Wagner Seahawks
Northeast Conference (25-6, 15-3)
Last season Wagner exceed expectations during Coach Dan Hurley’s first year at the helm of the program. He wasted little time building off their success in 2010-2011 and turned his team into a dominate force in the NEC. The Seahawks have only lost six games all season long, and two of those were to LIU Brooklyn, who won the conference regular season title. But with only a handful of other losses on the season, Wagner would not be left out of the postseason.
Big Wins: 11/12 at Princeton (73-57), 11/22 at Penn (71-65), 12/23 at Pittsburgh (59-54)
Bad Losses: 12/1 at LIU Brooklyn (73-78), 12/10 Lehigh (69-70), 2/25 at Central Connecticut State (61-78)
Coach: Dan Hurley (2 seasons at Wagner)
Why They Can Surprise:
Wagner is still a young team, but this is a very experienced squad. All five starters are back and Coach Hurley has had a number of other players step up. The overall team depth is one of Wagner’s strengths as this group will go ten deep without a problem. The team is bigger than any player and even when one of the big scorers has an off day, somebody else will step up. Tyler Murray is one of the best outside shooters in the nation, making about half of his attempts from beyond the arc. Latif Rivers is a prolific scorer from beyond the arc as well, but he will also attack the basket. Jonathan Williams, a 6-6 junior, is the other consistent scorer on the team. He is not a great shooter, but he will use his size to score around the basket. The scariest thing about Wagner is that anybody else could have a big offensive game at any time. Marcus Burton is not a big scorer if you look at the season numbers, but he has had a couple digit scoring outputs down the stretch. Senior Chris Martin is playing his best basketball late in the year too. And then there is a player like Orlando Parker, a starter last year who is down the bench a ways this season. Parker is a good forward who has proven that he is capable of scoring and rebounding. He has not done much of either this year, but everybody knows he could on any given day.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Wagner was not really tested during the non-conference portion of the schedule. They did get quality wins against Princeton, Penn, Pittsburgh, Air Force and Santa Clara, but those teams may not be on par with what they will run into in March. One of their losses, however, came at Connecticut. This team has grown a lot during the season, so it will be interesting to see if they can pull together and put up a good game against a tough opponent. That will be more difficult if the Seahawks run into a team with athletic big men. Wagner runs four guards around 6-11 center Naofall Folahan. Folahan is not much of a scorer, but he can get up and down the floor with the guards and block some shots. Wagner does have some other big bodies who can come in if they cannot play small, but Coach Hurley will try and force the opposition to change what Wagner wants to run. However, Wagner may not have much choice and forwards like Parker, Josh Thompson and Mario Moody may have to play a larger role if Wagner wants to pull off an upset.
Probable Starters:
Kenneth Ortiz, Sophomore, Guard, 8.1 ppg, 4.3 apg, 4.5 rpg
Latif Rivers, Sophomore, Guard, 14.6 ppg, 2.2 apg
Tyler Murray, Senior, Guard, 12.0 ppg, 2.1 apg
Jonathon Williams, Junior, Guard, 13.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg
Naofall Folahan, Sophomore, Center, 4.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.7 bpg
Key Roleplayers:
Marcus Burton, Freshman, Guard, 3.5 ppg, 1.0 apg
Chris Martin, Senior, Guard, 7.1 ppg, 1.0 apg
Mario Moody, Freshman, Forward, 4.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.0 bpg
Orlando Parker, Sophomore, Forward, 3.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg
Josh Thompson, Junior, Forward, 4.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 73.4 (53rd in nation, 2nd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 64.3 (99, 2)
Field-Goal Percentage: 44.1 (139, 4)
Field-Goal Defense: 40.8 (59, 2)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.6 (120, 3)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 36.0 (89, 3)
Free-Throw Percentage: 74.3 (35, 3)
Rebound Margin: 0.6 (168, 5)
Assists Per Game: 12.9 (170, 7)
Turnovers Per Game: 13.3 (11, 1)
Last Five Postseason Appearances:
Wagner 2003 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Pittsburgh
Wagner 2002 NIT First Round loss to Richmond
Wagner 1979 NIT First Round loss to Old Dominion
*all team stats through 3/4
See All Men’s Basketball Postseason Capsules
