On Tuesday night, February 1st, the Yeshiva Maccabees will host the United States Merchant Marine Academy. The #6 ranked Macs are coming off a nice win against Maritime College on Sunday, giving them a 16-1 record on the season. Ryan Turell is coming off his lowest scoring game of the season — he scored 12 points in Sunday’s game. The scoring has been down recently for Yeshiva so they’ll look to find their stride in this one for the home stretch of the season. The Mariners come into the game with a 10-7 record this season. They are led by sophomore wing, Bryce Bristow, who is averaging 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He has to have a big night offensively if the Mariners want to pull off the upset.
Keys to the game:
Regain Offensive Swagger:
The Macs have averaged 88.6 points per game this season, making them one of the best offenses in the country. The last three games have been a different story, with the Macs scoring only 72.7 points per game in that span. The most notable of those games was against the highly-ranked Illinois Wesleyan who held them to just 59 points and a well-below average 40.7% shooting from the field. Sunday’s game against Maritime College was a game that could be described as unusual for the Macs offensively, as Ryan Turell only shot the ball seven times for a pedestrian 12 points. The Macs have to regain their confidence on offense in order to win this game, and perhaps more importantly to gain rhythm as they approach the postseason.
Maintain Defensive Excellence:
The Macs have been elite on the defensive end this season. They are holding opponents to just 61.2 points per game and 37% shooting. They have held opposing teams to under 50 points four times this season so far, a number they will look to add to against an extremely inconsistent Mariners offense. The Mariners scored just 40 points, shooting 13-52 from the field in their last game, but the game before that they were able to put up 73 points and shoot 24-59 from the field with 13 threes. It’s going to be important to stay disciplined on defense and not let the balanced scoring attack from the Mariners get hot, because when they do, they are very dangerous.
Pick up the Pace:
The Mariners love to slow down the pace of play. Slow tempo is one of the main reasons why in the last two matchups between these teams, the Macs have been held under 80 points. The Mariners have held teams to just 65.5 points per game this season, a number that the Macs would love to easily surpass in this game. If the Macs want to score more than 80 tonight they are going to have to force the issue in terms of getting out in the open court for easy looks in transition.
How to Watch:
Tip off at the MSAC is at 8 pm. Macslive will broadcast the game live here.
MacsLive:
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