VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball continues its late-season push for playoff position when the Bearcats (6-20, 3-10 America East) host UMass Lowell (11-16, 7-7 AE) Saturday afternoon at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. The 4:30 p.m. game will immediately follow the women's game between the two schools. 

QUICK HITS
•    With three regular season games remaining BU can finish anywhere from fifth to eighth for playoff position. The Bearcats sit in a tie for sixth with Hartford, one game behind fifth place Maine.  
•    Binghamton will try to sweep the season series from UMass Lowell after winning in Lowell one month ago.   
•    Sophomore forward Willie Rodriguez reached the 20-point mark for the fifth time this season (10th in career) after hitting 9-of-14 at Vermont. Rodriguez is fourth in the AE in scoring (14.9 ppg.) and seventh in rebounding (6.6 rpg.).
•    Junior guard Marlon Beck (9.6 ppg.) ranks third in the AE in threes/game (2.4) and is third on BU's all-time made three-pointers list (153).
•    Beck (8th with 781 pts.) and Rodriguez (10th with 765 pts.) are each on the career top-10 scoring list at Binghamton.   
•    Freshman center Thomas Bruce is averaging 7.5 points (on 59% FG) and 5.1 rebounds in league play.   
•    Binghamton's current rotation features no seniors and just two juniors. The 11 underclassmen gives BU the eighth-highest underclassmen percentage in the country (73.3%).

LAST TIME OUT
•    On Wednesday, BU shot a season-high 55% but host Vermont countered with 51% and turned 16 BU turnovers into 15 points in a 78-64 Catamounts win.
•    Sophomore forward Willie Rodriguez scored a game-high 22 points and junior guard Marlon Beck added 10 points.
•    Beck (4 fouls) and freshman backcourt mate Everson Davis (5 fouls) were saddled with foul trouble throughout the game.
•    Vermont ended the first half with a 13-2 run to go up five at the break. The hosts then closed the game with a 21-8 run.

ABOUT UMASS LOWELL
•    Lowell has gone 7-7 in league play and sits in fifth place in the standings.
•    Lowell has won four of its last six games and is averaging nearly 89 points a game during that stretch (have scored 100+ pts three times).
•    The River Hawks are in their third season as members of NCAA Division I and the America East. They are still ineligible for postseason.
•    Lowell returns two starters and five letterwinners from a 12-17 team that finished sixth in the AE (6-10). They were picked eighth this season.
•    Sophomore guard Jahad Thomas leads the team in scoring, rebounding and assists. He is shooting 59 percent from the floor (3rd in AE).
•    Lowell has beaten Boston College and Cornell this season and already swept the season series from Vermont, Hartford and UMBC.     

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UMASS LOWELL
•    The teams began the series when both were members of the Division II New England Collegiate Conference (NECC).
•    UMass Lowell won four of five meetings betwen 1998-2000.
•    Since the River Hawks joined the America East in 2013, they have won three of five meetings, though BU has won two straight.
•    The teams have split the four games in Vestal and split the two games played at the Events Center.
•    Last month in Lowell, BU opened the second half with a 19-4 run and made seven free throws in the final minute to win 64-57. Sophomore forward Willie Rodriguez and junior guard Marlon Beck netted 17 points apiece. The Bearcats forced 23 turnovers.      

NEXT UP
•    The Bearcats play their final road game of the regular season next Wednesday at UMBC, where BU will attempt to complete a season sweep of the Retrievers. Binghamton leads the head-to-head series 16-12 and has won four straight.