Josh Newman on Monmouth-Siena Josh Newman
UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Monmouth University's 2-5 start in the MAAC certainly can't be attributed to lack of preparation time.
Over the Hawks' first seven conference games ahead of Saturday's trip to Nassau Coliseum to face Marist, the Hawks had at least five days between games four different times.
Through Friday night, Monmouth had played the fewest number of conference games. Conversely, Rider, Monmouth's opponent on Monday night in Lawrenceville, has already played 10.
All of that time Monmouth has had to prepare has come to an end. Beginning with Thursday night's 67-56 win over Siena, the Hawks are in the middle of three games in five days, their first such stretch this season against league foes.
"People are going to be tired," senior guard Austin Tilghman said Thursday after playing 37 minutes, his fifth consecutive game of at least 34 minutes. "We also have a lot of young guys who haven't been through this before. It's important to get the right amount of rest, guys have to stretch and at this point, scouting is short now.
"There's only day to scout a team, so you really have to be locked in and composed. We'll be ready. This group will be ready."
"I think we've been the one team in the league that's had a week in between games since we started conference-play," Monmouth head coach King Rice said Thursday. "We're probably at a little bit of a disadvantage because this year, we've had a lot of space in between our games. I'm glad we got this win today, because then it's harder when you have three in five days."
Monmouth (6-13, 2-5 MAAC) actually opened this season with three games in five days, wrapping wins over Bucknell and Lehigh around a loss at Seton Hall.
The Hawks will not play three-in-five again this season, but as the season wears on, there will be four instances of two games in three days. Some of those games, especially as February begins to wind down, could be huge as teams jockey for MAAC Tournament seeding.
A two-in-three stretch of at Iona (Feb. 8) and at Manhattan (Feb. 10) sends Monmouth to two buildings that are generally considered hard to win in. Feb. 22 at Rider and Feb. 24 at Fairfield is the final weekend of the regular season.
"Kids are young, their bodies bounce back quick," Rice said. "It's old guys that have a problem going back-to-back-to-back like that. Young kids can do it, and they want to play basketball. They'd much rather have games then practice.
"If they didn't have a game on Saturday, they would be in here practicing, and that's not as much fun, especially right now."
Staff writer Josh Newman: jnewman@app.com; @Joshua_Newman