LOUDONVILLE — The 2022-23 Siena men’s basketball season will start with an opening-night road game at Holy Cross, feature a game at MVP Arena against rival UAlbany and include games against Georgetown of the Big East Conference and Florida State of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Saints released their non-conference schedule Tuesday for the upcoming season, which will be head coach Carmen Maciariello’s fourth leading the program. Siena finished 15-14 last season and has compiled a 47-29 record during Maciariello’s first three seasons.
Siena opens its season Nov. 7 at Holy Cross. Five days later, the Saints and UAlbany resume their Albany Cup rivalry in downtown Albany after a hiatus of several seasons.
Siena will also play Army and St. Bonaventure at MVP Arena. Besides Georgetown and Holy Cross, Siena will play true road games against American, Delaware and Harvard.
The Saints will play Florida State as part of the Nov. 24-27 ESPN Events Invitational in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Siena will play three games in the tournament, which also includes Memphis, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Seton Hall and Stanford.
Siena played six of its 2022-23 non-conference opponents last season. That group includes Army, Delaware, Georgetown, Harvard, Holy Cross and St. Bonaventure.
Siena’s MAAC schedule has yet to be released.
The following is a breakdown of what’s ahead for the Saints during the non-conference season.
AT HOLY CROSS
DATE: Monday, Nov. 7
LOCATION: Hart Center Arena in Worcester, Massachusetts
SERIES HISTORY: Siena leads 11-6
NOTES: Siena topped Holy Cross 72-59 last December on the road. Siena is 2-1 in its openers with Maciariello at the helm.
VS. UALBANY
DATE: Saturday, Nov. 12
LOCATION: MVP Arena in Albany
SERIES HISTORY: Siena leads 30-24
NOTES: The Albany Cup is back after the local rivals didn’t play for several years. The last time these two teams played, Will Brown’s Great Danes earned a 74-69 win against Jimmy Patsos’ Saints on Dec. 9, 2017. At the Division I level, Siena has won 10 of 17 matchups against UAlbany, but the Great Danes won five of the last six meetings between the schools.
VS. ARMY
DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 16
LOCATION: MVP Arena in Albany
SERIES HISTORY: Siena leads 7-4
NOTES: The teams met last season with Siena scoring an 83-67 win on the road. The bulk of the Saints’ scoring from that game, though, came from players no longer with the team, as Aidan Carpenter, Anthony Gaines, Nick Hopkins and Colby Rogers combined for 55 of the Saints’ points.
AT HARVARD
DATE: Sunday, Nov. 20
LOCATION: Ray Lavietes Basketball Pavilion in Cambridge, Massachusetts
SERIES HISTORY: Siena leads 2-1
NOTES: With the exception of the 2020-21 season that saw the Saints play no non-conference games, Siena and Harvard have met every season since first playing in 2018. So far, each game has been decided by three points and won by the home team.
VS. FLORIDA STATE, TBD & TBD
DATE: Nov. 24, 25 & 27
LOCATION: State Farm Field House in Lake Buena Vista, Florida
SERIES HISTORY: Florida State leads 1-0
NOTES: The first game of three for the Saints in the ESPN Events Invitational. Other clubs in the eight-team field are Memphis, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Seton Hall and Stanford. Siena will either play Ole Miss or Stanford on Nov. 25 before completing play on Nov. 27. The only previous meeting between Florida State and Siena came during the 1992 Preseason NIT, a matchup that saw future NBA players Sam Cassell and Bob Sura each score 24 points to lead Florida State to an 89-80 victory.
AT GEORGETOWN
DATE: Wednesday, Dec. 7
LOCATION: Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
SERIES HISTORY: Siena leads 4-3
NOTES: For the second consecutive season, Siena will travel to play Patrick Ewing’s Hoyas. Last year’s meeting served as Andrew Platek’s debut for Siena, which fell 83-65 to Georgetown despite 25 points from Jackson Stormo. Georgetown was 6-5 during the non-conference portion of its 2021-22 season, then finished 0-19 in Big East play as part of a 21-game losing streak to end its campaign.
AT DELAWARE
DATE: Sunday, Dec. 11
LOCATION: Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Delaware
SERIES HISTORY: Delaware leads 4-3
NOTES: Delaware defeated Siena 83-63 last season, as the Blue Hens dealt Siena one of its four lopsided losses to start the 2021-22 season. Siena lost its first four games by at least 18 points and started 2-6, then won 13 of 18 games before a season-ending, three-game losing streak.
VS. ST. BONAVENTURE
DATE: Monday, Dec. 19
LOCATION: MVP Arena in Albany
SERIES HISTORY: St. Bonaventure leads 32-10
NOTES: A much-revamped St. Bonaventure will head to Albany this winter to continue the annual Br. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup rivalry. Since the start of the cup rivalry, St. Bonaventure has won seven of 11 matchups between the schools. St. Bonaventure won 23 games last season and advanced to the NIT semifinals.
AT AMERICAN
DATE: Thursday, Dec. 22
LOCATION: Bender Arena in Washington, D.C.
SERIES HISTORY: Siena leads 5-2
NOTES: Will the Saints finally play at American? The schools agreed to play a multiple-game series back in 2019, and the first of those matchups served as a home game for the Saints in Maciariello’s debut as head coach. Siena won that 2019 contest 96-80, then had the 2020 and 2021 matchups wiped out due to restrictions related to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
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