Friday, February 28, 2014

NEWMAC Semi-Finals Preview: #4 MIT vs. #1 WPI

#4 MIT vs. #1 WPI
Saturday, Harrington Auditorium - Worcester, MA, 1pm

Live Stats | Video


Probable Starters:
MIT (18-8, 8-6) Ht. PPG RPG WPI (22-3, 12-2) Ht. PPG RPG
Matt Redfield 6'8" 13.3 8.9 Ryan Kolb 6'5" 13.1 4.9
Andrew Acker 6'8" 11.7 9.5 Domenick Mastacusa 6'5" 11.0 4.6
Russell Johnson 6'6" 2.5 4.5 Sean Doncaster 6'3" 4.7 1.7
Justin Pedley 6'6" 11.6 1.6 Sam Longwell 6'3" 16.5 6.1 
Ryan Frankel 5'11" 7.8 3.1 apg Aaron Davis 5'10" 6.9 4.0 apg

A Look at WPI:
Recent Performance
WPI is currently ranked #11 overall in Division III and are winners of the NEWMAC regular season.

Last Time Out
WPI took the 64-52 decision in Rockwell Cage last time out after shooting 51% from the field and 42% from three. WPI held MIT to their lowest rebound total (23) in over 4 years.

X's & O's
WPI runs a motion offense with many flares and handoffs for their shooters Sam Longwell and Zach Karalis. WPI will utilize the pick-and-roll, will look to spread the floor, and look to penetrate off the dribble (especially with Aaron Davis in late shot clock situations).

WPI will push the ball hard up the floor in transition. In the half-court, they do not run a strict offense; primarily 3-out-2-in and 4-round-1 motion with block to block screening.  The objective of their offense is to get someone who they feel has a favorable match-up in 1-on-1 situations, have Longwell or Karalis create, and the rest of the shooters spotting up.

WPI defensively will play straight man help and recover. They will overplay at every position, with heavy pressure on the wings. WPI plays very hard, and will dive after every ball and every rebound.