VESTAL, N.Y. - Coming off a big road win and sitting a half-game out of sixth place in the standings, Binghamton men's basketball (7-18, 3-7 America East) welcomes reigning conference champion UMBC (15-10, 7-3 AE) for a Wednesday night game at the Events Center. The teams will tip at 7 p.m. at Dr. Bai Lee Court in a game broadcast on ESPN+.

Freshman guard Sam Sessoms continues his torrid season, now up to No. 5 in the nation for freshman scoring (18.1 ppg.). This week, Sessoms earned his America East-leading sixth conference Rookie of the Week honor, tying the program record for one season. Sessoms is third in the league in scoring and fourth in assists (3.5/game).

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
• This is the 18th America East season for BU, which is 106-170 (.384) all-time
• Binghamton plays three of the next four at home as they look to make a move in the conference standings with six regular season games remaining  

Last time out
• BU led from start to finish and made 4-of-4 free throws in final 18 seconds to seal 68-61 road win at UNH and complete season sweep of Wildcats
• Freshman guard Sam Sessoms scored 20 of his game-high 28 points in second half as BU made an eight-point halftime lead stand up after opening game up 20-8
• Senior forward Caleb Stewart added 16 points (4-4 3pt FG) and seven boards      

About UMBC
• Coming off a dramatic 67-66 win at Maine on Sunday, thanks to four 3-pointers in 1:40 span late in game and combined 43 points from Jackson and Sherburne
• Dressed only 10 players at Maine with depleted frontcourt
• Have won six of last seven games to settle into third place in standings
• Reigning America East champions coming off championship season that culminated with a historic 74-54 NCAA win over No. 1 overall seed Virginia
• Three starters and nine lettermen return from that 25-11 team (12-4 AE, 2nd)
• Graduated top two scorers Jairus Lyles (20.2 ppg.) and K.J. Maura (11.3 ppg.)
• Team was picked to finish third in the America East Preseason Poll

All-time series vs. UMBC
• Thanks to six straight wins, UMBC leads the all-time series 18-16
• Before that, BU had won four straight head-to-head
• BU leads 10-6 in games in Vestal
• In the first meeting on Jan. 16 in Baltimore, UMBC used a 9-0 run early in the second half to build a double-digit lead and the host Retrievers won 68-49
• Down eight at half, BU scored on its first possession of the second half to pull within six but UMBC responded with a 9-0 run to forge ahead 40-25 with 13:48 left. The Bearcats couldn't pull it back to single digits the rest of the way.
 
Binghamton tied for seventh in standings with six games left
The road win at UNH was important on Saturday as it created essentially a three-game cushion for the Bearcats over the Wildcats in the quest to clinch a top-8 playoff spot. Now nearly assured of returning to the postseason after a year off, BU can set its sights on upward movement. Binghamton is currently tied with Maine for seventh (but owning a head-to-head win), just a half-game behind sixth place Albany and two games behind fifth place UMass Lowell.

Sessoms ties BU record with sixth America East Rookie of Week honor
Freshman guard Sam Sessoms has been named America East Rookie of the Week this week — his sixth ROW honor this season (Nov. 12, Nov. 26, Dec. 10, Dec. 24, Jan. 7, Feb. 11). He now is tied with former BU standout and all-conference guard Jordan Reed, who earned six during 2012-13, for the most weekly honors for any Bearcat. Only six America East players in league history (30+ years) have received more rookie honors. He averaged 21.5 points and 4.0 assists in a 1-1 week, notching his ninth 20+ scoring game in the process.  

Sessoms moves up to fifth in nation in freshman scoring
Freshman guard Sam Sessoms ranks third in the conference in scoring (18.1 ppg.) and is fifth in the entire nation in freshman scoring. He has nine 20+ point games this season. Sessoms ranks 28th in the country in made field goals.  

Bearcats lead America East, rank 10th in nation in blocks
Despite opening the season without the top shot blocker in the America East (Thomas Bruce), BU has racked up 126 blocks through 25 games, tops in the AE and 10-most in the country. In blocks per game, BU led the country for a week and currently ranks 18th (5.0/game). Individually, senior forward Caleb Stewart swatted a career-high five vs. Columbia and has 46 blocks, which ranks third in the conference and 44th in the country. His 1.8 average is 58th. Senior forward Chancellor Barnard had a career-high seven-block showing (all in second half) against UMass Lowell and has 40 blocks (4th in AE). 

Stewart record-tying string of double-digit rebounds halted
Senior forward Caleb Stewart, recent member of the 1,000-point club (reached on Jan. 26 in win over Maine), stretched his string of double-digit rebounds to a BU record-tying five before the string was snapped Feb. 9 at UNH. In the five previous games, he pulled down 16-11-10-10-10 to bump up his season average to 7.4, which ranks fifth in the America East. He tied the program's Division I record of consecutive games with double-figure rebounds, set by Mahamoud Jabbi in 2010-11. Stewart also ranks third in the AE in blocks (1.8).