On Thursday night, February 17th, the Yeshiva Maccabees will take on the St. Joseph Blue Jays at the MSAC. The #24 ranked Macs are 20-3 and are trying to find the consistency they had earlier in the season. Yeshiva has gone 1-1 so far this week, losing to St. Josephs and beating College of Mount Saint Vincent. The Blue Jays come into this game with a perfect record of 22-0 and are ranked 5th in D3 polls. The St. Joseph Blue Jays is definitely one of the more difficult matchups for Yeshiva this season. The Blue Jays are led by senior guard Jaecee Martin. Martin averages 12.4 points on 45% shooting from the field. The Macs swept the Blue Jays last season and also are trying to avoid losing their third consecutive home game.
Keys to the game:
Defense:
Yeshiva will need to defend at an elite level against the Blue Jays if they want to come out with the win. St. Joseph is averaging a whopping 85.4 points per game and are shooting close to 50% from the field. The Macs cannot afford to have too many defensive lapses against this explosive Blue Jays team. Yeshiva also has to do a better job at defending the three by not allowing dribble penetration and staying in front of your man. Over the past four games, the Macs are allowing their opponents to shoot just over 51% from downtown. Those numbers will have to decrease if the Macs want to end their season off strong.
Three Point Shooting/ Creating Opening Shots:
In the Macs first two games this week, they are shooting a poor 29% from downtown and are 1-1. Yeshiva has to step up their shooting against the Blue Jays because they absolutely lockdown whoever they play. St. Joseph forces their opponents to score only 61 points per game and shoot an abysmal 28% from behind the arc. YU has to create open looks by penetrating the lane and finding open shooters when the defense collapses.
Ball Security:
Yeshiva has struggled with ball security the entire season thus far. They average 14.4 turnovers per game, ironically the same number as the Blue Jays. The Macs tend to turn the ball over when the opposing team goes on a run. When the opposing team is on a run the Macs tend to get stagnant on offense and stop running their potent motion offense. The Macs need to continuously cut and move without the ball to create easy baskets and get free throw opportunities.
How to Watch:
Tip off is scheduled for 8:00 and will be broadcasted. You can watch here.
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