Purple Rain Preview, Niagara Style

So, now the Legends Classic moves on to Calihan Hall in Detroit, where the Falcons will play three games in 3 days.  Two of these games represent excellent opportunities to right the ship.  We'll look first at Niagara.

Niagara is the youngest team in D1, based on statsheet.com.  Of their 8 players who have minutes, only one is a junior and none is a senior.  Four are freshmen.  (As seen below, their only senior has yet to play, so they would expect to play as a less young team starting soon).

They're 1-2 on the season.  They lost at home to UMW (by 17), and then one on the road to Georgia Tech (by 16).  They beat Mt. St. Mary's by 2 at home.  Mt. St. Mary's (known unfortunately as "The Mount") is an upper level team in the Northeast Conference, so that's at least a respectable win for Niagara.

Their best player was supposed to be Sr. Anthony Nelson, but he took a ball to the face and has yet to play this season.  He is expected back for the games in Detroit, based on this article in the Niagara paper.  Freshman (what else) Marvin Jordan has stepped in and played well in his place, especially in the win over Mt. St. Mary's.  Nelson is a good one who gets to the hoop and is a very strong passer.

Kashief Edwards is a talented swing man,  and Antoine Mason is a freshman guard who is leading the team in scoring.

Because of the unevenness of their schedule, it is hard to tell exactly what to expect.  Their numbers are very good against the Mount, OK against UWM, and obviously were smoked by Georgia Tech.

They play at about 70 possessions a game, which is more upbeat than BG has typically played.  On the stats sheet, the game is pretty even, as seen below (courtesy statsheet.com).  Niagara is a 2-point favorite.

Niagara does not bring a really big man and they are young.  We should be able to compete with them but they are certainly not an pushover.

They are well coached.  Joe Mihalich is now in his 13th season.  He has been conference coach of the year twice, and has taken the club to the Big Dance twice and has one win.

Their rep is typically to play an upbeat style and score, for whatever that is worth.