VESTAL, N.Y. - After more schedule jostling on Thursday, Binghamton men's basketball is now headed to Newark for its final regular season series. The conference moved the Bearcats' weekend set against NJIT from a home to a road series. The teams will play at 4 p.m. on Saturday and finish up the regular season at 3 p.m. on Sunday at NJIT's Wellness and Events Center.

The Bearcats were "on pause" for two+ weeks to start February after a positive COVID test and because of the layoff, the 19 days between games is the longest in program history. The series against NJIT has been particularly challenging to schedule, as this final change in venues has become the fifth different version of the BU-vs-NJIT series scheduled this season (three date changes and two separate venue changes). 

Binghamton has two players scoring in double figures - sophomore guards Brenton Mills (14.6) and Tyler Bertram (10.2). The Bearcats are averaging 65 points on offense on 40 percent shooting. Senior center Thomas Bruce (6.8) and sophomore forward George Tinsley (6.7) lead the rebounding effort.  

About NJIT
•    In first season in AE, have split six of seven series', including trading wins with league-leaders Vermont and UMBC and most recently, Hartford last weekend
•    Are 5-2 in Game 1s in series, 1-6 in Game 2s
•    Returned three starters and eight lettermen from a 9-21 team (6-10 in ASUN)
•    Led by dynamic scorer Zach Cooks (15.8 ppg.), who led ASUN in scoring last season (19.7 ppg.). Cooks scored 35 points against Bearcats last season
•    Cooks (at 5-foot-10) also leads team in rebounding and averages 38 minutes
•    Rank seventh in AE in both offense (66.8 ppg.) and eighth in defense (69.3 ppg.)
     
 All-time series vs. NJIT
•    NJIT leads the all-time series, which began in 1982-83, 2-1
•    Since both teams elevated to Division I status, they have split two games
•    NJIT won 74-54 in 2018-19 in Vestal and BU won 77-75 last year in Newark
•    Last season, Sam Sessoms and Zach Cooks went toe-to-toe with Sessoms (33 pts.) dealing the final blow with a game-winning layup with 2.2 left
•    Sessoms' game-winning bucket capped a stunning second half that saw the Bearcats rally from 16-points down and grind out the win with two big blocks in the closing 30 seconds
  
Last Time Out
In their last games all the way back on Jan. 30-31, Binghamton split the weekend series with UNH, romping 65-44 on Saturday before falling in overtime, 71-65, in Sunday's finale. The Bearcats outrebounded the conference-leading team on the glass in both games and likely came within a shot (missed front-end FT with 0:15 left in regulation) of completing the sweep. Sophomore guard Brenton Mills averaged 12.0 points and senior center Thomas Bruce chipped in 10.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in the pair of games.  

As the Schedule Turns
After three date changes and two more venue changes, Binghamton and NJIT finally pair up for their weekend series, which now has become the regular-season finale for both teams. On Thursday, the site was changed by the conference from Vestal to Newark, abruptly closing out BU's home schedule. Initially slated for Feb. 27-28 in Vestal, the series was moved to Newark for Jan. 23-24. The ensuing America East schedule change left BU with a bye week on that date and the NJIT series was then switched to Feb. 6-7 back in Vestal. Binghamton's COVID positive, however, required a fourth change — to the current Feb. 20-21 dates. Then the final venue change occurred this week. With Maine's decision to end its season early and the early end to the regular season, the Bearcats won't get to play the Black Bears or Albany this year. It's the first time in BU's 20-year Division I tenure it won't play the Great Danes — its closest geographic conference foe (in the regular season). Binghamton will wind up playing 14 of its 18 scheduled conference games this season. 

The Bruce Factor
Senior center Thomas Bruce has been limited to six games this season after missing more than a month with concussion symptoms. When in the lineup, the two-time America East All-Defensive Team selection makes a notable impact. Opponents are averaging 10.7 fewer points when Bruce is protecting the rim. Without him in the lineup, BU foes are shooting 53% inside the arc but with him, that average drops to 45%. The difference on the glass is a net 6.5 rebounds per game. With Bruce, BU is plus 4.0 on the glass, including this past weekend when they outrebounded the top-rebounding team in the AE (UNH).  

Six Straight at Home
In January, Binghamton played six consecutive home games - three straight home weekend series'. Binghamton hasn't played more than three in a row at home throughout its 19 years of Division I. It's the longest regular season home stretch in program history.   

America East Tournament format updated
The 2021 America East Championship will include all nine teams (minus Maine who opted to end its season) and begin next week. Top seeds UMBC and Vermont have earned byes and will host semifinal games on March 6. Next weekend (either Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun) the remaining seven teams will play in two pods rounds (first round and quarterfinals) hosted by the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds. Binghamton is locked into the No. 9 seed and will play the No. 4 seed (and host) in a first-round game. A win would propel the Bearcats into the quarterfinals, where they would play winner of the No. 5/No. 8 first round game the next day. The remaining four teams will be reseeded before the semifinals, played at UMBC and Vermont. The championship game is on Saturday, March 13 at the highest remaining seed, and will be carried on ESPN2 at 11 a.m. 

Sophomore class carrying Bearcats
Binghamton is led by its core of eight sophomores. The group, led by Brenton Mills (14.6 ppg.) and Tyler Bertram (10.2 ppg.), accounts for 87% of the team's scoring (846 of 970 pts.) and 84% of the team's total minutes (2588 of 3075 team minutes). 

Stat notes between Game 1 and Game 2 of conference weekend series'
Comparing the statistics from Game 1 and Game 2 of the America East weekend series' yields several notable variances for the Bearcats. Sophomore guard Dan Petcash has bumped his scoring average to 10.5 ppg. for Game 2s (up from 4.7 ppg. in openers). Classmate Tyler Bertram has been more dominant in Game 1s with a team-high 14.0 ppg. Bertram drops to 9.2 ppg. in Game 2s. As a team, BU is shooting nearly identical on both days (40.1% on Saturdays, 40.2 on Sundays) but has been much better at the free throw line on Day 2 (73% vs. 64% in Game 1s). The Bearcats are averaging 1.6 more points on Sundays (65.8 ppg.) but are also giving up more points (72.5 ppg on Sat and 76.3 ppg on Sun). 

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

Mills is team's go-to scorer 
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 15.4 points in 14 starts. He has scored in double figures in 13 of those 14 starts, ranks fourth in the America East in scoring (14.6 ppg.), is second in 3-point percentage (41%) and fourth in 3-pointers per game (2.1). He has three 20+ point games so far this season.  

3-Ball Focus 
The Bearcats are averaging a conference-best 8.8 3-pointers per game, which ranks 55th in the country. They take an average of 26 long-range shots per game — seven more than their opponents. Binghamton also is 10th in the country in 3-point reliance, with 41% of their team points coming via the 3-ball.