Monmouth falls at Stony Brook, 72-65: 3 takeaways from an eighth straight road loss
While Monmouth has done a nice job protecting its home court this season, the Hawks’ road woes continued Thursday night on Long Island.
Stony Brook’s Tyler Stephenson-Moore hit some big shots in the second half as Monmouth had repeated defensive breakdowns, losing its eight straight away from home in a 72-65 setback at Island Federal Arena in Stony Brook in a key Coastal Athletic Association game.
“A little disappointed we didn’t have our best game and we showed some immaturity with each other, arguing and not making plays after we argue,” Monmouth head coach King Rice said. “It’s very disappointing. These games are hard on the road and the lapses, the yelling at each other, we can’t expect to do that and win games.”
Trailing by 10 points, Monmouth tried to rally behind 3-pointers from Jaret Valencia and Jack Collins, pulling within 66-60 with 1:44 to play. But Dean Noll scored inside for the Seawolves, before a Jakari Spence turnover all but sealed their fate.
Stony Brook (10-10, 3-4 CAA) got 18 points from point guard Aaron Clarke, while Stephenson-Moore and Noll each finished with 12 points.
It was a missed opportunity for Monmouth (10-10, 3-4), which got 18 points from graduate guard Xander Rice and 13 points from sophomore guard Jack Collins, while Valencia, a redshirt freshman forward, had nine rebounds before fouling out. The Hawks return to action Saturday when they host Hofstra (2 p.m.) at OceanFirst Bank Center in West Long Branch.
Trailing 50-45, freshman guard Abdi Bashir Jr. drained a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner with eight minutes left. But Rice, who came in averaging 21.3 points-per-game, picked up his fourth personal foul moments later and went to the bench. That’s when Bashir picked up the slack, hitting a triple in transition, before sinking a pair of free throws to keep Monmouth close.
But a 3-pointer by Stephenson-Moore put them up 58-53, before his free throw after a Bashir turnover made it a six-point lead. Rice reentered the game and the 87 percent free throw shooter missed the front end a one-and-one, with Stepheson-Moore hitting a 3-pointer at the other end to make it 62-53 with three minutes to play.
Trailing by four at halftime, Monmouth quickly went down 30-23 before putting together a 14-6 run to take a 37-36 lead on a free throw by Collins after his steal int eh backcourt with 13 minutes remaining.
It was an ugly first half, with the teams shooing a combined 16-of-56.
But Stony Brook make plays in the final minute, beginning with a 3-point play from Clarke, who got Spence in the air with a pump fake, before graduate guard Noll made a steal and got fouled by Collins, hitting both to put the Seawolves up 22-19. After a Rice free throw, Clark drove through the Monmouth defense in the final seconds for a layup at the buzzer to put his team up 24-20 at the break.
Aside from Rice hitting an early 3-pointer, Monmouth came out ice cold from the floor, making just two of their first 12 shots before a tip-in in transition by freshman forward Cornelius Robinson Jr. pulled the Hawks within 10-9.
But their defense held Stony Brook to 4-of-12 shooting early, before a drive by Rice gave Monmouth its first lead at 11-10.
Here are three takeaways from Monmouth's loss to Stony Brook:
1, Lack of togetherness is troubling
King Rice detailed the arguing between players in a postgame interview, with the disputes arising over defensive assignments. It’s a disturbing development for a group that had seemed so together all season, and whose only chance at making a run over the next month hinges on its ability to perform as a cohesive unit.
After holding Stony Brook to 32 percent shooting in the first half, the Seawolves scorched Monmouth with 60 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes, hitting 15-of-25 after halftime, including 7-of-12 from long range.
The team has two days to reconnect before facing Hofstra, which won Thursday night and has beaten Monmouth seven straight times.
2. Big-time struggle in the paint
In the first half, center Nikita Konstantynovskyi, center Klemen Vuga and Valencia were a combined 0-of-10 from the floor, and finished the game 4-of-17, combining for nine points. Stony Brook center Keenan Fitzmorris had 10 points on his own, as the Monmouth frontcourt got outplayed badly at the offensive end.
Robinson Jr’s six points were the only offensive production from the frontcourt over the opening 20 minutes.
3. Road woes continue
Monmouth has to find answers for its struggles away from home, falling to 1-9 this season, having dropped eight straight since winning at West Virginia on Nov. 10. And while Monmouth has done a good job protecting its home turf, winning eight of its first nine at OceanFirst Bank Center, the Hawks have to prove they can beat league foes away from home, falling to 2-11 in league road games since joining the CAA last season, including 0-4 this season.
It puts even more pressure on the upcoming homestand, with first-place Drexel, which lost its first league game Thursday night at Towson, coming to the Jersey Shore next Thursday.
