VESTAL, N.Y. - On a short turnaround, Binghamton men's basketball will play the back-half of its two-game road swing to begin conference play when the Bearcats (8-6, 1-0 America East) face longtime SUNY rival UAlbany (9-7, 1-0 AE) at 4 p.m. Saturday. The teams will tip for the 111th time in history at 4 p.m. at the newly renovated (and named) Broadview Center. 

The Bearcats will be less than 48 hours removed from their 77-69 loss at Bryant Thursday night. Albany has been idle for a week after opening conference play with a win last Saturday. 

ABOUT ALBANY 

• Have been idle for a week after a 79-73 road win at NJIT in its conference opener last Saturday
• In that game, 6-foot-10 center Jonathan Beagle scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half and notched a double-double with 16 rebounds. Junior guard Sebastian Thomas led the way with 22 points (4-8 3-pt.) and Albany used a late 8-0 run to pull away
• Have already exceeded last season's win total (8)
• Own wins over Sacred Heart (which beat BU), Boston University and Siena
• Starting lineup features four underclassmen
• Former Bearcat Tyler Bertram (2020-22) is playing his final collegiate season with Great Danes
• Beagle leads the AE in rebs (9.8) and is ninth in scoring (13.9)
• Were picked to finish seventh (of nine) in Coaches' Preseason Poll
• Have christened newly refurbished (and named) Broadview Center (3,899 cap.), formerly SEFCU Arena
• Played all last season at Hudson Valley CC while renovations were taking place
• Albany is 4-0 at home this season
• Have two returning starters and six letterwinners back from 8-23 team; welcomed nine newcomers  

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. ALBANY 

• Albany leads the series, which dates back to 1948, 73-37
• Since both schools joined the AE, Albany leads 26-17
• BU won 13 of the first 19 matchups as AE members (2002-10)
• Thanks to a 14-game win streak between 2001-17, UA has won 20 of last 24 head-to-head
• BU swept the season series last year (first time in 13 years), winning 65-54 in Troy (Albany used Hudson Valley CC as its home court) and 80-66 three weeks later in Vestal
• BU has won three of the last four meetings after Albany had won five straight between 2018-20
• The road team has won five of the last seven games
• At Albany, BU is 10-34 all-time but has won the last two
• Fifteen of the last 16 games have been decided by nine or more pts
• The teams have played at all three NCAA divisional levels and joined the America East in the same year (2001-02)
• The first meeting between the two schools was in 1948-49 (a 76-67 Binghamton win) 

COMEBACK BID FALLS SHORT IN AMERICA EAST OPENER 
The Bearcats nearly turned around a 24-point second-half deficit Thursday night at Bryant but came up short in a 77-69 loss. Binghamton missed its first 12 3-point attempts, trailed by 19 at the half and lacked polish before embarking on a 20-7 run that brought the margin back to six in the closing minute. The Bearcats netted 15 points in the final two minutes to keep the outcome in doubt. BU was hampered by a season-low 34% shooting, including 3-for-19 from 3-point range (16%). Nehemiah Benson (14 of his team-high 21 pts. in second half) and Tymu Chenery (11 of his 16 pts.) sparked the second-half charge, which was aided by Bryant hitting only eight field goals and going 0-for-12 from beyond the arc in the second half. For the game, the Bearcats pulled down a record 22 offensive rebounds and were +22 on the glass to post their second-most total rebounds in program history (57). 

BENSON COMING UP BIG
Senior forward Nehemiah Benson is coming off a career-high 21-point showing at Bryant (in just 17 foul-plaqued minutes). He's started seven of the last eight games and has been the team's most consistent frontcourt presence. In his last nine games, Benson is averaging 12.6 points and 5.1 rebounds. He leads the America East in field goal percentage (65.6%).  

TORRENCE LEADS AMERICA EAST, RANKS 4TH IN NCAA IN ASSISTS 
Graduate guard Symir Torrence has moved near the top of the nation in assists. With at least five assists in every game this season and seven against Bryant on Thursday, he now ranks fourth in the country (7.1/game). That average also leads the America East by nearly two per game. Sam Sessoms holds the BU Division I record for season assist average (4.8 in 2019-20). Torrence also leads BU in rebounding (6.1) and is third in scoring (8.9). He is one of just two NCAA players averaging 6-6-6 (pts-rebs-assts). The other is Tristen Newton of UConn (15.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 6.0 apg). 

BALANCED SCORING, REBOUNDING 
Binghamton has six players averaging 7.0 or more points. By comparison, last season's team only had four in that range. Six different players have led the team in game scoring this season (Chenery 7, Ashe 2, Balogun 2, Benson, Walker, Walsh). Seven different players have been the top rebounder.  

WALSH NAMED AMERICA EAST ROOKIE OF WEEK
Freshman forward Gavin Walsh earned America East Rookie of the Week honors on Jan. 2 after totaling a season-high 19 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the win over Marywood. It was Walsh's first collegiate weekly honor and he now joins teammate Evan Ashe (Nov. 13) as a ROW recipient. 

TORRENCE AND BENSON ARE AMERICA EAST LEADERS 
Senior forward Nehemiah Benson leads the America East in field goal percentage (65.6%), joining graduate guard Symir Torrence as conference stat leaders. Senior guard Tymu Chenery is fourth in blocks (1.8), eighth in scoring (14.9) and ninth in field goal percentage (50.3%).  

BEARCATS PROTECTING THE RIM
Binghamton ranks second in the America East and 52nd in the country with 61 blocks (4.6/game). The Bearcats also are second in the AE in rebound margin (+6.5) and rank 14th in the nation in defensive rebounds (29.5/game) and 27th in the nation in total rebs (40.9).   

NOTABLE TEAM TRENDS
The Bearcats are 8-0 when outshooting opponents and 7-0 when holding opponents to under 40% shooting. Binghamton is 7-2 when holding the rebounding edge. In scoring, BU is 9-3 when putting at least three players in double figures. When BU holds its opponent under 70, it is 7-0. Binghamton has held a halftime lead in nine of 14 games and is 8-1 in those games.   

CHALLENGING SCHEDULE TO OPEN AE PLAY
Three of BU's first four America East games come against teams picked to finish in the top-three in the Coaches' Preseason Poll. Bryant (3rd), Vermont (1st) and UMass Lowell (2nd) await the Bearcats, who also have a road game at longtime SUNY Rival UAlbany to complete the quartet of tough games. Four of the team's first six games are on the road.