Marist set for Saint Peter's test

Tomorrow night, Marist will head to Jersey City, N.J. to take on the surging Saint Peter's Peacocks.
Although this game looked quite winnable several days ago, Saint Peter's upended then No. 3 Rider on the road, 65-64. Marist lost to Rider twice, both by double digits.
Saint Peter's enters the game, which can be seen on the MSG network, on a 2-game winning streak. Saint Peter's beat both Canisius and Rider on the road by one point in each contest.
The Peacocks sit in eighth position in the MAAC, one game ahead of Marist. At this point in the season, both teams are likely to play in the opening round of the MAAC tournament on Friday night, March 6, in the Times Union Center in Albany. While Loyola, Saint Peter's, Marist, and Canisius are still jockeying for position, Iona would need to virtually collapse down the stretch for any of the first three teams to pass them. Canisius is eliminated from a first round bye.
Marist and Saint Peter's could realistically face each other in the first round of the tournament. The top six teams get byes while No. 7 plays No. 10 and the No. 8 and No. 9 teams face off. Marist won the first meeting in Poughkeepsie, 60-54. Saint Peter's hopes the home-court advantage will pay off.
Saint Peter's enters the game with the worst scoring offense in the MAAC, averaging a meager 58.5 ppg. On the flip side, the Peacocks boast the second-best scoring defense, yielding 64.1 ppg. The team also ranks last in field-goal percentage offense and offensive rebounding. The game is shaping up to be a defensive contest, much like the Iona games have been for Marist.
Despite Saint Peter's offensive inconsistency, the team has three players scoring in double digits on the season. Wesley Jenkins ranks fifth in the MAAC in scoring with 15.3 ppg. Jenkins is two spots behind Marist's Ryan Schneider, who averages 16.4 ppg. Nick Leon ranks one spot behind his teammate at sixth with 15.2 ppg. Sophomore forward Ryan Bacon rounds out the scoring trio with 11.4 ppg. The Peacocks may not score much as a team, but these three players are extremely capable of going off for big numbers. Leon should provide an interesting match-up for Marist's David Devezin.
One interesting thing of note is that Marist has struggled when televised on national and regional television. Marist has played games on MSG, MSG+, and ESPNU, and has yet to register a win. Marist is 0-4 on the big stage.