College basketball: Takeaways from Iona's MAAC opening weekend wins over Niagara, Canisius

NEW ROCHELLE - After a tough trip to Las Vegas, where the Iona Gaels fell late to Santa Clara in a neutral site contest on Nov. 27, they rebounded with lopsided wins over Niagara and Canisius to open up MAAC play.

The Gaels defeated Niagara on Friday, 78-56. Daniss Jenkins netted a game-high 31 points, with four rebounds and five assists. Walter Clayton Jr. added 13 points and three rebounds, while Nelly Junior Joseph had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.

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Iona followed up with another resounding win on Sunday, topping Canisius, 90-60. Clayton led the way with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, with four assists and four steals. Jenkins added 10 points, nine assists and two blocks. Berrick JeanLouis added 16 points, while Junior Joseph had 12 points. Osborn Shema chipped in eight points and seven rebounds, while Michael Jefferson also had eight points.

"We've got a lot of work to do," Iona director of basketball operations Steve Masiello said. "A lot of areas to improve on. Coach (Rick Pitino) isn't happy with our performance. He's already working on Saint Louis, and we have to really tighten up on the defensive end. We did a lot of good things offensively, but defensively, we have to really focus."

Here are three takeaways from Iona's 2-0 weekend:

No sophomore slump for Clayton

After a solid freshman season that culminated in MAAC All-Rookie honors, Clayton is heating up in his second year with the Gaels.

After a shaky start in his first couple of games with Penn and Hofstra, where he shot just 8-of-27 (29.6%) across both games and scored nine points each, Clayton has stepped up his play and it's come a much-needed time as senior forward Quinn Slazinski continues to nurse an ankle sprain.

"With Quinn out, that's obviously shot attempts going up, some makes, so his scoring, we miss it," Clayton said. "But, I feel like we got a team that can adjust, go small, play fast."

Slazinski, who averaged 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds through Iona's first two games, hasn't played since Nov. 11.

Over the last four games, Clayton is averaging 18.5 points and 2.8 steals per game, while shooting 63.4% overall and 52.6% from beyond the arc. This stretch was topped off by his game-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting against Canisius.

"I just try to let the game come to me, not force anything and try not to turn the ball over," Clayton said of his growth since last season. "Defensively, I don't feel like I'm there yet, but I'm just trying to get there."

Daniss Jenkins is a true impact transfer

Pitino had been praising Jenkins long before the 2022 -23 college basketball season tipped off, and so far, the 6-foot-3 guard has only lived up to the hype.

Iona has had strong backcourt play over the years and with the recent graduation of MAAC Player of the Year Tyson Jolly and all-conference pick Elijah Joiner, Jenkins has helped provide continuity and make an immediate impact.

Jenkins played Division I basketball at Pacific for two years, before leaving to go to Odessa College, where he was a junior college All-American. Now, at Iona, he leads the team in scoring (18.2 points per game) and assists (4.8 assists per game).

He dropped 31 points in Friday's win, but even as his scoring scaled back on Sunday, he made a positive impact whenever he was on the floor, chipping in 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, but dishing out nine assists with just one turnover and getting a steal and two blocks.

"Coach has said many times he's a special player and has a chance to be really good," Masiello said of Jenkins. "Like all the guys, he has areas he can improve in. He's a work-in-progress, he's gonna continue to get better."

Defense will be crucial for tougher tests ahead

Iona will now turn its attention back to non-conference play and won't resume MAAC competition until the New Year.

While the Gaels dispatched Niagara and Canisius with relative ease, their upcoming tests won't be as easy.

Niagara entered Sunday as the 246th-ranked team, while Canisius came in at No. 290, according to KenPom rankings.

Iona's next five games include Saint Louis (No. 42), St. Bonaventure (No. 124), Princeton (No. 113), New Mexico (No. 81) and SMU (No. 164).

While Tuesday's matchup against the Billikens, a rematch of last season's game that was decided by one point, will be the biggest test of the bunch, the rest won't be easy.

Iona believes the solution will be simple.

"If you look at all our losses, we gave a lot of threes," JeanLouis said. "All of our wins, we gave up less threes. (Pitino) is huge on defending threes."

In Iona's losses to Hofstra and Santa Clara, both teams shot a combined 22-of-45 (48.9%) from long range.

This weekend, Niagara and Canisius were limited to 9-of-33 (27.3%) from long range.

Defense will be integral to coming out of the upcoming non-conference stretch on the winning side, and the Gaels will look to carry over their recent performances.

"It starts with our motor and our energy and getting easy opportunities out in transition, but everything for us will come back to getting stops," Masiello said. "When we switch Nelly or Osborn out on the perimeter, we can't beat off the bounce, and we have to understand that we need to get to that point where one through five, we're not showing any weaknesses."

Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: College basketball: Takeaways from Iona's wins over Niagara, Canisius