Game Preview: MIT vs. #6 WPI

MIT vs. #6 WPI
Saturday, Harrington Auditorium - Worcester, MA, 2pm

Live Stats | Video

Probable Starters:

MIT (9-2, 1-0)	Ht.	PPG	RPG		WPI (11-1, 1-0)	Ht.	PPG	RPG
Matt Redfield	6'8"	13.7	10.0		Ryan Kolb	6'5"	14.9	4.5
Andrew Acker	6'8"	11.0	9.4		Domenick Mastacusa	6'5"	6.8	3.8
Dennis Levene	6'8"	5.3	4.7		Sean Doncaster	6'3"	5.7	2.0
Justin Pedley	6'6"	15.9	1.5		Sam Longwell	6'3"	17.9	5.8
Dakota Pierce	6'3"	4.7	1.8		Aaron Davis	5'10"	7.9	5.0 apg

A Look at WPI:

WPI is a storied program with 10 consecutive 20-win seasons under their belt and a #4 national ranking last season. They are currently ranked #6 overall in Division III and are 1-0 in conference play and 11-1 overall.

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.

MIT offensively will need to utilize their size down low and their shooters outside, and defensively prevent WPI's shooters from getting comfortable from beyond the arc. 

Engineers Start Conference Play with Win

Box Score

The MIT Engineers started off NEWMAC play in strong fashion Wednesday night, defeating Clark University 63-36.

Sophomore Justin Pedley is leading the Engineers at 15.9 points per game this season (Pic: Tom Gearty)

After holding Clark to 36 points for the game (11 in the first half), MIT now leads the nation in fewest points allowed per game (54.4). MIT's defense held the Cougars to just 18.9% shooting from the field. The Engineers are also now ranked 2nd in the nation in rebounding margin (+13.2, behind the leader at +13.6), as the Engineers out-rebounded Clark 44-31.

6'6" Russell Johnson snagged 6 boards on the night. 6'10" Lampros Tsontzos added a large presence down low (Pic: Tom Gearty)

Leading the way for Tech was 6'6" sophomore Justin Pedley, scoring inside and out for 20 points. 6'8" All-Conference selection Matt Redfield, who returned after missing two games, stuffed the stat sheet again with 12 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Redfield is averaging a double-double on the season with 13.7 ppg and 10.0 rpg. 6'8" co-captain Andrew Acker and 6'6" sophomore Russell Johnson combined for 13 rebounds, while sophomore Ryan Frankel added 10 points and freshman sharp-shooter Dakota Pierce added 11.

Sophomore Ryan Frankel added 10 points on the night

MIT takes on #6 WPI tomorrow at 2pm.

NEWMAC, Northeast on National Scene

Four NEWMAC teams and ten Northeast Region teams received votes for the most recent Top 25 poll, including MIT with 14, as both the conference and the region show their strength nationally.

Read more here: http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2013-14/week5

Game Preview: MIT vs. Clark University

MIT vs. Clark University
Wednesday, Rockwell Cage, 7pm

Live Stats | Video

Probable Starters:

MIT (8-2, 0-0)	Ht.	PPG	RPG		Clark (9-2, 0-0)	Ht.	PPG	RPG
Matt Redfield	6'8"	13.9	9.8		David Mercier	6'6"	4.5	3.5
Andrew Acker	6'8"	11.9	9.6		Andrew Musler	6'4"	11.7	8.2
Dennis Levene	6'8"	5.2	4.9		Nicholas Daprato	6'0"	21.2	4.4
Justin Pedley	6'6"	15.5	1.5		Tyler Huffman	5'10"	8.5	2.1
Paul Dawson	5'10"	4.9	4.4 apg		Lucas LaLima	5'7"	3.6	4.4 apg

A Look at Clark:

Clark University is off to another strong start (9-2) in their proud and storied basketball tradition. The Cougars have a talented young recruiting class mixed with experienced upperclassmen as well as the top scorer in the conference. 

Clark will look to run on both misses and turnovers. In transition, the guards will push the ball up the right side of the court while the shooters will look to run to the three point line to get open looks.

