Three-Point King”. Armand also holds the single-season (112, 2012-13) and single-game (10, vs. Siena, 1/3/12).
• The Gaels are 2-0 in MAAC play for the third time in the four seasons under head coach Tim Cluess and seventh time in the 17 seasons the league has played its first two contests in December.
• In the opening MAAC weekend, Armand averaged 27 points, five assists and 4.5 rebounds and earned ECAC Metro/Upstate and MAAC Player of the Week honors as well as CollegeSportsMadness.com MAAC and national Mid-Major Player of the Week accolades.
TRENDING GAELS
• Senior Sean Armand has recorded double-digits in all eight games including six 20+ point efforts and two 30-point performances. He has posted a career-best five straight games with 20 or more points and seventh in the nation in scoring.
• Junior David Laury has also reached double-figures in scoring in all eight games. He leads the squad with two double-doubles, both 19-point, 10-rebound efforts at Cleveland State and Fairfield.
• Sophomore A.J. English has scored at least 10 points in six straight games. After starting the season 4-for-18 (22.2) from the field (1-for-10 3FG) in the first two contests, he has connected on 30-of-his-last-68 attempts (44.1%) and 15-of-34 (42.8%) from distance.
• The Gaels have won two straight road games after dropping their previous seven dating back to 2012-13.
• Iona has also shot better than 50.0% from the field in four of the last five games, averaging 86.6 points and shooting 51.8%.
OHI-NO
• The Gaels look to snap an eight-game losing streak in the state of Ohio dating back to the 2002 season.
• Including losses in the last two NCAA Tournament appearances, Iona fell to Cleveland State twice, Akron, Kent State, Ohio State and Bryant at CSU in an opening season tournament in 2010-11.
• The Gaels are 1-7 all-time against teams from the state of Ohio on their home floor, its lone win in their last appearance at Dayton.
MOVIN’ ON UP
• Senior Sean Armand jumped three spots to No. 22 on Iona’s all-time scoring list after a 30-point effort vs. St. Bonaventure.
• He is 29 points behind Iona College Goal Club Hall of Famer Warren Isaac, also the Gaels’ single-game scoring record holder with 51 from the 1964-65 season.
KING OF THE HILL, TOP OF THE LIST
• No team among the 14 NYC Metropolitan Area Division I basketball programs within 30 miles of the center of NY College basketball, Madison Square Garden has won more games than Iona College in the last 19 season (329; Hofstra #2, 313)
• In 2012-13, the Gaels tied for the most wins and second best win percentage among their the Metro Area compatriots, the second straight season Iona accomplished the feat.
• Since 2009-10, Iona’s 96 wins and .671 win pct. are the highest in both categories.
• Since 1995-96, Iona holds the lead in wins (329, 16 more than Hofstra and 32 more than No. 3 St. John’s and the top win percentage (.575).
HIGH SCORING AFFAIRS
• Iona scored 100 points four times in 2011-12, matching a single-season program record. Iona is 7-1 under Cluess and 48-3 all-time when reaching 100.
• The Gaels scored 90 points 25 times in 103 games under Cluess and are 21-5.
• Iona is 49-9 when reaching at least 80 points under Cluess.
OUR HOUSE
• Iona has posted a 48-9 record at the Hynes Center in the last four-plus years.
• They are 3-1 in 2013-14, 11-1 in 2012-13, 10-1 in 2011-12, 12-3 in 2010-11 and 11-3 in 2009-10.
• Iona has won 24 of its last 27 home contests.
• The Gaels loss to Bonaventure snapped an eight game non-conference home winning streak and was the first double-digit loss since Dec. 2009.
• The previous defeats during the stretch were due in part to three-pointers that beat the buzzer (vs. MAN, 1/12/12; vs. MAR, 2/7/13).
ROAD WOE-RRIORS NO MORE
• Following a seven-game road losing streak dating back to Jan. 31, 2103 Iona has won two straight at FGCU by 18 points and at Fairfield by 11.
• Excluding its 20-point defeat at Kansas during the stretch, the average margin of defeat was just 2.3 ppg.
• The stretch included one point defeats at Manhattan and Indiana State, a two point loss at Fairfield, and back-to-back three-point defeats at Niagara and Canisius.
• Following an 11-4 mark on the road in 2011-12, Iona was just 5-9 last season, despite out scoring its opponents overall.
WIDE MARGINS
• The Gaels are 38-7 in games decided by 10 or more points since head coach Tim Cluess took the reins in 2010-11.
• The seven losses include Kansas and St. Bonaventure in 2013-14, Ohio State and La Salle in 2012-13, Marshall and Fairfield in 2011-12 and Cleveland State in 2010-11.
• The Kansas defeat was just the fifth loss by 15 points or more for Cluess as an NCAA head coach.
• In his six-plus seasons, Cluess has mentored his team to a 110-14 mark in 10+ point contests.
LET IT RAIN
• Since 2000-01, Iona has recorded 44 games with 10 or more three-point field goals. Five came in the seven seasons under head coach Jeff Ruland and seven came with Kevin Willard at the helm (three years).
• Under Tim Cluess, Iona has posted 33 games (four in 2013-14) with double-digit trifectas including a matching a school record 18 twice (at Albany, Nov. 23, 2010; vs. Liberty, Dec. 18, 2012).
• Iona’s top nine three-point field goal efforts have come with Cluess as head coach.
• Against Liberty, Iona’s 41 three-point attempts set a new standard.
MAROON & GOLD ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
Follow Iona on Facebook and Twitter by logging on to facebook.com/ICGaels or 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 Brock Erickson (@GaelCoachE) and Director of Basketball Operations Garee Bryant (@GB_22).
ON TAP FOR THE GAELS
The Gaels continue their longest road trip of the season (four games) at Nevada on Sunday. The Gaels will head to Reno directly from Dayton.
FOR COMPLETE IONA NOTES – http://icgne.ws/MBB-DAY-1219
PRINTABLE STATS – http://www.icgaels.com/fls/14900/stats/mbasketball/2013-14/teamcume.pdf
Iona College (5-2; RPI: 169) at Dayton (8-2; RPI: 29)
Dayton, OH – UD Arena
Thursday, December 19, 2013 – 2:00 pm ET
LISTEN/WATCH LIVE – IonaInsider.com – Gary Stanley
WATCH LIVE – NBC Sports Network – Steve Schlanger and Stan Van Gundy
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PREVIOUS RESULTS/STREAKS
12/14: St. Bonaventure 102, Iona College 89 (New Rochelle, NY)
12/14: Dayton 78, Central Michigan 58 (Dayton, OH)
Iona lost its last game but has won four of its last five; Dayton won its last game and three of its last four.
