Monmouth basketball: Emotional team meeting sets stage for first win, topping Manhattan 76-69

Now everyone can take a deep breath.

While there will be plenty of challenges ahead in the coming months, Monmouth got its first win of the season Sunday after opening with eight straight losses, as the young Hawks broke the ice with a 76-69 victory over Manhattan at Draddy Gym in New York City.

And it was an emotional team meeting involving players and coaches that helped clear the air in the wake of a 26-point loss at Rider last week.

“It's all about love. It became a really deep meeting. Guys shared a lot of things,” Monmouth coach King Rice said. “I think that makes you care more about each other and you share personal things about your upbringing and what you’re dealing with.

“I talked about my mom sometimes have things we’re dealing with, sometimes my brother, but we have a job to do, and I have a responsibility to my kids. So as a man, things are going to hit you, you have to keep moving forward. So everybody sharing, I think it brought us a little bit closer together.”

It showed on the court, as Monmouth built a 17-point second half lead. And the Hawks held firm when Manhattan made it a one-score game on a basket by Marques Watson with 58 seconds to play, trimming the lead to 72-69 on a short jumper.

It was junior point guard Myles Ruth sing a pair of free throws with 20.4 seconds left, helped seal the victory.

Ruth rising

Ruth backed up his 16-point performance at Rider with another career-high, hitting for a team-high 21 points, including 13 in the first half when the Hawks built a 44-29 lead, their first halftime lead of the season. Also in double figures for Monmouth were guards Jack Collins and Tahron Allen, who chipped in with 12 points apiece.

“I feel like we figured it out in that meeting," Ruth said. "The coaches made it clear how we can just be better as a team and build on it.

“Today we made sure that we had each other’s back and were playing for each other. And when we came down to the end of the game, just keep our composure and acted like we’re the older players."

Monmouth had spent the first four weeks of the season battling against top competition, including three high-major foes, while absorbing six losses of 18 points or more. But they took advantage of a great opportunity against a Manhattan team that lost its head coach when Steve Masiello was fired a week before the start of the season, with Preseason MAAC Player of the Year Jose Perez then transferring.

Building confidence

Now the Hawks look to make it two straight Saturday night at Princeton, winners of four straight, including victories over CAA members Northeastern and Drexel, providing a good measuring stick for Monmouth, entering its first CAA season.

"Kids need to have success on the floor to feel good about themselves and unfortunately I scheduled so hard we didn’t have any," Rice said. "So we started putting small wins together. Can we win this four minutes, and then win another four minutes? Can we play well for a whole half. These guys have stayed the course. No one has folded up. They have worked hard to get this win."

Monmouth channeled its desperation to completely reverse its early-season form. The team that had struggled from the floor shot 51 percent, and 50 from three-point range. And the defense stepped up, holding the Jaspers to 41 percent shooting, to go with a 32-31 edge on the glass.

Coming into the game as one of six winless teams nationally, Monmouth built a 55-38 lead with 15:36 to play, before the Jaspers made a big run.

Pregame

Can winless Monmouth basketball rebound from Rider meltdown?: 5 keys vs. Manhattan

The pressure’s building.

Monmouth remains one of only six winless teams nationally in the wake of Wednesday's lopsided 88-62 against former MAAC rival Rider, after which a frustrated coach King Rice lashed out at the opposing players and fans.

With that as the backdrop, Monmouth heads to Draddy Gym in New York City Sunday (2 p.m.; ESPN+) to face another old MAAC foe in Manhattan, desperately needing to show some growth, and get a win, after eight brutally tough season-opening games.

While Monmouth (0-8) ranks 323 nationally according to the college basketball analytics website KenPom.com, Manhattan (3-3) is 292. Manhattan fired head coach Steve Masiello a week before the start of the season, at which point MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Jose Perez transferred.

This looks like Monmouth’s best chance to get a win over the next month.

The Hawks’ non-conference schedule so far ranks 37th nationally according to KenPom, while Manhattan’s ranks 314.

We’ve been over the stats related to Monmouth's struggles many times. So here are five keys for Monmouth Sunday:

1. Starts at the top

Rice assembled this inexperienced team and signed off on the daunting schedule, which still has one more high-major opponent to come. It's his leadership that has to provide the path forward, including a level head on gameday, regardless of what happens on the court or in the stands.

2. Win backcourt battle

This is a guard-driven Manhattan team that’s 2-0 since fifth-year senior Samir Stewart returned to the lineup. He combined with Ant Nelson and Nick Brennen to score 39 of their 56 points in a win over Fairfield last time out. Monmouth’s guard must have a big game at both ends of the court.

Myles Ruth comes off a career-best 16-point performance, logging 26 minutes and finishing with five rebounds, two assists and three turnovers against some good defenders. You’d sign for those numbers from your point guard every game. Consistency, particularly at the defensive end, is the key for the junior moving forward.

3. Better at the line

Rice said after the Rider game that the free throw shooting woes were in his players’ heads. Somehow, he and his staff have to get in their heads and fix it, because they won’t beat anyone missing 12 and 13 free throws a game, the totals from the past two games.

4. Help inside

It's a really heavy weight forward Myles Foster is shouldering right now. The 6-7 junior just missed a double-double against Rider, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds. The rest of the frontcourt combined for four points and five rebounds.

5. Better perimeter defense

Rider shot 57.7 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from three-point range. Monmouth ranks 347 out of 352 Division I teams in field goal percentage defense, and 351 in three-point percentage defense. Monmouth has to figure out a way to get a hand in the face of opposing shooters outside on a consistent basis. Every game there are just too many open looks.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth NJ basketball gets first win, topping Manhattan, 76-69