What to Expect: IU basketball concludes non-conference play against Siena

Siena guard Justice Shoats.

IU basketball concludes non-conference play Monday night against Siena at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Saints are 9-3 and are coming off an 83-69 loss at Vermont on Wednesday.

It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. ET on BTN:

IU’s final non-conference game of the 2025-26 season is here. The Hoosiers are a perfect 8-0 at home and will look to wrap up the calendar year with another win against a program picked near the top of its conference.

Siena, coached by former Syracuse standout Gerry McNamara, was picked second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Saints’ seven-game winning streak was snapped in their last game at Vermont. McNamara is in his second season at Siena.

The Hoosiers, meanwhile, are coming off an uneven 78-58 win against Chicago State that saw them shoot 14-for-26 on 3s in the first half and 1-for-20 in the second half.

MEET THE SAINTS

The guard duo of senior Justice Shoats and sophomore Gavin Doty leads Siena.

Shoats was a unanimous first-team All-MAAC selection in the preseason, while Doty earned preseason second-team All-MAAC honors.

The 5-foot-11 Shoats began his career at Division II Lock Haven, where he starred for two seasons before transferring to Siena before last season. He’s averaging 12.7 points, 5.3 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 34.3 minutes per game. While he isn’t a 3-point threat – he’s 1-for-8 on 3s this season – Shoats is a solid playmaker and distributor.

Doty, a 6-foot-5 guard, is the team’s leading scorer at 14.8 points per game and is second on the team in rebounding with 6.3 per game. He’s scored in double figures in nine of Siena’s 12 games and had a season-high 25 points in a 75-66 loss at St. Bonaventure on Nov. 12. He’s taken a team-high 56 free-throw attempts and is shooting 76.8 percent from the line. Doty is a career 30.3 percent 3-point shooter.

Siena’s third leading scorer is senior forward Brendan Coyle. The 6-foot-7 forward went 94-for-239 on 3-pointers last season (39.3 percent) but has struggled from deep so far this season. Coyle is 25-for-81 on 3s through 12 games, good for only 30.3 percent. Over his last two games, Coyle is 6-for-21 from distance. Coyle averages 10.4 points per game.

Antonio Chandler, a 6-foot-6 wing, starts at the four and averages 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in 20.9 minutes per game. Chandler is shooting a solid 56.6 percent on 2s and recently had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Canisius.

Tasman Goodrick, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound junior, is Siena’s center and leading rebounder. Goodrick ranks in the top 25 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage and is pulling down 7.3 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per game. He’s shooting 64.5 percent from the field and is Siena’s fourth-leading scorer at 9.7 points per game.

The core of Siena’s rotation goes eight deep with freshman guard Christian Jones and freshman forward Francis Folefac coming off the bench along with senior big man Riley Mulvey.

Jones, a 5-foot-11 point guard, is 15-for-41 on 3s (36.6 percent) and has scored in double figures in the last two games.

Folefac started three games when Goodrick was out with a knee issue and the 6-foot-7, 245-pound newcomer has shown promise. Folefac averages 8.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and a blocked shot in 22.9 minutes per game.

Mulvey, who recently came back from an eight-game absence due to concussion, played his first three seasons at Iowa under Fran McCaffery. The 7-footer averages 2.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 8.8 minutes.

TEMPO-FREE PREVIEW

All stats updated as of Sunday evening.

tempo-free stats preview for IU-Siena.

Siena is a hard-nosed defensive team that turns opponents over, cleans up the defensive glass well and defends without fouling.

The Saints rank in the top 55 nationally in opponent turnover rate, defensive rebounding percentage and opponent free-throw rate. It’s worth noting that Siena has played the 362nd-toughest schedule nationally, according to KenPom.com.

Offensively, Siena is among the lowest 3-point-volume teams in the country. Just 30.9 percent of Siena’s field goal attempts are 3-pointers, which ranks 338th nationally. The Saints are shooting 29 percent from distance and have scored 21.3 percent of their points from 3s, ranking 356th nationally.

The Saints do a good job on the offensive glass, rebounding 33.3 percent of their missed shots and are shooting 53.5 percent on 2s, which ranks in the top 130 in the country.

WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO

Darian DeVries has to hope that his team’s uninspired performance against Chicago State will have the Hoosiers motivated to finish the non-conference slate on a high note.

The KenPom projection is Indiana by 18 with a 95 percent chance of a Hoosier victory. Bart Torvik projects IU to win by 19, with a 95 percent chance of the Hoosiers prevailing.

Unlike Chicago State, Siena – No. 173 as of early Sunday evening in KenPom – is an opponent that the Hoosiers can’t afford to overlook with an extended Christmas break looming after the contest. The Saints are solid defensively and will be motivated after a poor performance in their last game at Vermont.

This is a game Indiana should win comfortably if it plays well, but the Hoosiers will need to put together a solid 40 minutes to finish the calendar year on a high note.

(Photo credit: Siena Athletics)

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