We didn’t get to attend the Hawks’ 67-65 NIT los to Northern Iowa because of an assignment to cover Drexel at the same time.

However, Joe Juliano provided us with some comments from coach Phil Martelli, whose team was again hurt on the offensive glass.

Remember the 98-93 double overtime loss at St. Bonaventure when the Hawks when the winners had a 20-4 offensive rebounding edge.

This time it wasn’t as pronounced, but Northern Iowa owned a 14-7 edge.

““Again, it’s a numbers game – 14 offensive rebounds, they (Northern Iowa) came in averaging eight, 13 for 22 from the foul line (St. Joe's),” Martell said. “Those numbers in the post-season are going to get you.”

Actually, free throw shooting has been a season-long problem for the Hawks. As a team they shot just 69.2 percent.

Martelli said that loose ball recovery was a key in their 71-68 loss to eventual champion St. Bonaventure and it once again hurt the Hawks in the NIT loss.

“It’s sad to say that the loose-ball recovery … I don’t know, we’ll look at it and we’ll see how many field goals they had after we knocked the ball and they got it back. So it wasn’t enough,” Martelli said. “I didn’t do enough for them in terms of really getting them to really embrace the post-season, so … we’ll go from there.”

After consecutive 11-win seasons, finishing 20-14, winning one Atlantic-10 Tournament game and earning an NIT bid showed progress.

Now the bar will be raised considerably next season. With the entire team back, St. Joseph’s will be expected to earn an NCAA bid. Anything less, will be disappointing.

Northern Iowa (19-13) at St. Joseph’s (20-13)

NIT First round game.

Wednesday, 7:15 p.m. at Hagan Arena.

At Stake: The winner meets the winner of the Drexel-UCF game.

Common Opponent – Creighton

St. Joseph’s beat visiting Creighton, 80-71 on Dec. 10. UNI split with Creighton, each winning on its home court.

Most recent game:

UNI – lost to Illinois State, 54-42 in the quarterfinal of the Missouri Valley Tournament on March 2.

SJU – Lost to eventual champion St. Bonaventure, 71-68 in an Atlantic-10 quarterfinal on March 9.

 Coaches:

UNI: Ben Jacobson (6^th season, 128-70).

 SJU - Phil Martelli (17^th season, 320, 222).

 PROBABLE LINEUPS

UNI

G Deon Mitchell 6-1 Fr., 7.0 ppg., 2.1 rpg.

G Johnny Moran 6-1 Sr., 7.3 ppg., 3.0 rpg.

G Marc Sonnen 6-3 Jr., 8.5 ppg., 2.2 rpg.

F Seth Tuttle 6-8 Fr., 9.2 ppg., 5.3 rpg.

F Jake Koch 6-9 Jr., 8.8 ppg., 5.5 rpg., 2.7 apg.

 ST JOSEPH'S

G Carl Jones, 5-11 Sr. 16.8 ppg., 3.4 reb., 3.2 apg.

G Langston Galloway, 6-2 So. 15.8 ppg., 4.6 rpg., 2.3 apg.

C C.J. Aiken 6-9 So. 10.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg. 3.6 bpg.

F Daryus Quarles, 6-6 So. 5.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg.

F. Halil Kanacevic, 6-8 So., 8.3 ppg.; 8.2 rpg., 3.7 apg.

 Key off the bench

UNI – Anthony James, 6-0 Jr, 12.9 ppg., 4.4 rpg.

SJU – Ronald Roberts 6-8 So., 10.9 ppg., 6.0 rpg.

 FAST FACTS

*James, UNI’s only double-figure scorer, stated 23 games, but has been coming off the bench recently.

*Jones has scored in double figures in 11 consecutive games for the Hawks and has three straight of 20 or more points.

*UNI is making its fourth straight postseason appearance. The Panthers were in the NCAA Tournament in 2009 (first round) and 2010 (Sweet 16) and the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in 2011 (quarterfinals).

*SJU is making its first postseason appearance since 2008 where the Hawks lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

*This is St. Joseph’s 10^th postseason appearance under coach Phil Martelli (five NCAA, five NIT).

St. Joseph’s has earned a No. 2 seed in its bracket and will host No. 7 Northern Iowa in a first round NIT game 7:15 on Wednesday at Hagan Arena.

The Hawks (20-13, 9-7 A-10) are making their first postseason appearance since 2008.

St. Joseph’s was knocked out of the quarterfinals of the Atlantic-10 Tournament by eventual champion St. Bonaventure, 71-68.

Northern Iowa was 19-13 overall and 9-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers lost to Illinois State, 54-42 in the MVC Tournament quarterfinals.

Both teams have an interesting common opponent in MVC tournament champion Creighton. Northern Iowa split with Creighton, with each team winning on its home court.

St. Joseph’s beat Creighton, 80-71 on Dec. 10 at Hagan Arena.

Junior guard Anthony James (12.9 ppg.) is the only double-figure scorer for Northern Iowa.

Video: Fourth-seeded St. Bonaventure defeated No. 5 St. Joe's, 71-68, in an Atlantic Ten tournament quarterfinal game at Boardwalk Hall on Friday. The Inquirer's Marc Narducci reports.

