Utica, NY - The 17-6 (8-4 Empire 8) Utica College men's basketball team will host the Houghton Highlanders on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. for its second-to-last game of the season.
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Last Time Out: The Pioneers look to bounce back Tuesday night against Houghton College after dropping their last two games against the top-ranked Nazareth and St. John Fisher this past weekend. They were unable to hold on against St John Fisher in an 84-82 loss on Saturday. There were a total of 11 lead changes in the game, as both squads struggled to maintain a lead. Junior center
Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) had his three-game double-double streak snapped against the Cardinals. The 6-foot-8 center fell short of his sixth double-double of the season, finishing with eight points and eight rebounds. Sophomore guard
Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) had a stellar outing, netting a season-high 28 points.Â
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Playoff Run: A Pioneer victory over Houghton would put them at 18-6 overall and 9-4 in the Empire 8. A win would officially keep UC at least one game ahead of Sage, who clinched the final playoff spot last weekend and sit at fourth overall in the Empire 8. The top four in the conference go to the playoffs. The Pioneers are guaranteed at least the fourth spot, but this game against Houghton still holds a lot of weight for the Pioneers — A loss gives Sage the chance to take the third seed over and forces the Pioneers to match up against the top-seeded Nazareth Golden Flyers in the opening round of the E8 conference tournament.
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High Stakes: Both games this week have many playoff ramifications. The No. 1 seed in the Empire 8, Nazareth, is going to be paying close attention to both UC and Sage to see who it will match up against in the playoffs. The Pioneers will play the No. 2 seed if they get a win against Houghton and a Sage loss. Or, if UC simply beats Sage in its last game of the season on Saturday, it would secure the third seed.
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Sharpshooters: UC ranks first in the conference in 3-point percentage, shooting 40.4 percent so far this season; As a team, the Pioneers are averaging roughly eight made 3-pointers per game. Sophomore guard
Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) leads the way for the team from behind the arc, shooting a team-best 45.8 percent. Freshman forward
Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and junior guard
Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) are right behind Hopkins, shooting a 43.6 and 40.4 percent clip from 3-point land, respectively.Â
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Spreading The Court: At this point in the season, four different Pioneers are averaging double-digit scoring figures:
Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) (14.5),
Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) (12.7),
Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) (10.6) and
Brett Talbert (Deer Park, NY/Knox School) (10.2). Hopkins and Talbert have been solid in producing offense for the Pioneers — Both players have totaled over 50 assists on the year.
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Team Effort: This year's squad leads the Empire 8 in all of the following categories:
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Points per game (82.3)
3-point percentage (40.4%)
Free throw percentage (73.5%)
Defensive rebounds per game (27.6)
Rebounding margin (4.1)
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Young Guns: Freshman
Thomas Morreale (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is still the second-leading scorer on the team. Morreale is averaging 12.7 points per game. He is also the second-leading rebounder with 136 total boards on the season, which is good for 5.9 per game. Another freshman in
Brett Talbert (Deer Park, NY/Knox School) has done a little bit of everything, averaging 10.2 points per game while totaling team-highs in steals (23) and assists (53). Both players are the only freshman to crack the top-25 scoring ranks in the Empire 8.Â
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Block Party: Junior center
Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) currently ranks second in the Empire 8 in blocks with 40 (1.7 per game) and rebounds with 213 (8.9 per game) thus far. The Hudson, New York native is also adding 9.1 points per game for the Pioneers.
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Free Throws: Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) has been lights out from the charity stripe, as he is currently shooting 84.2 percent (85-101) on his free throws. This percentage currently ranks second in the conference. Ranking at the No. 1 spot is
Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle), who is shooting a remarkable 88.5 percent from the line this season.
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Scouting Houghton: Houghton is currently sitting at seventh in the conference (3-9, 5-18). The guy to watch for on Houghton is Jordan Holmes. Holmes is having a remarkable year from beyond the arc, shooting 40.3 percent from 3-point land, which is the second-best in the conference. Scottie Berghaus also does a lot for this team. Berghaus is right behind Holmes in 3-point percentage, shooting a solid 40.2 percent on the year to place him as the No. 3 overall 3-point shooter in the Empire 8.
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Up Next: The Pioneers will hit the road one final time to cap off the regular season as UC will battle against the fourth-seeded Sage men's basketball team on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Albany, New York. This game will be for the third seed in the playoffs.
