VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball will look for a duplicate performance from 10 months ago when the Bearcats (7-11, 1-4 America East) return to Long Island to face league-leading Stony Brook (13-7, 4-1 AE) at 7 p.m. Wednesday night. The last time the teams met at the Island Federal Arena, seventh-seeded Binghamton stunned the No. 2 seed in the America East quarterfinals, abruptly ending the Seawolves' stellar season.

This time, Binghamton aims to snap a three-game losing skid and keep within striking distance to the top of the pack as the teams rapidly move toward the midway point of the league schedule. It will be the second game in a stretch of four-of-five on the road for the Bearcats, who have struggled away from the Events Center thus far (1-8). 

Binghamton continues to be led offensively by the trio of sophomore Sam Sessoms (17.8 ppg.) and freshmen Brenton Mills (12.7) and George Tinsley (10.4).       

Last time out
• BU fell behind by 13 at the half Sunday at Maine and Black Bears then shot 61% in second half to pull away for an 86-63 win
• Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms led BU with 21 points
• Junior guard JJ Brown had a season-high 12 points in 12 minutes
• Freshman guard Brenton Mills chipped in 11 points (9 in first half)          

About Stony Brook
• Have won six of their last seven, including an eye-opening 81-77 win at reigning conference champion Vermont two weeks ago
• Were ranked 23rd in last week's Mid-Major Top 25 Poll
• Have also defeated Albany, New Hampshire and Maine in league play, with only loss being a 68-65 road setback at Hartford
• Junior all-conference guard Elijah Olaniyi ranks second in the AE in scoring (19.3 ppg.) and seventh in rebounding (6.9 rpg.)
• Six-foot-11 junior center Jeff Otchere is second in the AE with 1.9 blocks/game
• Team ranks second in both offense (70.6 ppg.) and defense (64.7 ppg.)  

All-time series vs. Stony Brook
• Stony Brook leads the series, which began in 1963, 44-28
• Stony Brook swept the season series last year and has won 19 of the last 22 head-to-head, but the last time they met (last March 9, 2019) BU pulled off a stunning 78-72 road upset in the America East tournament quarterfinals  
• In that game, seventh-seeded BU roared out of the gate, built a 24-point lead and held off a heavily favored Stony Brook team that came in with 24 wins and votes in the national Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Senior guard J.C. Show steadied BU down the stretch with 11 second-half points (19 for the game) and BU made just enough free throws to fend off the hard-charging hosts and reach the AE semifinals
• The home team has won seven of the last nine matchups
• BU is just 8-24 all-time at Stony Brook

70 is magic number on offense  
The Bearcats can eye the number 70 on the scoreboard. When BU puts 70 on the board they are 7-1. When the Bearcats score less than 70, they are 0-10.  

Mills emerging as consistent scoring threat  
Frelshman guard Brenton Mills has gone for double-figure points in six straight games, with three of those resulting in 15+ point performances. Mills is averaging 16.7 points on 46% shooting in that span. He is the highest scoring freshman in the conference (12.7 ppg.).  

Minutes rising for J.J. Brown  
Junior guard Javon "J.J." Brown has seen his minutes dramatically increase and also his scoring production. After averaging less than four minutes a game in his first seven outings as a  Bearcat, Brown has earned double-digit minutes in four of the last five games and is averaging 8.7 points in his last three. At Maine, Brown scored a season-high 12 points in 12 minutes.  

Bearcats are eighth youngest team in nation
Binghamton is ranked No. 346 in experience (eighth youngest team in nation) by KenPom. The team's most common starting lineup shows three freshmen (Mills, Tinsley, Hjalmarsson), a sophomore (Sessoms) and a senior (Sarr).

Bearacts among the America East, NCAA stat leaders  
Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms third in the America East in scoring (17.7), and steals (1.6/game) and is fourth assists (4.2) and free throw percentage (.809). Sessoms also is fifth in minutes played 34.2). Freshman forward George Tinsley ranks fifth in the nation in minutes (38:01/game). Tinsley is second in the America East in rebounding (8.2) and fifth in blocks (1.2/game). Senior forward Pierre Sarr is sixth in the AE in rebounding (7.2). Freshman guard Brenton Mills is fourth in the AE in 3-point percentage (39%) and fifth in 3-pointers per game (2.3). Mills is the top-scoring freshman in conference (12.7 ppg.).      

Young BU lineup is delivering  
Binghamton is receiving 76% of its offense from underclassmen and its top three scorers are all first or second-year guys.

Tinsley ranks fifth in nation in minutes played  
Freshman forward George Tinsley led the nation in minutes for the first two months of the season and currently ranks fifth (38:01). Tinsley has played a full game seven times this season, including all 45 minutes in the overtime win over Boston University on Dec. 7.  

Bearcats riding 3-point scoring  
BU ranks 25th in the country in 3-pointers per game (9.6). That average leads the America East. The Bearcats also rank 31st in the country in made threes (173) and are shooting 34% from beyond the arc. They have canned 10 or more 3s eight times this season, including a season-best 14 twice (NJIT and Hartwick). The Bearcats rank No. 9 in the country in 3-point reliance (Ken Pom), with 41% of their offense coming via the 3-ball.

Sessoms now over 900 career points  
Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms just went over the 900-point mark last game (909) with 11 more regular season games to go before he reaches the halfway point of his career. He currently ranks seventh in Div. I era scoring at Binghamton and his career average (17.6 ppg.) is on pace to reach 1K in early February (midway through conference play) and become the program's all-time scoring leader (1,705 pts.) by the end of his junior season. Sessoms is also on pace to surpass the 2,000-point mark by the time he graduates, which would make him a 2K scorer in both high school and college.