CU Men's Basketball Preview - at Hobart/RIT (1/18-19)

In the midst of a six-game road trip, the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team will look to recover from a lost weekend when the team travels to take on Hobart College and RIT.

Live Stats/Live Video – at Hobart (7:00 pm Friday)
Live Stats/Live Video – at RIT (2:00 pm on Saturday, moved up from 4:00 pm)

The Series vs. Hobart: The Golden Knights have lost six straight contests to the Statesmen, with their last win coming during the 2015 Liberty League playoffs. Hobart owns a 77-53 all-time record, including four straight wins by 10 points or more.

The Series vs. RIT: Clarkson may trail by 15 games in the all-time matchup against the Tigers (34-49), but the Knights have owned RIT since it joined the Liberty League in the 2011-12 season. Clarkson is 12-2 versus the Tigers since January 2012.

Key Stats for Clarkson (3-11, 2-5 Liberty League): Last weekend against both Union and Ithaca, the Golden Knights fell behind by double figures in the early going thanks to poor shooting, but in each contest the team rallied back to tie the game. It's a story that has plagued the Knights all year, as Clarkson has scored more points in the second half in 11 of its 14 games, but the statistic was magnified against the Dutchmen and Bombers. Clarkson shot 17-for-64 in the first half (26.6%) and 27-for-65 in the second half (41.5%). Over the last three games, Clarkson is averaging 28 points in the first 20 minutes and 46.3 points in the second half.

Key Stats for Hobart (8-6, 5-2 Liberty League): No team in the Liberty League relies on the 3-pointer more than Clarkson, a claim that the Statesmen used to hold. Hobart is averaging 21.79 3-point field goal attempts per game, its fewest since the 2013-14 season (16.31), and close to three fewer per game than the team has tried in the last four seasons combined. The fewer 3-pointers attempted probably has to do with the significant differences in success from inside and out, as Hobart is shooting 52.9% from inside the arc and just 31.5% from beyond it. Colin Dougherty is averaging 18.1 points per game, but has upped his game as of late, scoring 22.5 ppg on 59.3% shooting in the last four contests. After missing the tail end of 2018, Jamal Lucas is back and is scoring 16.2 points per game in the five 2019 contests.

Key Stats for RIT (3-11, 0-7 Liberty League): The Tigers have struggled this year, having most recently dropped four straight league contests, all by double figures. RIT's biggest issue is on offense, where the Tigers are averaging a league-low 63.6 points per game. Only Will Atkinson (20 points vs. Wells) and Jaymee Rosser (24 points vs. D'Youville) have recorded 20-point games, and just Atkinson averages double figures (10.8 ppg). The Tigers have done a good job of defending the 3-pointer as teams are shooting only 30.9% with fewer than seven makes per game, but once inside the arc opponents are making 53.2% of their shots.

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