In the half court Clark runs a motion offense with a few sets interspersed. The majority of the sets are designed to get Nicholas Daprato a shot. The Cougars will run a lot of screen-the-screener plays, especially for Daprato, as he is very good at reading and reacting to the offense. 42% of their shot attempts are from three, and the Engineers ability to contest their three point shooting will be a huge part of the game. 

Defensively the Cougars have shown half-court man and 2-3 zone, a 3/4 press, as well as a 2-1-2 full court press. The Engineers must be prepared to handle the ball in the backcourt and use their size advantage down low. 

Tune in at half-time for MITHoop.NET's in-game analysis.

Engineers Overpower Wheelock 81-51

Box Score

The MIT Engineers ended the first semester in fine fashion Saturday afternoon, taking down Wheelock College 81-51 to end the slate 8-2 and on a 5-game win-streak. The Engineers shot 56% from the field, 47% from three, dished out 25 assists, and out-rebounded the Wildcats by 29.

Head Coach Larry Anderson earned his 279th win on Saturday. He is 120-33 in the last 6 seasons (Pic: Tom Gearty)

6'8" Junior co-captain Andrew Acker stuffed the stat sheet again with 20 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 block. 6'6" Sophomores Justin Pedley and Russell Johnson put on quite a show, with Pedley posting 20 points with four three-pointers and Johnson netting career-highs of 16 points, 16 rebounds, and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. 6'10" Sophomore Lampros Tsontzos had a career-high game as well with 12 points and 9 rebounds going 6-of-7 from the field.

6'10" Lampros Tsontzos from Greece with the lay-up (Pic: Tom Gearty)

The SLAMBLOCKULATOR was also in full effect on Saturday afternoon, with Freshman Tim Butala and Garrett House throwing down two hammer fast-break dunks.

6'8" Freshman Tim Butala adds one to the SLAMBLOCKULATOR (Pic: Tom Gearty)

In his post-game email to friends, family, and alums of the program, Coach Anderson spoke about the first semester and the upcoming weeks ahead: "I was pleased to finish the first portion of the season heading into finals week on a positive note. The effort put forth by our student-athletes in the final push of the fall semester was admirable.  Now it’s time for them to turn their full attention to their academic pursuits, final exams and projects.  In the classroom is where our student-athletes really shine.  It’s the place where they make us proudest.  We will be right here to support them 100%."  

The Engineers head into the break 8-2 (Pic: Tom Gearty)

MIT takes on Clark University January 8th in Rockwell Cage. 

Game Preview: MIT vs. Wheelock

MIT vs. Wheelock College
Saturday, Rockwell Cage, 1pm

Live Stats | Video

Probable Starters:

MIT (7-2)	Ht.	PPG	RPG		Wheelock (0-7)	Ht.	PPG	RPG
Tim Butala	6'8"	2.0	1.8		Joe Reedy	6'3"	13.5	7.8
Andrew Acker	6'8"	11.0	8.9		Anthony Williams	6'2"	13.4	7.0
Dennis Levene	6'8"	5.8	5.2		Derek Fournier	6'2"	10.3	5.0
Justin Pedley	6'6"	15.0	1.4		Rashaan Powell	5'10"	7.9	2.0
Paul Dawson	5'10"	5.4	4.6 apg		Nicholas Fenton	5'10"	7.9	5.7 apg

A Look at Wheelock:
The Wheelock Wildcats will head into The Cage on Saturday night with a talented young roster that boasts four underclassmen starters. The Engineers will need increased focus defending the dribble drive and must continue to limit their turnovers in their quest to become a more efficient offense attack.

Wheelock is another team that likes to get out and run on their opponent's turnovers and misses, with Fenton leading the break and making plays. In the half-court Williams and Reedy will look to post hard, while on the perimeter the guards will run a dribble-drive offense with a lot of dribble hand-offs. Fournier is a deadly shooter from the perimeter, and the Wildcats will run a few sets to get him open.

MIT again must continue to limit their turnovers while utilizing their size. Versus Newbury the Engineers got hot from three in the second-half, which allowed for a dominant inside-out game.

Tune in at half-time for MITHoop.NET's in-game analysis.

NEWMAC's Strong Performance in New England Region

The NEWMAC and NESCAC conferences sit atop the rankings for highest overall conference winning percentage in the extremely competitive New England region (games played through 12/10). There are currently ten New England teams receiving votes for the Top 25 national poll, more than any other region. 