Can Monmouth basketball rise continue? 3 keys vs. Stony Brook
With a third of the Coastal Athletic Association schedule in the books, and two-thirds of the regular season done, Monmouth has given itself an incredible opportunity, a year after the team stood at 1-18, and 0-6 in CAA play.
Because if the Hawks can continue to grow over the next five weeks, they will put themselves in position to possibly end an NCAA Tournament drought that has stretched over 15 seasons, with a puncher’s chance to land a round-house over four days in March at the CAA Tournament.
And that’s all you can ask for.
If Monmouth (10-9, 3-3 CAA) can beat Stony Brook (9-10, 2-4) Thursday (6:30 p.m.; SNY/FloSports.com) at Island Federal Arena in Stony Brook, N.Y., it could find itself in a tie for second place if things break right in other games.
That's how tightly-packed the standings are in a wide-open league, with the Hawks in a five-way tie for sixth place at 3-3, a game out of a four-way tie for second place behind unbeaten Drexel.
There are 12 CAA games remaining, including Saturday’s home game vs. Hofstra and a home showdown next Thursday with Drexel.
It all starts with getting their first CAA road win of the season against Stony Brook. Here are three keys for the Hawks. And check back later for analysis of Monmouth’s big CAA test:
1. Xander Rice on a record-setting pace
Graduate guard Xander Rice certainly passes the eye test, looking every bit like the best pure scorer Monmouth’s had since Justin Robinson. And the numbers back that up, averaging 21.3 points, scoring 20 points or more 15 times, with Rice's season on track to be one for the ages in West Long Branch.
The top season average for a Monmouth player is 22.9 points-per-game by Alex Blackwell, the only Hawk ever to play in the NBA, in 1990-91. That's the last Monmouth player to top 20 ppg. for a season, which has only been done twice, with Rich Pass finishing at 21.3 in 1984-85.
Robinson scored a program-record 693 points in 34 games in 2015-16, and 669 a year later. If Rice plays 34 games this season, he projects to finish with 724 points. Blackwell had three 30-plus games in 1990-91, and Rice has two so far.
The greatest achievement of all would be getting the Hawks back to the NCAA Tournament, which neither Robinson nor Blackwell were able to do.
2. Difference-maker inside
If Rice’s ability as a scorer is the biggest takeaway of the season so far, the second has been the play of 6-10 center Nikita Konstantynovskyi, a transfer portal pickup from Tulsa.
The native if Kiev, Ukraine, is averaging 9.6 points and 7.7 rebounds, but that only tells part of the story. He’s a presence inside, willing to throw his body around against everyone. He doesn’t get frustrated if he’s not scoring, and more than anything, he doesn’t take plays off at either end of the court.
And that will be important against a Stony Brook team that, at least statistically, is better than Monmouth on the glass. Andre Snoddy (6.6 rebounds-per-game), Chris Maidoh (6.3 rpg.) are both in the top 15 in rebounding in the league. Snoddy, a 6-6 junior, comes off a double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) against Hofstra, while Maidoh, a 6-10 graduate transfer from Fairfield, had 12 points and seven rebounds in that game.
3. Win on the perimeter
So much of what Monmouth has done this season revolves around the Hawks’ play at the 3-point line at both ends of the court. They shoot the highest percentage in the CAA from beyond the 3-point line at 37.5 percent, with Rice third in both percentage (37.3) and 3-pointers-per-game (2.8). Monmouth’s sixth among 14 teams in defending the perimeter.
That’s where Monmouth has a solid advantage against Stony Brook. The Seawolves are next-to-last in 3-point defense, and 10th in 3-point percentage.
Saturday: Monmouth 85, Hampton 77
Late rally lifts Monmouth basketball over Hampton: 3 takeaways as young stars shine
WEST LONG BRANCH – Xander Rice has been virtually unstoppable. Pencil Monmouth’s graduate guard in for 20-plus points a game, and Saturday at OceanFirst Bank Center that number turned out to be 25.
But as the Hawks’ recent road swing through three of the CAA’s toughest outposts showed, it’s their young talent that holds the key to what this group’s legacy will ultimately be. And against Hampton, there were some encouraging signs.
Freshman Abdi Bashir Jr. hit a trio of critical 3-pointers late in the game, while classmate Cornelius "Boog" Robinson Jr. nailed a triple from the corner during the Hawks’ big finish, emerging with an 85-77 victory in front of a crowd of 2,440. Bashir Jr. finished with 14 points, hitting 4-of-6 from deep, while Robinson had seven point and eight rebounds and redshirt freshman forward Jaret Valencia added six rebounds, as they outrebounded Hampton, 41-29.
