VESTAL, N.Y. - After back-to-back road weekends, Binghamton men's basketball returns home to host defending regular season champion and preseason favorite Vermont this weekend at the Events Center. The Bearcats (1-8, 1-5 AE) and Catamounts (3-3, 3-3 AE) will tip at 2 p.m. on Saturday and again on Sunday, with both games broadcast on ESPN3. 

Binghamton is led offensively by sophomore guards Brenton Mills (15.8 ppg.) and Tyler Bertram (9.8 ppg.). The Bearcats lead the league in 3-point percentage (37%) and 3-pointers per game (9.9). 

Vermont ranks second in the conference in scoring (72.5 ppg.) and third in rebound margin (+3.8). The Catamounts, who had to replace three starters from last season's team, have already lost more conference games (3) than all of last season (14-2).  

QUICK HITS
•    This is Binghamton's 74th season of basketball, 20th at the Division I level
•    BU returns two starters and seven lettermen from a 10-19 team of a year ago
•    This is the first of back-to-back home weekends for the Bearcats 

About Vermont
•    Return two starters from a 26-7 team that won the America East regular season title (14-2) and reached the title game before COVID closed the season
•    Picked as preseason favorite for fifth straight year and have won 20 or more games in 12 consecutive seasons
•    Got late start to season (Dec. 21) and didn't play any non-conference games
•    Have dropped two of last three games — each by one point
•    Coming off home split against Albany, where UVM surrendered a 17-point second half lead in a rare occurance at Patrick Gym 
•    Senior guard Stef Smith (12.5 ppg.) was a first team all-conference selection
•    Junior forward Ryan Davis was AE Sixth Man of Year last year and leads the team in scoring (22.3 ppg.) and rebounding (6.3 rpg.)      
   
 All-time series vs. Vermont
•    Vermont owns a commanding 35-8 lead in the series and has won the last 11 head-to-head meetings dating back to 2014-15
•    It has been BU's most lopsided rivalry in its 19-year America East history
•    The average margin of UVM victory during the streak is 19 points and only two have been decided by single digits (6 and 9 pts), both played in Vestal
•    BU is 5-14 vs. Vermont at the Events Center with the last win coming on Feb. 18, 2015 (57-55)
•    Last season, Vermont swept the series, winning 72-53 in Vestal on Jan. 15 and 76-48 in Burlington exactly one month later

Last Time Out
Binghamton dropped a pair at Hartford last weekend, falling 76-56 and 77-74. The Hawks shot 55% and 52% in the two games, leading throughout in the opener and then winning the Sunday game on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. In Sunday's narrow loss, BU led for more than 26 minutes and had the ball for the final possession but a game-winning basket was wiped out by an offensive foul call and Hartford capitalized with its 13th 3-pointer just before the horn.     

Tough losses at the wire
Four of Binghamton's eight losses have come after BU had the ball inside one minute left with a chance to take the lead/win the game. Five of the losses have either come by seven or fewer points or overtime.   

Sizzling first half at Hartford
In Sunday's game at Hartford, BU made its first 10 shots, didn't miss a shot for the first 8:13 of the game, hit 15-of-18 to start and wound up shooting 71% for the half (17-of-24 FG). It was the highest percentage for a half (vs. a D-I opponent) since BU shot 74% in the first half vs. Northeastern on Jan. 21, 2004 (17 years ago). Binghamton's game shooting percentage of 59% (29-of-49) was the program's highest in four years (61% vs. Delaware St. on Dec. 17, 2016).

Bertram heating up, shooting 45 percent from beyond arc in last four
Sophomore guard Tyler Bertram has been heating up of late. In his last four games, Bertram is averaging 15.5 points on 42% shooting. He's shooting even better from beyond the arc, hitting 13-of-29 (45%) during that span. Bertram averaged 17.5 points on 44% shooting (in a starting role) in the Hartford series. He has reached double figures in five of his first nine games as a Bearcat and currently ranks fourth in the AE in 3-pointers per game (2.3) and fifth in 3-point percentae (42%).  

Mills off to quick start in scoring column 
Sophomore guard Brenton Mills continues to pace the Bearcats' offense. Setting aside his one non-start (Dec. 19 vs. Stony Brook) after sustaining an ankle injury, Mills is averaging 17.3 points in eight starts. He has scored 20 or more points in two of his last three outings and ranks fourth in the America East in scoring (15.8 ppg.) and second in both 3-point percentage (48%) and 3-pointers per game (2.4). He has three 20+ point games so far this season.  
    
3-Ball focus 
The Bearcats have made a conference-best 9.9 3-pointers per game, which ranks 26th in the country. They take an average of 27 long-range shots per game — nine more than their opponents. Binghamton also is seventh in the country in 3-point reliance, with 45% of their team points coming via the 3-ball. The team ranks No. 1 in the America East in 3-point field goal percentage (37%).