It’s been 103 days since Monmouth won a road game. Ten straight times they’ve taken the court and fallen short in another team’s arena. And yet the Hawks still find themselves in a descent position with four games left before the CAA Tournament because they’ve won 12 in-a-row at home.
Which brings us to tonight’s game at TU Arena in Towson, Maryland (7 p.m.; FloSports.com), where Towson’s won 19 of its last 20, making it the toughest place to play in the CAA. Because if Monmouth can get off the schneid in the first of three remaining road games, there could be a path to a top-4 seed, which puts you straight into the quarterfinals.
Monmouth (15-12, 8-6 CAA), currently alone in seventh in the CAA standings, is behind three teams at 9-5, including Towson. And all three, including Delaware and Hofstra, still have at least two games remaining against CAA leaders Charleston (11-3), UNC Wilmington (10-4) and Drexel (10-4), with Hofstra playing all three down the stretch.
After Towson, Monmouth has by far the easiest schedule of the group, with its three remaining opponents sitting near the bottom of the 362 Division 1 teams ranked in the NET, including North Carolina A&T (337), Hampton (348) and Elon (306). But the last two are away from home, and if Monmouth can’t find a cure for its road woes it will finish closer to 11th place, where it was picked to finish in the preseason.
“We have two weeks left. We have four games. Win all four you put yourself in the mix,” Monmouth head coach King Rice said. “We haven’t had a lot of success on the road. We had one big one on the road (winning at West Virginia on Nov. 10). Towson had an 18-game winning streak until Delaware beat them.
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“We’re going to walk into the craziest game – it might not be the craziest crowd – because we beat them this year (51-43 on Jan. 4). They’re going to be super ready but my guys are growing. Just the law of averages you’re going to win one on the road sooner or later.”
Here are three keys for Monmouth at Towson. And check back later tonight for analysis as the Hawks try to snap their 10-game road losing streak:
1. Win inside
When Monmouth and Towson played in what was the CAA opener, Towson was No. 1 in the country in rebounding, grabbing on average 11.8 more rebounds. But Monmouth outrebounded them, 45-42, in the best effort of the season on the glass, with sophomore guard Jack Collins getting a career-high 13, and graduate center Nikita Konstantynovskyi pulling down nine.
Towson’s 6-7 graduate forward Charles Thompson had 12 rebounds in that game and is third in the CAA at 8.2 rebounds-per-game, while Konstantynovskyi, a 6-10 graduate center coming off a 20-rebound game against Stony Brook, is sixth at 7.6. He also had 22 points, giving him the fourth 20-plus double-double in program history.
2. Balanced scoring
Monmouth needs its underclassmen to step up in a hostile environment. Collins, redshirt freshman forward Jaret Valencia, who picked up back-to-back CAA Rookie of the Week honors, freshman guard Abdi Bashir Jr. and freshman forward Cornelius Robinson Jr. all have key roles in the rotation. No matter how much scoring graduate guard Xander Rice does – he’s averaging 21.1 points – it won’t matter if everyone’s not pulling their weight.
3. Stay close
Time and again it’s been Xander Rice coming through with huge plays late in games to save Monmouth. Rice scored the Hawks’ final 16 points to take down Towson in their first meeting. He scored 14 straight points for Monmouth late to beat Drexel, and sank three free throws with two seconds left to beat Hofstra. And who can forget his two 3-points in the final 3.2 seconds, part of a 37-point outburst, in last week’s win over Campbell.
If they can keep it close, Rice gives them a chance to win.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth NJ basketball vs Towson in key CAA game
