ALBANY - Kyle Downey didn't do much sitting around, during Monday night's game, so while I talked to him in the locker room, I figured I'd give him a break and let him sit, rather than standing.

Downey didn't come out of the 64-58 loss to St. Bonaventure, playing all 40 minutes.

"I don't think it's going to be like that for the rest of the year," he said, seated in front of his locker.

It was the third straight game Downey has played more than 30 minutes and has to at least bring up the question that the Saints may eventually get worn down.

With the injuries to Owen Wignot (head) and Trenity Burdine (foot), Siena is only suiting up seven scholarship players and all of them are playing a ton of minutes.

Downey (37.3 min/gm) and Brandon Walters (38.0 min/gm) are both nearly playing entire games.

"I've always said tired is just a mindset," Downey said. "You're only going to be tired, if you allow yourself to be tired. If you're mentally strong, you'll be fine."

By comparison, last season Ryan Rossiter averaged 37.4 minutes per game, less than Walters is playing now.

The season before no player averaged more than Ronald Moore's 36.0 minutes per game, including Edwin Ubiles (30.9), Alex Franklin (32.9) and Rossiter (32.9).

Those teams certainly had more players, so I decided to look at Fran McCaffery's first season, when the team was very short on depth.

During the 2005-06 season, Antoine Jordan (36.4) and Kojo Mensah (35.1) averaged the most minutes.

While Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro doesn't have many other options than to play the guys that are healthy, I'm just beginning to wonder if these players will get worn down before the season is over.