Game Notes

Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)

DURHAm, N.H. - Binghamton men's basketball (4-23, 3-9 AE) battle a red-hot New Hampshire team (15-10, 8-4 AE) that is in the midst of its best season in 20 years when the teams tip at 1 p.m. in Durham.

QUICK HITS
• Binghamton sits in the No. 6 playoff position with four regular season games remaining and UNH is No. 3, so if the season ended today, the teams would meet in a tournament quarterfinal game.

• Freshman forward Willie Rodriguez has scored in double-digits in 11 of his last 14 games. He is BU's leading scorer (11.0 ppg.) and rebounder (5.3 rpg.) among active players.

• Sophomore guard Marlon Beck II has hit double figures in eight of his last 11 games (12.4 ppg.), including 31 combined points in his last two games.

• Binghamton has been hit by two key injuries to its frontcourt. Six-foot-9 sophomore Nick Madray went down with an ankle injury after scoring 20 points vs. St. Bonaventure on Dec. 20. He has missed the last 13 games. Six-foot-9 center and leading scorer Dusan Perovic (11.5 ppg.) suffered an ACL injury at practice on Jan. 5 and will be lost for the remainder of the season.

• Binghamton has statistically the youngest team in the entire country (StatSheet.com). It's 14 players have a combined 10 years of collegiate experience. There are only two upperclassmen on the roster (1 senior, 1 junior).

• Since conference play began, five of the team's top-six scorers are freshmen. Binghamton is one of just three teams across the entire nation whose top two scorers (Rodriguez, Walker) are both freshmen. Central Florida and UMass Lowell are the other two teams. Counting the injured Perovic, BU is the only team in the country with its top THREE scorers all being freshmen.

LAST TIME OUT
On Tuesday, first-place Albany shot 54 percent in the second half to fend off a BU rally and the visiting Great Danes posted a 62-46 win at the Events Center. The Bearcats trailed by 19, 37-18, three minutes into the second half before using a 19-7 run to get back in the game. But Albany steadied itself with an ensuing 13-2 run and the Bearcats ran out of steam. Sophomore guard Marlon Beck had three threes during the run and wound up with 13 points for the game. Rodriguez also tallied 13 points and added six rebounds and a pair of blocks. Sophomore guard Yosef Yacob chipped in nine points. The Bearcats played without freshman starter Justin McFadden, who is recovering from an illness. His availability for the UNH game is uncertain.

SCOUTING NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Wildcats are in the midst of their best season in 20 years. The team has won seven of its last eight games and UNH sits in third place in the America East standings. During the past three weeks, the Wildcats have beaten Vermont and Stony Brook, pushed Albany in a one-point loss and in their last outing on Tuesday, knocked off Hartford in overtime, 76-70. New Hampshire's only conference losses have come on the road at Stony Brook in early January and then a pair of one-point losses to Hartford (68-67) and Albany (63-62). In AE play, UNH leads the league in scoring (67.5 ppg.). Freshman forward Tanner Leissner ranks sixth in the AE in scoring (13.1 ppg.) and fourth in rebounding (7.0).

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bearcats lead the all-time series 17-11 though UNH has won six of the last eight matchups, including an overtime tilt four weeks ago. In that game, UNH hit all four shots in overtime and held off BU 73-66 at the Events Center. The game featured 11 ties, 12 lead changes and multiple video reviews. The final review was costly to the Bearcats, who thought they were headed to the free throw line to win the game at the regulation buzzer. The whistle blew as freshman forward Bobby Ahearn was coralling an offensive rebound with the game tied at 60-60. But after a second look at the scorers' table, officials determined the horn sounded before the foul was called and the teams headed back out for the five-minute extra period. New Hampshire outscored BU 11-4 to end the overtime. McFadden led five Bearcats in double figures with 12 points. Freshman guard Romello Walker also had 12 points and freshman forward Willie Rodriguez and sophomore guard Marlon Beck II added 11 points apiece. Rodriguez nearly had a double-double with nine rebounds. Ahearn contributed eight points, seven boards and two steals. Binghamton is 8-4 at Lundholm Gym.