ATLANTIC CITY –  Andrew Nicholson looked bigger than life and surely played that way.

The the 6-9, 250-pound Atlantic-10 Player of the Year used his speed and power to dominate St. Joseph's for the second time in a week-and-a-half and this time it meant the end of a quest for an NCAA berth.

By now everybody knows that Nicholson was the biggest reason why the Hawks were eliminated from the Atlantic-10 tournament. Nicholson had 25 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots as the Bonnies defeated the Hawks 71-68 at Boardwalk Hall. (He also had 32 points and 14 rebounds in a 98-93 double OT win on Feb. 29 over the Hawks).

On a day when the Bonnies shot 1-8 from beyond the arc, committed 11 turnovers compared to four for the Hawks, they needed a stellar effort from their best player to survive.

Now the Hawks hope to receive bid to the NIT on Sunday.

In truth, this was a St. Joseph’s team that we felt was an NIT team with a chance at the NCAA Tournament.

At 20-13, the Hawks have done well to improve on consecutive 11-win seasons and next year if they don’t make the NCAA Tournament it will be considered a major disappointment.

Not that the players and coach Phil Martelli weren’t feeling the pain.

“This hurts,” Martelli said. “It hurts.”

Martelli says that he never talked about the NCAA Tournament with his team.

“All we wanted to do was play tomorrow,” he said.

And Nicholson is the biggest reason why the Hawks aren’t playing tomorrow, but could see action in some next days, in the NIT.

What it showed is that players like C.J. Aiken and Ronald Roberts, both terrific defenders, will have to continue to put time in the weight room. The physical nature of Nicholson wore the Hawks down.

Still, the Hawks provided many exciting moments and if they get in the NIT, how they fare in that could be a forerunner to next season, where the expectations with an experienced team will be much higher.

St. Bonaventure (17-11) vs. St. Joseph’s (20-12)

Atlantic-10 Quarterfinal, 2:30 p.m. Friday at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City

This season: St. Bonaventure beat the visiting Hawks, 98-93 in 2OT on Feb. 29.

All-time Series: SJU leads, 46-17.

Streak: St. Bonaventure has won one in a row.

A-10 history: SJU is 3-1 against the Bonnies in the tournament

PPG: SJU 72.3; SB 70.3

Opponents PPG: SJU 67.9 ppg.; SB 64.7 ppg.

Coaches:

SB – Mark Schmidt (11^th season, 153-169 overall, 71-79 in five seasons at St. Bonaventure).

SJU - Phil Martelli (17^th season, 320, 221).

RPI

St. Bonaventure - 97

SJU - 56

PROBABLE LINEUPS

St. Bonaventure

F Demetrius Conger 6-6 Jr., 12.1 ppg., 6.1 rpg.

F Da’Quan Cook 6-8 Fr., 7.7 ppg., 4.7 rpg.

F Andrew Nicholson 6-9 Sr., 17.9 ppg., 8.3 rpg., 1.6 bpg.

G Charlon Kloof 6-3 So., 5.8 ppg., 2.8 rpg.

G Jordan Gathers 6-3 Fr., 1.0 ppg., 1.4 rpg.

St. Joseph’s

G Carl Jones, 5-11 Sr. 16.5 ppg., 3.2 apg.

G Langston Galloway, 6-2 So. 15.9 ppg., 4.6 rpg., 2.3 apg.

C C.J. Aiken 6-9 So. 11.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg. 3.7 bpg.

F Daryus Quarles, 6-6 So. 4.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg.

F. Halil Kanacevic, 6-8 So., 8.3 ppg.; 8.2 rpg., 3.7 apg.

Off the bench:

SB: Jr. guard Eric Mosley, who has started five games, is averaging 7.0 points. St. Joseph’s 6-8 sophomore Ronald Roberts was the A-10 Sixth Man of the Year. He is averaging 11.0 points and 6.1 rebounds. Roberts scored 18 point in the earlier loss to the Bonnies.

Key for the Hawks

Offensive rebounding. SJU was outrebounded on the offensive glass, 20-4. Nicholson had as many offensive rebounds as the entire Hawks team.

 To the Winner

The winner will meet the winner of the noon Temple-UMASS game, in Saturday’s 1 p.m. semifinal. Most feel at the very least, St. Joseph’s would have to get to the A-10 final to be in consideration for an NCAA bid.

When it was suggested to St. Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli that his team lacked energy at times in the Hawks’ 80-64 opening round Atlantic-10 win over visiting Charlotte, he couldn’t disagree more.

“I disagree,” Martelli said. “I think that was March basketball.”

What he meant is that when in the one-and-done tournament, those participating have a different mindset.

“I think players get tight, coaches get tight,” Martelli said. “…It wasn’t energy.”

Whatever, the game didn’t have a playoff feel to it. Even though the students are off from school this week, there was a nice-sized crowd, announced at 3,891.

Whatever, the Hawks were much more relaxed and effective in the second dhalf when they outscored Charlotte 46-37 and shot 15-22 (68.2 percent).

