WAGNER (2-3)Last Game: Wagner 81, St. Peter's 77 in OT on 11/20/19
Last Game with SBU: Wagner 58, Stony Brook 54 on 11/21/10; offensive rebounds: SBU 28, Wagner 6; SBU shot 23.4% from the field
Checkmate Unofficial Line: Stony Brook -3.5
Net Ranking: TBD. Debuts next week.
KenPom RPI: Stony Brook 202, Wagner 329
KenPom Prediction: Stony Brook 71, Wagner 65
Listen/Watch:TV:
http://bit.ly/BBallGm7VidNotables:6-4/190 gr G Curtis Cobb III 21.6 ppg, 1.6 spg, .444 3-pt FG%, .947 FT%
6-6/180 jr G Alex Morales 12.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 4.8 apg, .375 3-pt FG%
6-5/205 jr G Elijah Ford 11.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.5 spg, .545 FG%, .786 FT%
6-5/190 jr G Will Martinez 11.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.0 apg
6-5/200 so G Tyrone Nesby IV 8.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg
The first thing of note about the aforementioned five is ... only one of them played at Wagner a year ago. Cobb was at Fairfield for two years before transferring to UMass, and now he's using his graduate year to finish up at Wagner. He's 23 1/2. The next three on the list were standouts at the junior college level, most notably Morales, who was a second team All-American at Prince George's CC a year ago, averaging 20, 12 and 6. Martinez played alongside Gueye at Monroe.
Last year, Wagner won just 13 games with a senior-laden group, so head coach Bashir Mason had to find talent fast to be competitive. It will take some time to get there, if it ever does.
I can tell you about Cobb ... he's a scorer. You bring up his name in Massachusetts hoops circles and that's the first and last thing that will be brought up. Three ball, mid range, going to the basket, he can do it. Or at least he's going to try. Right now, he's averaging more than 15 shots a game, including nine a night from three. He was a flash in the pan at UMass, coming out like gangbusters in the non-conference season before losing his starting job and dropping on the depth chart. But he definitely had his nights. He set a single-game record at Fairfield when he dropped 46 on Manhattan. At Wagner, his numbers are skewed by a 40-point night against D-III Wesley (strange that Wagner played only 7 players), but he did go for 25 in their recent win over St. Peter's. Not a superior athlete and he's streaky, but he has the appetite and ability to fill it up on any given night.
The knock on Wagner this year so far is its defense, with teams shooting nearly 49 percent from the floor. They allowed 88 to NJIT, 91 to Penn State and 105 to Seton Hall. Think about that – even when we've faced the big boys, we've at least guarded people. St. Peter's didn't crack 50 in its first two games yet put up 77 on Wagner. That is not a good sign.
Another note: in their three losses, Wagner has had 46 turnovers to their opponents' 26.
The junior college route may be a quick fix in terms of talent, but it can feel like pieces to a puzzle but not necessarily the same one. You bring guys in as freshmen and they're part of the program for four years. When you take them from here, there and everywhere, they're coming from different systems and there's usually some kind of back story. One a year, a la Saintel, Cornish, Otchere and Gueye? Fine. They've all been assets. But three at once, plus a fourth who's on his third school, in virtually the same kind of role is just odd to me.
I'm reluctant to make us a heavy favorite on the road, but I think our togetherness and commitment to defense are going to shine through here.