“They’re so key to what we do,” Monmouth coach King Rice said. “They’re 19 games in. Abdi and Boog were in high school last year, and Jaret didn’t play last year at all and he didn’t play much the year before so these guys are early in their careers. They’re in major college games with 22 and 23-year-old guys so they’re development is going to be important in what we’re able to do.”
"Sky is the limit"
The win steadied the ship after three straight road losses against some of the CAA’s elite, falling at UNC Wilmington, Charleston and Drexel during the course of a week, after the Hawks won their first two league games.
"They’re way more talented than I was as a freshman," Xander Rice said. "I’m sure on all the shots they were making on the video you can see me in the background, a proud big brother just smiling because I was so happy for them. They are going to just keep figuring it out and as they continue to get better the sky is the limit for this team."
Having emerged from those early tests, Monmouth (10-9, 3-3 CAA) now has 12 games remaining before the CAA Tournament gets underway, including a major measuring stick on Feb. 1 when first-place Drexel visits OFBC. The Hawks got 15 points and eight rebounds from senior center Nikita Konstantynovskyi, while Jakari Spence added 11.
Hampton (4-15, 0-7 CAA) was led by Jordan Nesbitt’s 18 points, while Kyrese Mullen added 17 and 14 rebounds and Jerry Deng finished with 16.
Strong finish
Spence provided a much-needed spark early in the second half, scoring eight points over a three-minute span as Monmouth extended its lead to 52-46 with 13:47 to play. But Hampton went on a 15-4 run, taking a 61-56 lead with 8:31 left on a 3-pointer by Deng.
Spence’s 3-point play with 7:10 remaining pulled Monmouth within 63-61, with the Hawks staying close as Rice scored on a drive, Bashir Jr. hit a step-back 3-pointer and Rice completed a 3-point play with 4:02 left to trim the deficit to 72-69. After a Hampton turnover, Bashir Jr. drained another triple, off a feed from Klemen Vuga following an offensive rebound, and then did it again to put Monmouth up 75-74 with 3:25 to play.
A pair of free throws by Deng put Hampton back on top, but Rice answered with a 3-pointer, with a Konstantynovskyi score inside after a defensive stop giving Monmouth an 80-76 lead with 1:16 to play. The final sequence saw Robinson Jr. drain a 3-pointer from the corner off a feed from Rice, before Jack Collins scored on an offensive rebound in transition to make the score 85-76 with 20 seconds left.
Mullen got hot for Hampton, scoring eight straight points for Hampton to single-handedly hold Monmouth off. But a triple by Bashir Jr., followed by a driving bucket and 3-point bank shot by Rice gave Monmouth its first lead at 25-24 with eight minutes left the half.
It was a lineup that included Bashir Jr., Rice, Collins, a sophomore, Robinson Jr. and sophomore center Amaan Sandhu that did the damage during a 9-0 that pushed the Hawks’ lead to 31-24. Over a span of just over five minutes on the court they outscored Hampton 14-6.
But the Pirates answered back, pulling within a point three times before Monmouth took a 37-35 lead into halftime.
1. Rice continues to impress
Xander Rice remains a strong contender for CAA Player of the Year honors with a third of the conference schedule done. He’s now averaging 21.3 ppg. second in the league behind Tyler Thomas of Hofstra (22.3), with 15 20-plus games this season, including 30-or-more twice. He’s third in 3-pointers with 53, behind Thomas (71) and Gabe Dorsey of William & Mary (59). Rice is second in 3-point percentage at 37.3, third in free throw percentage at 86.8, ninth in assists at 3.1 per-game, a third in minutes played at 34.7.
2. Bashir is a difference-maker
King Rice has said more than once he considers Valencia and Bashir Jr. the type of players who have NBA potential. And after Bashir's late lapses in Thursday's loss at Drexel he blasted the rookie.
"I cost us the game," Bashir Jr. said. "I didn’t get to the ball sometimes and coach Rice had a lot to say taking me out of the game, and he had a lot to say in the locker room. I didn’t want to hear that again."
So Bashir responded by hitting big 3-pointers in each half. He has now hit 35-of-67 from the 3-point line, or 52.2 percent, which would lead the CAA except he hasn't made enough, needed 2.5 triples per game to qualify.
3. A cause close to King Rice's heart
It was an important day for King Rice, with the Astor D. Rice Foundation, which he founded in honor of his late father to help families struggling in his native Binghamton, N.Y., holding an event at the game. The foundation provides families with eight-week programs, which include financial literacy and mental health components.
“If you help kids but you don’t reach out to the parents and help the parents, if they’re willing to join you, the kids are still going to be in the same thing,” Rice said. “If you help them in school or at the community center and they go home and home is a different environment it makes it hard on the kids.
“We started with six families, now working through the school system to do it with more families - grow from the ground up and give back in the community and be that person my father was.”
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth loses eighth straight on road, falling at Stony Brook, 72-65