Carl Jones was especially effective. After scoring just five points in the first half, he erupted for 18 in the second.

The first half I was taking what they gave me and I wasn’t trying to force stuff,” Jones said. “The second half half gave me a lot and I took it.”

The Hawks more than anything seemed relieved that they finally put away a 13-17 Charlotte team that hung around for most of the game.

Now the Hawks (20-12) head to Atlantic City where they meet St. Bonaventure in Friday’s 2:30 p.m. game at Boardwalk Hall.

At least the Hawks don’t have to tap their minds to remember the Bonnies. In the final regular season game, the Hawks suffered a 98-93 double OT loss to ST. Bonaventure.

That will be tall task and then there would be a likely semifinal matchup with Temple.

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, who as most know is also the radio analyst on Hawks games, said St. Joseph’s would have to at least get past the semifinal (beating Temple) to even remain in the NCAA conversation.

Martelli says he doesn’t bother with projecting whether his team is an NCAA team or not. He calls it a waste of time.

All he wants to do is earn another day of practice. He has done that, actually earning two days of practice and a trip to Atlantic City that he hopes can last the entire weekend.

C.J. Aiken has a quiet manner to him until he gets on the court. No, the 6-foot-9 St. Joseph’s sophomore isn’t boisterous while playing, in fact he rarely says a word, but his actions speak volumes, especially on the defensive end.

Aiken has gained considerable notice for his ability to reject with regularity. He is the league leader in blocked shots, averaging 3.7 per game and the Atlantic-10 named him on Monday as its Defensive Player of the Year.

“I am happy to get this award,” Aiken said in a phone interview. “I have put in a lot of work.”

Four other Hawks were honored. Ron Roberts was named the Sixth Man of the Year. Langston Galloway earned second-team all-conference honores while Carl Jones and Halil Kanacevic were honorable mention.

Aiken’s total of 116 blocks is tied as the third-best single-season total in Hawks history. His next block will tie him for second, with himself. As a freshman Aiken blocked 117 shots, averaging 3.5 per game.

What is interesting is that this season he has committed just 44 fouls, an average of 1.4 per game.

Aiken has the ability not to be fooled by fakes.

He became the first Hawk to receive this award since Dwayne Jones in 2004-05.

“I was very surprised when coach told me about this,” he said.

Actually she shouldn’t have been.

Aiken and his teammates have demoralizing effect on an offense when they block shots.

“When you block shots you feel the emotion,” he said. “The crowd and your teammates get into it.”

Aiken says he has improved on the defensive end since his freshman year.

“I have put on some weight and I don’t get pushed around as much and I am moving my feet faster,” he said.

As for putting on the weight, it’s hard to tell by looking at Aiken, who says he now weighs 197 pounds.

As a senior in high school he averaged 16. 9 points for state champion Plymouth Whitemarsh, but even then he was already in a defensive mindset. As a senior he averaged 6.5 blocked shots per game.

“My junior year is when I really started going after it on defense,” he said. “I just didn’t want anybody to score.”

It’s a mindset that he has taken with him at St. Joseph’s, and now he was justly awarded for his effort.

Atlantic-10 opening round game

No. 12 Charlotte (13-16, 5-11) at St. Joseph’s (19-12, 9-7)

Tuesday: 7 p.m. Hagan Arena

At stake: The winner plays: St. Bonaventure, 2:30 p.m. at Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall.

This season: Charlotte won at St. Joseph’s 57-52 on Jan. 7.

Coaches:

Charlotte – Alan Major (second season, 23-36)

St. Joseph’s – Phil Martelli (17^th season, 319, 221)

PROBABLE STARTERS

Charlotte

C Chris Braswell 6-9 Jr., 15.6 ppg., 7.6 rpg.

F Javarris Barnett 6-7 Sr., 12.2 ppg., 5.7 rpg.

G/F DeMario Mayfield 6-5 So., 11.1 ppg., 7.0 rpg.

G Pierria Henry 6-3 Fr., 7.2 ppg., 3.4 apg.

G Jamar Briscoe 5-10 Jr, 7.4 ppg., 2.2 rpg.

St. Joseph’s

G Carl Jones, 5-11 Sr. 16.3 ppg., 3.2 apg.

G Langston Galloway, 6-2 So. 15.9 ppg., 4.5 rpg.

C C.J. Aiken 6-9 So. 11.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg. 3.7 bpg.

F Daryus Quarles, 6-6 So. 4.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg.

F. Halil Kanacevic, 6-8 So., 8.1 ppg.; 8.1 rpg.

 Notes

*St. Joseph’s had five different players receiving A-10 honors, the most in school history. Aiken was A-10 Defensive Player of the Year and 6-8 sophomore Ronald Roberts was Sixth Man of The Year. Galloway was a second-team all-A-10 choice and Jones and Kanacevic were honorable mention.  

*Charlotte’s Braswell was a third-team all-A10 choice while Henry was selected to the All-Rookie team.

*In the first meeting between the teams, St. Joseph’s shot 0 for 8 from beyond the arc in the first half and 2-21 for the game.