McCollum shows his potential
Freshman point guard had career-high 12 points off the bench in setback vs. Rider
The Siena men’s basketball offense was clicking on Friday night and freshman point guard Javian McCollum was playing some of the best ball of his young college career.
Then came the foul trouble.
He drew his second personal with 8:32 left in the first half and went to the bench after scoring nine points. Siena coach Carmen Maciariello rolled the dice and put McCollum back in with 1:25 left in the half, only to have McCollum whistled for a charge in the final minute.
McCollum finished with a career-high 12 points in 18 minutes on 5-for-6 shooting in the 74-60 loss to Rider at MVP Arena. He’ll try to build on that when the Saints (9-9 overall, 6-4 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) play Fairfield at 2 p.m. Sunday at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Conn.
“I think I was playing good,” McCollum said. “I’ve just got to stay out of foul trouble because my team needed me on the court and I just can’t do that.”
With McCollum out, Rider went on a 17-5 run to take a 34-24 lead in the first half.
Maciariello said he put McCollum back in with two fouls so he wouldn’t get “too stagnant,” especially with starting guard Nick Hopkins already out because of a minor injury that’s listed as day-to-day. Sophomore guard Aidan Carpenter started in Hopkins’ place with McCollum coming off the bench.
“It was an unfortunate charge for his third foul,” Maciariello said. “But no, Javian’s good. We’re still working on defensive assignments and ball pressure, but he’s growing every day and think about many games he’s played in, right? He’s probably only played in 10 college games (actually 13), so it’s still young for him. He’s a good player. We recruited him to come and help us, and at the end of the day, he’s doing that.”
As for the charge call, McCollum said, “I’ve just got to play off two feet and be aware of my surroundings, that’s all it is.”
McCollum, from Fort Myers, Fla., is averaging 4.2 points and 1.6 assists in 15 minutes per game. He was slowed by a concussion in the preseason, then missed time in December due to illness that McCollum said wasn’t COVID -19. He said he’s had no more problems from the concussion.
McCollum also missed two games in January while Maciariello said he was waiting for a grade to be posted.
“I was sick, I was down, but now I’m back healthy and everything’s going good, so I’ve just got to get back in shape and looking forward to winning the next few games,” McCollum said.
He made both of his 3-pointers against Rider and is shooting 12-for-26 (46.2 percent) from distance this season. He was able to get into the lane and made one move that former Siena player Conner Fenlon, now a TV/radio analyst, said on air reminded him of Siena alltime assists leader Ronald Moore. In the preseason, Maciariello said McCollum reminded him of Moore.
“I feel like I’m really confident right now, so just got to see where it takes me,” McCollum said.
He’s still learning. McCollum was beaten on a drive by Allen Powell and had a turnover that led to a Powell 3pointer in Rider’s late run.
Siena will try to come with more intensity against Fairfield than it did in Friday’s loss to the Broncs.
“I mean, it was a lack of energy, but we’ve just got to pick it up and move on to the next game,” McCollum said. “Have a short memory and just try and focus on Fairfield.”
It will be Siena’s sixth game in 13 days. “We’ve got to take care of our bodies and just look forward to the next game and try to win every game and come out and play strong,” he said.
Fairfield, which Siena beat 69-62 on Jan. 9 in Albany, is coming off a 59-56 loss at Monmouth on Friday. The Stags (10-11, 4-6) lost that game when Monmouth’s Marcus McClary banked in a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining.