VESTAL, N.Y. - Coming off the team's strong showing at Notre Dame, Binghamton men's basketball returns to the Empire State to face LIU on Friday. The Bearcats (3-9) and reigning NCAA tournament entry Blackbirds (5-5) tip at noon at the Barclays Center, home of the NBA Brooklyn Nets.  

QUICK HITS
• This is Binghamton's 73rd season of basketball, 18th at the Division I level
• BU was picked to finish 6th (of 9) in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll
• Bearcats have three games left before conference play begins (Jan. 5)
• This is the middle of three straight road games to end the 2018 calendar year
• BU plays its first-ever game at the NBA venue Barclays Center (Brooklyn Nets)
• BU will look to go 2-0 vs. NEC this season after previously beating Sacred Heart. The Bearcats are 18-15 all-time vs. NEC members

Last time out
• Stayed within single digits until the closing minutes in a 69-56 loss at Notre Dame Tuesday in South Bend
• BU led for 11+ minutes in a game that had seven lead changes and four ties
• Freshman guard Sam Sessoms scored game-high 25 points on 11-of-18 FG
• BU (41%) outshot Irish (38%) but didn't have another double-digit scorer to join Sessoms and 6-of-28 shooting from 3-point range derailed any upset bid
• Senior forward Chance Barnard had eight points and four boards
• Senior guard Everson Davis pulled down season-high nine rebounds in 28 mins  

About LIU Brooklyn
• Reigning Northeast Conference champions and NCAA team from last winter
• Team has been idle for nine days after an 83-79 loss at Stony Brook on Dec. 12
• Blackbirds are 1-1 vs. America East teams this season, having defeated Albany 80-77 on Nov. 29 in Belfast, Ireland
• LIU has alternated wins and losses over its last five games
• Return four starters and 11 lettermen from the 18-win championship team
• Picked to finish third of 10 in the NEC Preseason Poll
• Senior wing Raiquan Clark is a returning All-NEC selection (17.2 ppg. last year)
    
All-time series vs. LIU Brooklyn
• Binghamton leads the all-time series, which began in 2002, 3-2
• The teams have alternated wins in the last four head-to-head matchups
• Last Dec. 22 in Vestal, LIU shot 61 percent in the second half to pull away 74-66
• Binghamton's last win was a 91-80 home win on Dec. 15, 2006

Bearcats play on NBA stage, face LIU in Barclays Center 
Binghamton has a first-ever game at an NBA venue when BU faces LIU at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets. Barclays opened in 2012 and holds 18,103 for basketball. The Bearcats take the floor three days after LeBron James (36 pts.) and the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Nets 115-110.

Bearcats rank fourth in nation in blocks
Despite opening the season without the top shot blocker in the America East (Thomas Bruce), BU has racked up 78 blocks through 12 games (6.5), led the country for a week and currently ranks fourth, behind Duke, Jacksonville and Auburn. Individually, senior forward Caleb Stewart has 24 blocks (2.0/game, 3rd in AE) and senior forward Chancellor Barnard has 21 blocks (4th). The Bearcats lead the America East in blocks, thanks to four players in the league's top-8.   

Sessoms ranks 8th in nation in freshman scoring
Freshman guard Sam Sessoms ranks third in the conference in scoring (18.3 ppg.) and ranks eighth in the entire nation in freshman scoring. He has scored in double figures in 11 of his first 12 collegiate games and is coming off a game-high 25 points against Notre Dame (19 in second half).   

Barnard shooting lofty 74 percent, ranks 6th in kenpom FG%
Senior forward Chancellor Barnard has converted 43-of-58 shots (.741) and ranks sixth in kenpom's "effective FG percentage" category. Barnard's 74 percent would rank second in the nation but he falls short of the minimum FGs.

No. 4 Michigan looming on the schedule
Shortly after Christmas, the Bearcats will brace for a test against unbeaten No. 4 Michigan on Dec. 29. The reigning NCAA runnereup Wolverines already own wins over Villanova and North Carolina this season and host Air Force on Dec. 22 before the Bearcats come to Ann Arbor. Michigan is 50-8 at home over the last four years. 

Pair of Bearcats moving toward 1,000-point mark
Seniors J.C. Show and Caleb Stewart are marching toward the 1K mark for their scoring careers. Show, who played his first collegiate season at Bucknell, currenty sits at 953 points. Stewart played single seasons at South Carolina-Aiken and Saint Leo before finishing his last two seasons at Binghamton. He has 865 career points.