Conference	Overall Winning %
NESCAC	.716
NEWMAC	.708
LEC	.615
CCC	.438
GNAC	.418
NAC	.413
NECC	.391
MASCAC	.321

Region	# Teams Receiving Top 25 Votes
New England	10
West	8
Great Lakes	8
South	8
Middle Atlantic	8
MidWest	7
East	2
Atlantic	1

Engineers Topple Nighthawks 71-53

Box Score

Despite not having their leading scorer and leading rebounder Matt Redfield, the Engineers earned their fourth win in a row and seventh win of the season with the 71-53 decision over Newbury College tonight.

MIT shot 52% from the field, 50% from three, dished out 19 assists, and out-rebounded Newbury 43-20.

Sophomore Ryan Frankel nailed three three-pointers in a career-high performance (Pic: Tom Gearty)

Leading the way for the Engineers was 6'6" Sophomore Justin Pedley, connecting on four three-pointers en route to a game-high 20 points. Fellow Sophomore Ryan Frankel netted a career-high 17 points along with 5 assists to pace the Engineers at the point guard position. Down low 6'8" Junior co-captains Dennis Levene and Andrew Acker were dominant, combining for 27 points, 21 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals.

Junior co-captain Dennis Levene put up 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists (Pic: Tom Gearty)

MIT moves to 7-2 on the season, and will close out the first semester this Saturday versus Wheelock College.

Game Preview: MIT vs. Newbury College

MIT vs. Newbury College
Monday, Hellenic College, 6pm

Live Stats | Video

Probable Starters:

MIT (6-2)	Ht.	PPG	RPG		Newbury (0-8)	Ht.	PPG	RPG
Matt Redfield	6'8"	13.9	9.8		Cameron Owen	6'7"	5.5	3.4
Andrew Acker	6'8"	10.6	8.8		Adam James	6'4"	5.1	4.4
Dennis Levene	6'8"	4.9	4.5		Ceejae Carter	6'2"	2.6	1.2
Justin Pedley	6'6"	14.4	1.5		Eric Watson	6'2"	16.8	5.4
Paul Dawson	5'10"	5.9	5.1 apg		Milciades Carrasco	5'11"	11.1	0.8 apg

A Look at Newbury:
The Nighthawks of Newbury College are coming off one of their best seasons in the past five years with a conference (NECC) finish of 12-4. Currently, they are in the middle of a brutal non-conference schedule, in which they play five games in seven days and should come into Monday’s contest battle-tested having played some of the best teams in the country (4 of their first 7 games vs. nationally ranked opponents). The Nighthawks have 9 new promising freshmen and were voted in the preseason to finish near the top of their conference.

Newbury will look for their leading scorer Watson to attack coast-to-coast for layups in transition or Carrasco for the pull-up three. In the half-court, Watson can do it all, Carrasco will look to catch and shoot, and Owens, a stretch-5, has range beyond the arc. MIT must take care of these three primary scorers. Given MIT's size advantage, the Nighthawks may mix their defenses up (man-to-man, 3-2 zone, 2-3 zone).

MIT must continue to work on their ability to take care of the ball and use their height advantage tonight against Newbury.

MIT Downs Salem State at Home

Box Score

The MIT Engineers were short-handed at the end of the game, but were able to squeak out a 61-57 win versus Salem State tonight at Rockwell Cage. MIT's leading scorer Matt Redfield had to leave the game midway through the first half, and Junior captain Dennis Levene fouled out with 6 minutes left in the contest, but MIT was able to prevail with their 6th win of the season with solid play from the rest of the team.

In 12 minutes of action, 6'8" Redfield tallied 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, and a reverse dunk. Fellow 6'8" big-man Andrew Acker led the rest of the way, registering 15 points with 11 rebounds and 3 assists while shooting 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. 6'6" Sophomore Justin Pedley was a perfect 7-for-7 from the line for 15 points as well. 

6'6" Sophomore Russell Johnson provided a spark off the bench, connecting on three three-pointers in a crucial three-minute stretch, while 6'8" Dennis Levene added 7 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block before fouling out. 

MIT moves to 6-2 on the season and will face Newbury College on Monday at 6pm.