VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball (12-14, 3-8 America East) welcomes its oldest rival when Albany (15-11, 6-5 AE) comes to town on Thursday night. The 100th installment of the SUNY series, which dates back to 1949, begins at 7 p.m. at the Events Center and in front of an ESPN3 audience. The game is the first of two straight at home against teams just ahead of the Bearcats in the America East standings. 

Before the game, senior guard Marlon Beck will be honored at center court for reaching the 1,000-point milestone.

QUICK HITS
•    This is Binghamton's 70th season of basketball, 16th at the Division I level
•    This will be the 100th meeting between the two SUNY schools in a series that dates back to 1948-49. It's BU's oldest rivalry with any team on the schedule
•    After winning three straight games to close out January, BU has dropped three consecutive games to open February   

Last time out
•    Vermont built a 10-point halftime lead and ended the game with a 19-8 run to pin a 71-51 loss on the Bearcats, who stayed within striking range most of the game but couldn't draw closer than nine in the second half
•    Junior forward Bobby Ahearn tallied team-highs of 15 points and seven boards
•    Junior Dusan Perovic and sophomore Thomas Bruce added nine points apiece

About Albany
•    The preseason No. 3 pick is currently in fourth place in the AE standings
•    UA returned two starters and seven lettermen from a 24-9 team that lost in the AE quarters and was selected to the CBI postseason tournament
•    Team quickly reloaded with three JUCO transfers
•    Program has won five AE titles in the last 11 years
•    UA has won six of its last eight, losing only to the top two teams in standings (Vermont and Stony Brook)
•    In its last game, UA posted a 69-55 win at UNH on Monday. Leading scorers Joe Cremo (21 pts.) and David Nichols (18 pts.) combined for 39 points           

All-time series vs. Albany
•    Albany leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1948, 68-31
•    Since both teams elevated to D-I in the America East, Albany leads 19-13
•    The series has featured three distinct periods. Binghamton dominated when both programs began in D-I, winning eight of the first nine games, including an AE quarterfinal game in Vestal in 2005. Over the next five years, the teams split the series, going 5-5 between 2005-2010. Since 2011, Albany has rattled off 13 straight wins. 
•    Last month in Albany, the Great Danes shot above 70 percent for most of the game and eased past Binghamton 84-65. Down nine at half, BU cut its deficit to as few as seven early in the second period but the Danes kept up their offensive efficiency and BU could pull no closer than seven over the final 15 minutes. Junior forward Willie Rodriguez (7-of-11 FG)  tallied 15 of his team-high 21 points in the second half. 
   
Pair of 1,000-point scorers    
Junior forward Willie Rodriguez (1,042 pts.) and senior guard Marlon Beck (1,005 pts.) have reached the 1,000-point career milestone in the last week. Rodriguez hit the mark early in the second half at Maine on Jan. 29 Beck did it late in the home game against UMBC on Feb. 1. Rodriguez became the 19th BU player and Beck the 20th player to reach 1,000 points in BU's 70-year basketball history. Just two previous 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. Like Rodriguez, St. Fort did it in three years. With one more point Rodriguez will pass Troy Hailey (1,042) and become the school's all-time scoring leader during its Division I tenure.
   
Ahearn takes blow to nose, likely out of lineup     
Despite taking a hard elbow to the nose in the Vermont game on Monday, junior center Bobby Ahearn still contributed 15 points and seven rebounds in 33 minutes. The injury, however, is likely to keep him out of the lineup for tonight's game. Ahearn has been one of BU's most productive offensive players of late with four games of 15+ points and an 11.6 scoring average in his last eight games. He is also averaging 7.0 rebounds over his last four games.      

Bruce bumping up blocks, boards and buckets
Sophomore center Thomas Bruce has increased his averages of late. In the last five games, he's totalled nine blocks and is averaging 8.0 ppg. and 5.8 rpg. He is shooting 56 percent during that span.

Rose raising his assist-to-turnover ratio
Sophomore guard Timmy Rose has moved among the conference leaders in assists (4th, 3.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4th, 2.1). His ratio ranks 100th 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 10 of his last 13 games, including seven games of 15+ points. With his next point he will pass Troy Hailey (1,042) and become the school's all-time scoring leader during its Division I tenure.    

Bearcats have made meteoric rise in offensive statistics
Binghamton currently ranks 50th in the nation (out of 351) in made three-pointers (214), 69th in three-point percentage (.376) and 89th in assists (355). Last season, the Bearcats ranked 325th in assists and 315th in three-pointers. The team's current scoring output of 69.7 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 fifth in the nation (kenpom). The bench has outscored opposing benches in 16 of 24 games. Twelve times BU's bench has contributed 25 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 24 games, BU is 11-3 when outshooting opponents from three-point range (3-pt FG%) and 1-11 when not.