VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball begins an important stretch of three straight at home on Thursday when the Bearcats (10-11, 2-6 America East) host longtime SUNY rival UAlbany (11-12, 3-5 AE). Tip is 6:07 p.m. at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center.

The "Throwback" game begins the second half of the conference slate for the Bearcats, who currently sit in seventh place but are just one game out of fifth. Free Colonials Shirts will be given out to the first 1,000 fans. As part of the event theme, BU will wear Colonials' jerseys in honor of the program's pre-Division I era, which ran until 2001. Binghamton's nickname was the Colonials through the 1998-99 academic year.

The Bearcats have won two of their last three games. Senior guard Tymu Chenery leads three double-digit scorers with a 14.4 average. Graduate forward Armon Harried is averaging 10.3 points and 5.8 rebounds. Graduate point guard Symir Torrence ranks third in the nation in assists (7.3/game) and also leads the team in rebounding (6.0).  
 
ABOUT UALBANY

• Coming off wild 114-102 home loss vs. UMBC on Saturday
• In that game, former Bearcat Tyler Bertram set a UA record with 10 three-pointers (36 pts.) but UA surrendered 69 UMBC second-half points (65% shooting) in the offensive shootout
• Are averaging 82 points in America East play but giving up 87
• Have lost five of their last six after a home win over BU on Jan. 13
• Exceeded last season's win total (8) in early January
• Own America East wins over UNH, NJIT and BU
• Starting lineup features four underclassmen
• Big man Jonathan Beagle leads the America East in rebounding (9.5) and is 15th in scoring (12.5)
• Were picked to finish seventh (of nine) in Coaches' Preseason Poll
• Have two returning starters and six letterwinners back from 8-23 team; welcomed nine newcomers  

 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UALBANY

• Albany leads the series, which dates back to 1948, 74-37
• Last month, UA won the first game on Jan. 13, 95-75 in Albany
• In that game, UA built a 10-point halftime lead and tallied the most points a BU AE opponent has scored in six years. BU outshot UAlbany but the Great Danes benefited from 24 more shot attempts. Albany used 17 offensive rebounds and 14 BU turnovers to its advantage.
• Since both schools joined the AE, Albany leads 27-17
• 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 21 of last 25 head-to-head
• BU swept the season series last year (first time in 13 years)
• The road team has won five of the last eight games
• In Vestal, BU is 19-40 all-time and has dropped 10 of the last 12
• Sixteen of the last 17 games have been decided by nine or more points
• 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)

HALFWAY THROUGH CONFERENCE SLATE
The Vermont game signified the official halfway point of the conference season and BU is in a two-way tie for seventh place in the standings (2-6). While not where the Bearcats had hoped to be, the record is skewed slightly since BU has played unbeaten conference leader Vermont twice before it even played UMBC (2-6) once. Binghamton has five of its remaining eight league games at home, where BU is 7-2 this season.  

DONE WITH VERMONT ... FOR NOW
Binghamton finished up its season series with Vermont on Saturday, losing 62-49. It was BU's 21st consecutive loss to the formidable Catamounts. While the season series is complete, there is still a chance the teams could meet in the postseason, as has been the case in each of the last two years. In back-to-back seasons, BU has lost to Vermont in the America East semifinals at Patrick Gym.  

SHORTENED UP ROTATION
The Bearcats used just seven players in the Vermont game, equaling their lowest number of the season. In the last four games, BU (2-2) has used either seven or eight players only. In the first four conference games, BU used at least nine in each game.

CHENERY RETURNS TO LINEUP
Senior guard and leading scorer Tymu Chenery returned from a three-game injury absence against NJIT on Feb. 1 and immediately made an impact with 12 points in 14 minutes off the bench. Chenery hit 5-of-10 from the field in BU's nine-point win. He has been having his finest collegiate season, averaging 14.4 points on 51% shooting. In his last 16 games, Chenery is averaging 16.1 points with 11 double-digit games, including seven straight. He has been BU's top scorer eight times and is logging 28 minutes a game.  

HARRIED STEPPING UP PRODUCTION IN AMERICA EAST PLAY
Graduate forward Armon Harried has jumped his stats during America East play. In the seven conference games, Harried is averaging 12.9 points and 8.0 rebounds (8th in AE). His scoring average is four points higher than it was during non-conference play (8.7) and his rebound average is nearly double his non-conference mark (4.5).  

TORRENCE LEADS AMERICA EAST, MOVES UP TO 3RD 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 nine in back-to-back games, he now ranks third in the country (7.3/game). He has produced eight or more assists nine times this season. That 7.3 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 (6.0, 9th in AE) and is fourth in scoring (8.6). He is the only player in the country averaging 8-6-6 (pts-rebs-assts).

BU ONE OF BEST AMERICA EAST TEAMS SCORING INSIDE ARC
Despite its struggles from 3-point range (29%, last in AE), BU ranks third in the America East in overall field goal percentage (46%) and also is third in percentage inside the arc. The Bearcats are shooting 53% inside the arc, trailing only unbeaten conference leader Vermont (57%) and second-place UMass Lowell (56%).