Game Preview: MIT vs. Springfield

MIT vs. Springfield 
Thursday,  James Naismith Court - Springfield, MA, 7pm

Live Stats | Video

Probable Starters:

MIT (14-5, 5-3)	Ht.	PPG	RPG		Springfield (14-5, 5-3)	Ht.	PPG	RPG
Matt Redfield	6'8"	13.9	9.4		Tim Swenson	6'7"	11.2	9.8
Andrew Acker	6'8"	11.9	10.2		Robbie Burke	6'4"	13.7	7.9
Dennis Levene	6'8"	4.4	4.2		Nick Sienkiewicz	6'3"	8.8	2.8
Justin Pedley	6'6"	13.7	1.4		Alex Garstka	6'1"	11.3	2.4
Dakota Pierce	6'3"	4.6	1.8		Sean Martin	6'1"	11.4	4.2

A Look at Springfield:

Recent Performance
Springfield is coming off a 1-point loss versus #4 WPI. Springfield is also 14-5 and 5-3 in conference, and tied with MIT for 2nd place.

Last Time Out
MIT and Springfield battled it out in an intense game last time in Rockwell Cage, with both defenses going at it. MIT grinded out the 55-51 victory behind a career-high 27 points from sharp-shooter Justin Pedley (including 7 three-pointers).

X's & O's
Springfield will certainly look to push the ball in transition, but will look to score when the opportunity presents itself. In the half-court, they will run one of their many sets and will look to score off one of the options from each set. They have a solid inside presence in Swenson and Burke and have shooters that can stroke it from beyond the arc.

Defensively Springfield is a gritty team, and will look to apply pressure and intensity for 40 minutes. MIT must be prepared for a number of different defensive strategies by the Pride.

Clark Stuns MIT in Last-Second Thriller

Box Score

After a back and forth battle all afternoon, Clark University hit a fade-away baseline jumper with 2 seconds left on the clock to grab the 56-55 win over MIT on Saturday in Worcester.

MIT's defense again held an opponent to a lower 2-point percentage (34%) than 3-point percentage (40%), as the Cougars nailed eight treys in the game while MIT shot just 4-of-19 from three themselves. The Engineers, one of the top in the nation in rebounding margin, was also only +2 versus Clark, who crashed the glass hard for 14 offensive rebounds.

A bright spot for MIT was stellar play from 6'8" freshman Tim Butala, who showed multiple facets to his game - hitting threes, driving the lane, and posting up - en route to a team-high 16 points. 6'8" Junior Matt Redfield was dominant again with 14 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 blocks on the night, while Sophomore Ryan Frankel added 13 points and 9 assists at point.

MIT moves to 14-5 on the season, and 5-3 in NEWMAC for a three-way tie for 2nd place. MIT takes on Springfield College Thursday at 7pm in Springfield.