VESTAL, N.Y. - After two straight road games, Binghamton men's basketball returns to the Events Center on Sunday, welcoming longtime SUNY foe Stony Brook for a 2 p.m. tilt. The Bearcats (9-11, 0-5 America East) are looking to notch their first conference win of the season but to do so, they will have to snap a 14-game losing streak head-to-head against the unbeaten Seawolves (10-8, 5-0 AE).   

QUICK HITS
•    This is Binghamton's 70th season of basketball, 16th at the Division I level
•    The rivalry with fellow SUNY center Stony Brook dates back to 1962, the second-longest of BU's opponents (behind Albany). The teams have squared off as Division III, II and now Division I members in the America East.
•    BU ranks second in the country (kenpom.com) in bench minutes (behind Michigan State). Eleven BU players are averaging 12+ minutes
•    Bearcats are averaging 70.8 ppg. on offense, nearly 10 points higher than their 2015-16 average (60.9)
•    Junior Willie Rodriguez (973 pts.) and senior Marlon Beck (965 pts.) are closing in on the 1,000-point plateau. They rank third and fourth, respectively, on BU's all-time scoring list (D-I). Rodriguez needs 27 points to reach the mark and Beck needs 35.  

Last time out
•    Albany shot above 70% for most of the game and outpaced BU on offense in an 84-65 home win Thursday
•    Junior forward Willie Rodriguez scored 15 of his team-high 21 points in the second half and made 7-of-11 from the floor, moving him to within 27 points of the 1,000-point plateau
•    Senior guard Marlon Beck added 11 points and four assists    

About Stony Brook
•    The program had to replace its top four scorers — three of whom were were all-conference selections headed by three-time AE Player of the Year Jameel Warney — and its head coach after a record-breaking title season
•    SBU has advanced to national postseason tourneys five straight years
•    Because of the heavy losses, SBU was picked seventh (of nine) in this year's Coaches' Preseason Poll
•    But after losing five of its first six games, SBU has now gone 9-3, including a 5-0 start to conference play
•    Seawolves lead the league in offensive rebounds and turnover margin     

All-time series vs. Stony Brook
•    Stony Brook leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1962, 39-25
•    Since both teams elevated to Division I, Stony Brook leads 19-15
•    Since 2001, there have been two distinct segments in the head-to-head rivalry. After both teams were on equal footing in the America East, BU won 15 of the first 20 matchups between 2001-2011. But in the last five years, the Seawolves have flipped the script, winning 14 straight games in the series, nine of which have come by double digits. Stony Brook's average margin of victory during the streak has been 16.5 points
•    The last meeting was last Feb. 3 on Long Island and Stony Brook rolled to a 76-51 win 

Beck and Rodriguez on doorstep of 1,000-point milestone    
Junior forward Willie Rodriguez (973 pts.) and senior guard Marlon Beck (965 pts.) are on the cusp of reaching the 1,000-point plateau. There have been 18 players to reach the 1,000-point club in BU's 69-year basketball history. Just two four-year Division I players (Troy Hailey and Mike Gordon) have reached the plateau. The last time two BU teammates reached the 1,000-point mark in the same season was Jeffrey St. Fort and Mike Wright during the 2001-02 season. St. Fort is also the last Binghamton player to reach the mark in three years.

Division I-II era 1,000-point scorers
Jeffrey St. Fort (1999-03)    1,335 pts.
Mike Wright (1998-02)    1,127
Troy Hailey (2003-07)    1,042
Mike Gordon (2004-08)    1,023
All-time scoring leader: Chris Jackey (1986-90), 1,721 pts.

Beck stepping up scoring
Senior guard Marlon Beck is picking up his pace as he nears the 1,000-point mark (965 pts.). In his last six games, Beck is averaging 12.5 points and has made 3 threes per game. After reaching double figures just once in his first 14 games, Beck has posted double-digit points in six straight games.

Rose raising his assist-to-turnover ratio
Sophomore guard Timmy Rose has moved among the conference leaders in assists (5th, 3.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (5th, 2.29). His ratio ranks 76th in the country. 

Rodriguez back in form
Junior forward Willie Rodriguez has rounded into form after an early-season hamstring injury limited him to nine minutes in the team's first 10 games. He has hit double figures in seven of his last nine games and is coming off a 21-point showing at Albany on Thursday. It was the 14th time in his collegiate career he has reached the 20-point mark. In his last seven games, Rodriguez is averaging 16.0 points on 58% shooting.  

Muhammad named America East Rookie of the Week
Freshman guard Fard Muhammad was selected for his first America East weekly honor on Jan. 9 after averaging 13.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in two games. Muhammad drained four three-pointers en route to 16 points at UMBC and then chipped in 10 points and five boards against Lowell.   

BU puts nine wins on the board in non-conference play
This season, BU produced the most non-conference wins (9) in 33 years (since 1983-84), going 9-6. The team had a winning record in both November and December and rang up the most wins ever in November (5). Through its first 15 games, BU also didn't lose twice in a row, going 6-0 following defeats.  

Beck sets school record for career three-pointers
Senior guard Marlon Beck hit a three from the left foul line extended with 12:28 left in the first half against Lowell on Jan. 8 and that trey set the new mark for all-time made three-pointers (183). He entered the game tied with 1,000-point scorer Troy Hailey (2003-07) and made 3-of-8 to stand alone atop the list. Beck also ranks fourth in all-time scoring with 954 points.   

Bearcats have made meteoric rise in offensive statistics
Binghamton currently ranks 69th in the nation (out of 351) in made three-pointers (163), 94th in three-point percentage (.370) and 103rd in assists (278). Last season, the Bearcats ranked 325th in assists and 315th in three-pointers. The team's current scoring output of 70.8 is nearly 10 points higher than the 2015-16 average (60.9). Three times this season BU has shot above 60 percent for an entire game and seven times the Bearcats have shot 60 percent or higher for a half, including a program record 73 percent (16-of-22) in the first half against Loyola on Dec. 10. In that game, BU made its first nine shots of the game — another school record. 

BU bench and depth paying dividends
Binghamton has 11 players averaging 12+ minutes in 2016-17 and their bench minutes rank second in the nation (kenpom). The bench has outscored opposing benches in 14 of 20 games. Seven times BU's bench has contributed 30 or more points. Because of depth and most recently, injuries, coach Dempsey has used 12 different starting lineups this season.

The "3" ball is best indicator of BU success
Through 20 games, BU is 9-2 when outshooting opponents from three-point range (3-pt FG%) and 0-9 when not. 

Yacob dialed in from beyond arc
Redshirt junior guard Yosef Yacob is shooting 59 percent (20-of-34) from three-point range this season. His average would be top-10 in the nation but Yacob currently falls short of the minumum makes requirement (2.5/game).

Ahearn automatic in post
Inside the arc, junior forward Bobby Ahearn is finishing at a gaudy 68 percent clip — one of the highest two-point percentages in the nation. Through 20 games, Ahearn is shooting 58 percent overall, which would rank second in the America East (but he falls short of the 4.0 min FG made/game).