Lehigh travels to Marist looking to snap losing skid
12/9/2010 6:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's basketball team looks to snap its first losing skid of the season when it travels to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. on Friday to play the Red Foxes. Tip-off is now set for 7:45 p.m. The Mountain Hawks (4-5) followed their first winning streak of the season with two consecutive losses, including a tightly contested 84-78 defeat at defending NEC Champion Quinnipiac.
Tuesday's back-and-forth game with the Bobcats featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes. After the Mountain Hawks went in front early, Quinnipiac stormed back to take as much an eight-point lead, but it was Lehigh who jumped back ahead only 3:26 into the second half for its first lead since early in the first. It also marked the Mountain Hawks' third game in an 11-day span against a team who won its regular season conference championship last year. They defeated Stony Brook (NEC), while falling at Kent State (MAC) and Quinnipiac (NEC). Lehigh also topped defending Ivy League Champ and Sweet 16 participant Cornell.
A theme early in the season has been close games. Five of Lehigh's last seven games have all stood within a single possession in the final minute of regulation. Monmouth, Cornell and Stony Brook were all within a single possession during the final seconds (and at the final horn). Kent State turned into a two-possession game with four seconds on the clock while it didn't happen at Quinnipiac until 37 seconds to go. Lehigh has been extremely competitive in all nine of its games this season; its largest deficit all season was 14 - in the season-opener at Penn State and at Stony Brook. The Mountain Hawks have come back from nearly every double-digit deficit they've faced, including at Stony Brook when they turned a 14 point deficit (with 9:40 to go) into a thrilling overtime victory. They were also down by 10 with 7:08 remaining at Quinnipiac before quickly evening the score less than five minutes later, with 2:41 still on the clock.
Freshman Mackey McKnight enjoyed a career game on Tuesday, setting career-highs in three major categories - points (24), assists (7) and steals (3). The seven assists marked the most a Lehigh player has garnered in a single game all year. Freshman big man Kevin McCarthy made an impact in four minutes of first-half action as well, grabbing four rebounds while scoring his first-career point behind a made free throw.
The Mountain Hawks also made 10 or more steals and forced at least 20 turnovers for a second straight game. They finished Tuesday with 11 steals and forced 23 turnovers, one game after recording 12 steals and causing 20 turnovers against Fordham.
Lehigh is now winless when getting outrebounded by its opponents, while posting a perfect 4-0 record when holding the rebounding edge. Lehigh's rebounding margin is -3.7 for the season, which is greatly influenced by Tuesday's big disparity. The Mountain Hawks have outrebounded four teams this season - Wagner (43-22), Cornell (40-36), Bryant (32-30) and Stony Brook (42-36).
Marist already marks Lehigh's fifth opponent (in its first 10 games) who competed in ESPN's College Basketball Tip-Off Marathon on Nov. 16. The Red Foxes fell to No. 7 Villanova, 84-47, that afternoon. Other Mountain Hawk opponents who took part were Stony Brook, Monmouth, Kent State and Penn State. Stony Brook played at Monmouth at 6 a.m., while Kent State hosted Robert Morris at 10 a.m. and Penn State welcomed Saint Joseph's at 7 p.m. (on ESPN3.com).
Marist has bounced back from a tough start to the season by winning two of its last three - both MAAC games - to improve to 2-0 in conference play. The squad has faced an extremely tough and challenging nonconference schedule, which included games against No. 7 Villanova (as part of the ESPN College Basketball Tip-Off Marathon), George Washington, Boston University, Wake Forest and Rutgers, among others. A balanced offensive attack has seen only one player average double figures, but also sees seven averaging five points or more. Leading the way is Candon Rustin (10.2 points per game), followed by Jay Bowie (9.0), Sam Prescott (8.9) and Anell Alexis (7.0). Bowie and Adam Kemp lead the way in rebounding with five per contest, while 10 different players have already started a game this season.
The Mountain Hawks have faced every team from the MAAC at least once, led by 50 games against Rider. Lehigh is 35-53 against the conference overall, posting winning records against Loyola (5-4) and Marist (3-0) and a .500 mark against Saint Peter's (1-1). Lehigh will host Saint Peter's on Dec. 29.
The Mountain Hawks return home to Stabler Arena on Monday to host Saint Francis (Pa.) in their final game before a holiday break. They return to action on Dec. 23 at Southern California before coming home after that for a matchup against Saint Peter's on Dec. 29. Tickets for all home games are now on sale and may be purchased on Lehighsports.com or by calling the ticket office at (610) 7LU-GAME.
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Date:
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December 10, 2010
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Opponent:
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Marist Red Foxes
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Tip-off:
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7:45 PM
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Arena/Capacity:
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McCann Center/3,200
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Location:
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Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
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Lehigh's Record:
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4-5 overall, 0-0 Patriot League
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Marist's Record:
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2-7 overall, 2-0 MAAC
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Series:
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Lehigh leads, 3-0
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Radio:
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Live on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 and Lehighsports.com with Matt Kerr. Pregame coverage gets underway at 7:15.
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Internet Video:
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GoRedFoxes.com
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Behind Enemy Lines:
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Season Preview: Men's Basketball
Thursday, October 31
Lehigh Sports Central: Men's Basketball
Wednesday, October 30
Lehigh Sports Central: Men's Basketball
Wednesday, February 07
Men's Basketball vs SUNY Oneonta
Thursday, November 16
