From University of Rochester Athletics
Rochester's trip to the Sectional Semifinals this weekend will pair the Yellowjackets against one of the nation's most dynamic home teams that flourishes with crowd support and a high-scoring offense.
The Yellowjackets are off to Ohio – to Marietta College specifically – to play in the Sectionals on Friday evening. Rochester (23-4), ranked #13 in the last regular season poll by D3hoops.com, will face #7 Marietta College in the semifinal round. That game will tip off at 8 pm. The first game on Friday (5 pm tip) pairs top-ranked Whitman College of Oregon against Hardin-Simmons University of Abilene, Texas. The Cowboys were among others receiving votes in the last poll.
All four semifinalists won the first and second rounds on their home floor. Marietta defeated Calvin College, 83-66, in the first round, then rolled past #23 Guilford College, 88-64, in round two on Saturday. Rochester was an 89-66 winner over Albertus Magnus College of Connecticut on Friday evening and an 82-60 winner against Union College on Saturday.
Whitman defeated Rhodes College, 111-98, on Friday and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 79-73 on Saturday. Hardin-Simmons lit up the scoreboard as well with a 109-103 victory over LaGrange College on Friday night and a 95-85 triumph against Emory University on Saturday.
Emory finished third in the University Athletic Association behind Washington University and Rochester. Washington lost on the road at Hope College on Saturday night (94-80). The UR defense will be tested Friday.
The other three Sectional sites are Babson University (hosting Tufts, Christopher Newport, and Keene State), Middlebury College (hosting Endicott, Susquehanna, and Williams), and Hope (hosting Hanover, Augustana, and Wartburg College).
The four Sectional semifinalists at Marietta have a combined won-lost record of 100 victories and 14 losses (Whitman 29-0, Hardin-Simmons 24-6, Marietta 26-4, Rochester 23-4).
Marietta won the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title with a 16-2 mark and swept three games at home in the OAC playoffs. The Pioneers have won 17 consecutive games and are 17-0 on their home floor, Ban Johnson Arena.
The last loss for the Pioneers came on January 7, 2017 at Ohio Northern (101-91). Marietta won its first seven, then lost four of six games. A 17-game winning streak (current) followed.
Marietta averages 88.9 ppg. on offense, shooting .489 from the field, .396 beyond the arc, and .719 at the foul line. The Pioneers give up 74.3 ppg. and hold their opponents to .429 from the floor, .342 from distance. Marietta opponents have shot .684 at the line this year. MC holds a +5.7 rebounding advantage.
The Pioneers have topped the 100-point mark seven times this year with five of those games played at home. Four men average 10 points or more per game and three others get eight points or more.
Rochester averages 80.5 points per game, hitting .477 from the field, .376 outside the arc, and .725 at the line. The Yellowjackets give up 65.2 ppg. defensively. Opponents are shooting .375 from the field, .287 outside the arc, and .695 at the line. Rochester has a +2.1 rebounding advantage.
The Yellowjackets have topped 100 points twice, both times on the road. UR opened the season with a 104-94 win at Ithaca College, then posted a 101-58 win over NYU in early February.
Three players average in double figures with four others getting six or more points a game.
Rochester's trip to the Sectional Semifinals this weekend will pair the Yellowjackets against one of the nation's most dynamic home teams that flourishes with crowd support and a high-scoring offense.
The Yellowjackets are off to Ohio – to Marietta College specifically – to play in the Sectionals on Friday evening. Rochester (23-4), ranked #13 in the last regular season poll by D3hoops.com, will face #7 Marietta College in the semifinal round. That game will tip off at 8 pm. The first game on Friday (5 pm tip) pairs top-ranked Whitman College of Oregon against Hardin-Simmons University of Abilene, Texas. The Cowboys were among others receiving votes in the last poll.
All four semifinalists won the first and second rounds on their home floor. Marietta defeated Calvin College, 83-66, in the first round, then rolled past #23 Guilford College, 88-64, in round two on Saturday. Rochester was an 89-66 winner over Albertus Magnus College of Connecticut on Friday evening and an 82-60 winner against Union College on Saturday.
