Sunday, August 29, 2010

A look at Niagara's Non-League Schedule

Here's a look at Niagara's non-league basketball schedule.

The Purple Eagles will play home games on Nov. 17 (Milwaukee), Nov. 22 (Mount St. Mary's), Dec., 22 (Quinnipiac) and on Feb. 19 when it hosts a BracketBusters contest.

Road games include four contests in the "Legends Classic" beginning with a Nov. 19 contest at Georgia Tech. Other games in that tournament will all be at the University of Detroit including (vs. Detroit), Nov. 27 (Bowling Green) and Nov. 28 (UAlbany).

Other road cotests will be Dec 8 (UBuffalo), Dec. 11 (St. Bonaventure), Dec. 19 (Central Connecticut), Dec. 28 (Drexel) and Dec. 30 (UMBC).

Game by Game Anaylsis

- U-Wisconsin/Milwaukee: Picked for 5th in the 10-team Horizon Conference. Finished 20-14 last season. Brian Bidlingmyer, a former Siena player, is an assistant coach. Top Player: Guard Tone Boyle (13.2 points in the 2008-09 season), missed last year with a back injury.

- Georgia Tech: Picked for 10th in the 12-team Atlantic Coast Conference. Finished 23-13 last year, but lost two players early to the NBA, including Derrick Favors, the No. 3 pick overall by the New Jersey Nets in this past season's draft. Best player; Guard Iman Shumpert (10.0 points, 4.0 assists).

- Mount St. Mary's: Picked for 6th in the 12-team Northeast Conference. Its new head coach is Robert Burke, who has been an assistant on the Division I level for more than 20 years including three at Siena. Top player: 6-7 senior forward Shawn Atupem (10.7 points, 3.6 rebounds).

- Detroit: Picked for 2nd in the 10-team Horizon League. Finished 20-14 last season. Top players: 6-6 junior guard Chase Simon (14.0 points, 5.1 rebounds), 6-10 junior center Eli Homan (11.5 points, 8.9 rebounds; led the Horizon League in rebounding last season).

- Bowling Green: Picked for 5th in the 6-team East Division of the Mid-American Conference. Finished 14-16 last season. Best Player: 6-7 junior forward Scott Thomas (13.2 points, 6.3 rebounds).

- UAlbany: UAlbany: Picked to finish 8th in the 9-team America East Conference. Finished 7-25 last season. Best Player: 6-0 senior guard Tim Ambrose (12.4 ppg.).

- Buffalo: Picked for 6th in the 6-team East Division of the Mid American Conference. Finished 18-12 last season. Lost all five starters and top six scorers from last season. Top player: 6-7 junior forward Titus Robinson (5.8 points).

- St. Bonaventure: Picked for 14th in the 14-team Atlantic 10 Conference. Finished 15-16 last season. Best player: 6-9 junior forward Andrew Nicholson (16.4 points, 7.1 rebounds).

- Central Connecticut: Picked for 3rd in the 12-team Northeast Conference. Finished 12-17 last season. Best player: Senior guard Shamik Thompson (13.0 points, 3.3 assists).

- Quinnipiac: Picked for 1st in the 12-team Northeast Conference. Finished 23-10 last season. Top Player: Senior forward Justin Rutty (15.3 points, 10.9 rebounds, the NEC's leading rebounder last season).

- Drexel: Picked for 6th in the 12-team Colonial Athletic Association. Finished 16-16 last season. Best player: 6-5 junior forward Samme Givins (8.6 points, 8.3 rebounds).

- UMBC: Picked for 9th in the 9-team America East Conference. Finished 4-26 last season. Best player: 5-10 senior guard Chris De La Rosa (11.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, led the conference in assists last season). De La Rosa played his freshman season at Siena before transferring.

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