VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball hits the road for the lone game in the middle of a four-of-five at home stretch when the Bearcats (8-16, 2-9 America East) travel to Burlington face conference frontrunner Vermont (20-6, 10-1 AE) Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gym. The teams will tip at 2 p.m. at Patrick Gymnasium.    

Last time out
• On Wednesday BU battled second-place Stony Brook to the final minute in a 75-70 home loss in front of a season-high 4,238 fans
• Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms scored 22 points to eclipse the 1,000-pt scoring mark less than halfway through his collegiate career. He added seven assists.
• Senior guard Richard Caldwell, Jr. scored all 17 of his points in the second half
• BU had two 3-point attempts by freshman guard Brenton Mills rim out in the final 1:35, including one that would've tied the game with nine seconds left
• Freshman forward George Tinsley added 11 points, 6 rebs. and three blocks              

About Vermont
• Defeated visiting UNH 74-50 on Wednesday for team's 20th win of season
• Now have won 20 or more games in 12 consecutive seasons
• Spotted UNH an early 17-9 lead before going up by six at half and then pulling away with 54% shooting in the second half
• Have won 10 straight games by an average of 16.6 points per game. Only two games in the win streak were decided by single digits (59-57 at Maine and 69-68 at Hartford).
• Are holding opponents to under 59 points per game, sixth-best in country
• Reigning America East Player of the Year Anthony Lamb leads team in scoring (16.6) and rebounding (7.3). Teammate Stef Smith has tormented the Bearcats more however. Smith scored 28 points (8-of-10 3-pt) in the semifinal win last March
   
All-time series vs. Vermont
• Vermont has controlled the series and its 34-8 margin is the most lopsided among any of BU's America East opponents
• The Catamounts have won 10 straight in the series, including a 72-53 win in Vestal four and a half weeks ago
• In that first meeting this season, the Catamounts closed the first half with a 20-8 push and took a 43-22 cushion into the locker room. After BU brought it back to 13, Vermont used a decisive 21-3 run to put the game away. Binghamton outscored Vermont 31-29 in the second half but the damage was done in the opening frame. Five Catamounts reached double figures and the team made 10 3-pointers and shot 49 percent for the game. Freshman guard Brenton Mills led BU with 13 points.
• BU's last win in the series was a 57-55 home win on Feb. 18, 2015
• The last time the teams met in Burlington was in the 2019 America East semifinals last March 12 and eventual champ Vermont closed the first half with a staggering 30-5 run to run away for an 84-51 win
• Vermont has won 17 of 19 head-to-head games played at Patrick Gym. Binghamton's last win at Patrick was an epic one however. During BU's NCAA season in 2008-09, the Bearcats rallied from 25 points down in the second half to win 85-83 on Feb. 4. It's the eighth-greatest road comeback in NCAA history.

Bearcats one of youngest teams in nation
Binghamton now is ranked No. 325 in experience (15th youngest team in nation) by KenPom. The team's most common starting lineup shows two freshmen (Mills, Tinsley), a sophomore (Sessoms) and two seniors (Sarr and Caldwell).

Sessoms eclipses 1,000 career points in just 57 games  
Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms scored 22 points Wednesday against Stony Brook to eclipse the 1,000-point scoring mark in his 57th collegiate game. In the process, he became just the seventh player in the league's 41-year history to reach the 1K mark as a sophomore. Sessoms currently ranks fiifth in Div. I era scoring at Binghamton and his career average (17.8 ppg.) puts him in pace to 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.  

Hjalmarsson featured in AP article about NCAA players from Iceland  
Freshman guard Hakon Hjalmarsson was recently featured in an Associated Press article about the three basketball players from Iceland who are currently playing at Division I (Thorir Thorbjarnarson of Nebraska and Jon Axel Gudmundsson of Davidson). Hjalmarsson scored 12 points in the Feb. 8 game against Maine and is averaging 19 minutes per game. The article link is https://apnews.com/e6e70497dcdecde407e19f0eb7c719ee?utm_medium=AP_Sports&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP_Top25&utm_source=Twitter

Young BU lineup is delivering  
Binghamton is receiving 74% of its offense from underclassmen and its top three scorers are all first or second-year guys.

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 8-3. When the Bearcats score less than 70, they are 0-13.

Sarr selected to Midseason Watch List for Dos Equis 3x3U event
Senior forward Pierre Sarr has been selected as one of 10 seniors from the America East on the Dos Equis 3x3U National Championship Midseason Watch List. The event pits seniors representing all 32 NCAA Division I conferences in a FIBA-sanctioned 3-on-3 event that carries a grand prize of $150,000. This year's event will take place April 3-5 in Atlanta. Last year a squad from the mid-major Colonial Athletic Association won the event.  

Caldwell now plays key role in lineup  
After coming off the bench for much of the season, senior guard Richard Caldwell, Jr. has started the last eight games. In his last six outings, he is averaging 11.5 points in 31+ minutes of action. He has hit double-figures in four of those six, including back-to-back games. On Saturday against Maine, Caldwell scored a career-high 20 points and he followed that up with 17 points (all in second half) against Stony Brook on Wednesday.  
 
Bearcats riding 3-point scoring, rank fourth in country in long distance reliance  
BU ranks 17th in the country in 3-pointers per game (9.8) and 20th in made 3-pointers (234). They have canned 10 or more 3s 11 times this season, including a season-best 15 against Maine on Feb. 8. The Bearcats rank No. 4 in the country in 3-point reliance (Ken Pom), with 43% of their offense coming via the 3-ball.

Bearacts among the America East, NCAA stat leaders  
Sophomore guard Sam Sessoms leads the America East in assists (4.8/game) and is fourth in scoring (17.8). He also ranks third in minutes (35.1) and sixth in steals (1.5). Freshman forward George Tinsley ranks fourth in the nation in minutes (38:20/game). Tinsley is third in the America East in rebounding (7.8), fifth in blocks (1.2/game) and is the top-scoring freshman in the conference (11.7 ppg.). Senior forward Pierre Sarr is fourth in the AE in rebounding (7.4). Freshman guard Brenton Mills is sixth in the AE in 3-point percentage (35%) and seventh in 3-pointers per game (2.0).      

Tinsley ranks third 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 third (38:20). Tinsley has played a full game nine times this season, including all 45 minutes in the overtime win over Boston University on Dec. 7.