Whitman defeated Rhodes College, 111-98, on Friday and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 79-73 on Saturday. Hardin-Simmons lit up the scoreboard as well with a 109-103 victory over LaGrange College on Friday night and a 95-85 triumph against Emory University on Saturday.
Emory finished third in the University Athletic Association behind Washington University and Rochester. Washington lost on the road at Hope College on Saturday night (94-80).
The other three Sectional sites are Babson University (hosting Tufts, Christopher Newport, and Keene State), Middlebury College (hosting Endicott, Susquehanna, and Williams), and Hope (hosting Hanover, Augustana, and Wartburg College).
The four Sectional semifinalists at Marietta have a combined won-lost record of 100 victories and 14 losses (Whitman 29-0, Hardin-Simmons 24-6, Marietta 26-4, Rochester 23-4).
Marietta won the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title with a 16-2 mark and swept three games at home in the OAC playoffs. The Pioneers have won 17 consecutive games and are 17-0 on their home floor, Ban Johnson Arena.
The last loss for the Pioneers came on January 7, 2017 at Ohio Northern (101-91). Marietta won its first seven, then lost four of six games. A 17-game winning streak (current) followed.
Marietta averages 88.9 ppg. on offense, shooting .489 from the field, .396 beyond the arc, and .719 at the foul line. The Pioneers give up 74.3 ppg. and hold their opponents to .429 from the floor, .342 from distance. Marietta opponents have shot .684 at the line this year. MC holds a +5.7 rebounding advantage.
The Pioneers have topped the 100-point mark seven times this year with five of those games played at home. Four men average 10 points or more per game and three others get eight points or more.
Rochester averages 80.5 points per game, hitting .477 from the field, .376 outside the arc, and .725 at the line. The Yellowjackets give up 65.2 ppg. defensively. Opponents are shooting .375 from the field, .287 outside the arc, and .695 at the line. Rochester has a +2.1 rebounding advantage.
The Yellowjackets have topped 100 points twice, both times on the road. UR opened the season with a 104-94 win at Ithaca College, then posted a 101-58 win over NYU in early February.
Three players average in double figures with four others getting six or more points a game.
This is Rochester's 10th appearance in the Sectionals, its first since the 2010-11 season (Luke Flockerzi's first year as head coach at Rochester). That year, Rochester won a regional playing at a neutral site (Ithaca College). The Yellowjackets hosted the Sweet 16 and lost in the Sectional semifinal to second-ranked Middlebury College, 61-52.
UR lost a neutral court Sectional Semifinal to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2007-08 (57-48 in a game played at Collegeville, PA). In 2004-05, Rochester won a Sectional at Amherst College, defeating host Amherst, 69-62, in the semifinals and SUNY Potsdam, 67-51, in the Sectional Final to reach the Final Four. The Yellowjackets wound up as the national runnerup that year, losing the title game to Wisconsin-Stevens Point in Salem, VA.
Friday's game will be Rochester's 53rd NCAA playoff game in men's basketball (the program is in its 116th year). The Yellowjackets have an overall record of 33-19. In Division III, Rochester is 29-13. UR is 14-5 at the Louis Alexander Palestra (13-2 in Division III), 6-3 on the opponent's court (5-3 in Division III), and 13-11 on neutral courts (12-9 in Division III).
The Yellowjackets have played in the Final Four on four different occasions. Rochester won the 1990 national championship (beating DePauw), finished as the runnerup in 1992 (to Calvin College), finished fourth in 2002, and finished second to Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2005).
Flockerzi is finishing his seventh year as the head coach at Rochester and his 10th year as a head men's basketball coach (he spent three years at Skidmore before coming to UR). This is his third trip to the NCAAs (2010-11, 2012-13). His coaching record is 151-107 in 10 years, 121-61 at Rochester.