EDISON, NJ (Jan. 28, 2026) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) today announced, that the Thursday, February 5 men’s basketball game between Siena University and Iona University, has been flexed to ESPNU as part of the MAAC Wildcard Game package. The primetime contest will be held in Albany, NY at MVP Arena with a start time of 7 p.m.
The MAAC Wildcard Game format allows ESPN to pick any game scheduled for that specific date to air on ESPNU and allows the MAAC and ESPN the flexibility to showcase the best matchups as the season progresses.
The contest will be a top six MAAC matchup, with Siena currently ranked third and Iona currently sitting in sixth place on the league’s men’s standings. Siena will be making its fifth ESPNU wildcard selection since the 2021-22 season, last playing on the network in a road contest at Marist on January 31, 2025. For Iona this will be the team’s fifth flexed game dating back to 2021-22, having its home meeting against Manhattan on February 21, 2025, on the network last season. The wildcard meeting on February 5 between Siena and Iona will be the third flexed game between the two teams when they are facing off in Albany over the same time span, with the pair previously battling on ESPNU back on February 11, 2022, and January 27, 2023. Siena was victorious in each of those ESPNU matchups, winning 70-64 in 2022 and 70-53 in 2023. The February 5 game will be the second contest of the 2025-26 series between the Siena and Iona, with the first game occurring back on January 2 in New Rochelle, where the Gaels earned a 75-72 home win over the Saints.
The Siena Saints (14-7, 7-3 MAAC) currently sit in sole possession of third place on the MAAC standings, and the team is out to its best conference start through 10 games since the 2022-23 campaign. Overall, Siena’s 14 wins are tied for the most in the conference and the team’s .667 winning percentage is the best in MAAC. The Saints, which reached a milestone 400
th MAAC overall win last Monday, are riding a three game winning streak and have won four out of their last five outings. Last time out, Siena topped MAAC rival Marist, 69-50, on Thursday.
Siena entered the week ranked first in the MAAC in field goal percentage, shooting 45.8 percent from the floor, while ranking third in effective field goal percentage (.508). On the defensive end of the court, the Saints rank second in the MAAC in scoring defense (65.0), which ranked 18
th nationally, third in turnovers per game (10.2) and the team is holding its opponents to 30.9 percent shooting from three-point range, which ranks fourth in the MAAC. Before Siena host the February 5 ESPNU game, the team will take the annual Western New York trip to face Niagara on Friday, January 30 and Canisius on Sunday, February 1.
The Iona Gaels (14-8, 6-5 MAAC) are just outside of the top five of the MAAC standings, currently in sixth place. Iona has won its last two games, and the team has been victorious in four out of the past six contests, while its 14 overall wins are tied for the most in the conference along with Siena and Quinnipiac. In their most recent outings last week, the Gaels took down first place Merrimack, 61-60 in a thriller with Toby Harris connecting on a step-back corner three with 1.1 seconds remaining, before the team earned a wire-to-wire, 66-57, win over MAAC rival Manhattan on Saturday.
Iona is one of the most efficient scoring units in the conference. The Gaels rank second in effective field goal percentage (.517), second in three pointers per game (9.4), third in three point percentage (35.3), fourth in field goal percentage (43.8), and fifth in scoring offense (73.7). Iona is also the third rank team in assists per game, dishing out 14.2 dimes, and third in defensive rebounds per game, pulling down 26.05 boards per outing. Iona will play in one home contest ahead of the ESPNU game, hosting Fairfield on January 30.
The 2025-26 MAAC basketball season culminates with the 2026 Air Force Reserve MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships from March 5-10 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 2026 will be the seventh consecutive year Boardwalk Hall will host the annual championship dating back to 2020. For the second straight season, the championship field will feature the conference's top 10 teams. Additionally, with the shift of the basketball championship schedule to a week earlier, the women’s championship game will be a standalone contest on Monday, March 9, while the men’s championship game will air live nationally on ESPN or ESPN2 on Tuesday, March 10.
For all information regarding the 2026 Air Force Reserve MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, please visit
MAACSports.com/basketball and by following @MAACHoops and #MAACHoops on X.
Air Force Reserve
The mission of the Air Force Reserve is to provide combat-ready forces to fly, fight, and win in air, space, and cyberspace, whenever and wherever needed. As a critical component of the United States Air Force, the Air Force Reserve supports global operations while remaining ready to respond to domestic emergencies and humanitarian efforts. It is responsible for organizing, training, and equipping Reserve Citizen Airmen to execute a wide range of missions that contribute to national defense and global security.
The Air Force Reserve offers part-time and full-time service options, enabling individuals to serve while maintaining civilian careers or pursuing higher education. Each year, the Reserve recruits thousands of enlisted and officer personnel across core specialties including Aviation, Maintenance, Intelligence, Cyber, Medical, Security Forces, and Logistics. This flexibility allows members to develop valuable skills, gain leadership experience, and serve their country with pride.
More information about Air Force Reserve careers and opportunities is available at:
https://www.airforce.com/ways-to-serve/air-force-reserve.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 13 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 45th year of competition during the 2025-26 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius University, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan University, Marist University, Merrimack College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Sacred Heart University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena University.
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