Mountain Hawks return to action at Saint Peter’s Wednesday
12/28/2011 12:06:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Coming off a valiant effort at #19/20 Michigan State, the Lehigh men's basketball team looks for its 10th win of the season when it travels to defending MAAC Champion Saint Peter's on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Yanitelli Center. A victory would tie the school record for most nonleague wins in a season, previously accomplished in 2008-09.
The Mountain Hawks showed they belonged with the nation's best last Thursday night as Lehigh went ahead 38-35 at the half and was within six with less than a minute remaining in a game seen nation-wide on ESPNU and ESPN3.com. However, Michigan State continued to drain its free throws down the stretch to end any hopes of an upset. The win marked the Spartans' 11th straight victory while they improved to 9-0 at home in the Breslin Center. It was only Michigan State's second single-digit win all season (along with Gonzaga); the Spartans won by an average margin of 23.6 in their previous 10 games.
Lehigh did extend its streak of scoring 70+ points in every game this season, also eclipsing 80 on five occasions (38 percent of the time). The streak is now up to 13, the most since scoring 70 or more in a school-record 18 straight during the 2009-10 Patriot League Championship campaign. Lehigh's 81 points against Michigan State were the most the Spartans' defense has allowed all season, bettering Duke's 74 points on Nov. 15. It's also more than preseason #1 North Carolina (67), #23 Gonzaga (67) and Florida State (49) The Mountain Hawks have been fairly dominant all season, with eight of their nine wins coming by double figures while all four losses have been single digits.
Saint Peter's marks Lehigh's second straight reigning NCAA Tournament team and third this season. The Mountain Hawks are 0-2 against those squads, falling to St. John's by five and Michigan State by nine. The Peacocks won the MAAC Tournament a season ago, earning a 14 seed before falling to the third-seeded Purdue Boilermakers, 65-43.
Junior Holden Greiner impressed in his homecoming on Thursday. The Traverse City, Michigan native scored a career-high 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting while three other Mountain Hawks reached double-figure points: junior C.J. McCollum (19), sophomore Mackey McKnight (14) and junior Gabe Knutson (14). The story in the first half was three-point shooting (5-of-11) and lack of turnovers (4). But Michigan State forced Lehigh into 10 second-half turnovers while the Mountain Hawks finished 3-of-12 from behind the arc, allowing the Spartans to jump ahead. Lehigh used a barrage of three-pointers and three-point plays in the final minutes to trim a 16-point margin down to six as the squad continued to fight until the final whistle.
The Peacocks have struggled so far this season, entering with a 2-10 record which includes a number of tight games against quality teams. The victories have come against Binghamton (66-43) and Siena (51-44) while they've been close against Long Island (82-80), Seton Hall (63-54) and Kent State (68-57), among others. Saint Peter's was a senior-laden squad last season, losing four starters total (three seniors) as Darius Conley is the only returning starter from last year's NCAA Tournament team. Conley leads the way in 2011-12 with 13.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Chris Prescott also averages double figures (11.7) while Markese Tucker is at 9.0 and Yvon Raymond 8.9. The Peacocks have struggled to score at times, averaging only 57.7 points per game, 21.5 less than Lehigh's Patriot League-leading 79.2 average.
The Mountain Hawks will head to Bryant on Dec. 31 before returning home on Jan. 3 to host University of Maryland Eastern Shore. 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.
Follow Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook: www.facebook.com/LehighMensBasketball
Photos by Tim Fuller.
Photos by Tim Fuller.
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Date:
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December 28, 2011
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Opponent:
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Saint Peter's Peacocks
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Tip-off:
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7:00 PM
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Arena/Capacity:
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Yanitelli Center/3,200
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Location:
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Jersey City, N.J.
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Lehigh's Record:
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9-4 overall, 0-0 Patriot League
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Saint Peter's Record:
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2-10 overall, 1-1 MAAC
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Series:
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Lehigh leads, 3-1
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Radio:
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Live on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 AM with Matt Kerr. Pregame coverage gets underway at 6:30 PM.
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Television:
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None
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Internet Video:
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N/A
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Behind Enemy Lines:
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