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Clarkson University Athletics

CU Men's Basketball Preview - at Skidmore/RPI (2/15-16)

By: February 14, 2019
LucasJoe2019vsU
Connor Koehler

Men's Basketball | 2/14/2019 1:08:00 PM

Looking to follow up one of its better offensive efforts of the season, the Clarkson University Men's Basketball team will look to close out the 2018-19 season on a winning streak when it heads downstate to take on Skidmore and Rensselaer this weekend.

Live Stats/Live Video – at Skidmore
Live Stats/Live Video – at Rensselaer

The Series vs. Skidmore: The Thoroughbreds have won 12 straight against Clarkson, including a 67-57 win back in December.

The Series vs. Rensselaer: In the first meeting between the two teams this year, the Engineers shot a season-high 58.2% from the floor en route to a 96-84 win against the Knights.

Key Stats for Skidmore (15-7, 13-3 Liberty League): The duo of sophomore Noah Meren and senior Edvinas Rupkus is as formidable as any other in the region. Meren enjoyed a solid first year at Skidmore, but has emerged as a star in his second collegiate season, averaging 21.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting 49.1% from the floor. Meren does significant damage from the free throw line, taking 42.8% of the team's shots (166 of 388) with more makes (120) than all but one player in the league has even attempted. Rupkus is on his fourth year of excellence at the college level, averaging 16.6 points per game with league-bests in 3-point field goal percentage (43.6%) and free throw percentage (87.3%). In his last two games against Clarkson, Rupkus has shot only 8-for-22 from the floor (36.4%), though in his previous three games against the Knights he shot 68.6% (24-for-35).

Key Stats for Rensselaer (13-10, 8-8 Liberty League): Senior Tom Horvat has hoisted 184 3-point attempts this year with 71 going in for a 38.6% success rate. The 71 3-pointers are the most in the conference, helping Horvat lead the team in scoring at 16.7 points per game. After a slow start in which he was held to single digits, Horvat has reached double figures in 21 consecutive games. Sophomore forward Patrick Mahoney has taken a big leap forward this year, averaging 14.3 points per game with a field goal percentage of 49.8% after averaging just 3.7 points per game last year. Senior Andreas Kontopidis is still dangerous, averaging 12.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and showed that in the first meeting between the two teams when he scored 20 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field (four 3-pointers) and a 6-for-7 effort from the free throw line.

Key Stats for Clarkson (6-17, 5-11 Liberty League): Although Clarkson ranks last in the conference in field goal percentage (37.6%), the Knights have shot better than 40% from the field in four straight games, and more importantly the team has averaged 13 3-pointers made in its last two games. Additionally, the Knights have held their last two opponents to 41% or worse shooting from the field. Only one team (Ithaca) has kept its turnovers to single digits against Clarkson this year, as the Knights force 16.3 turnovers per game. Junior Matt Higgins has scored 20 or more points in a game five times this year, with all occurrences coming in the last six weeks and twice accomplishing the feat in the last 10 days.





 
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Players Mentioned

Matt Higgins

#30 Matt Higgins

G
6' 3"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Matt Higgins

#30 Matt Higgins

6' 3"
Junior
G