VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball will renew acquaintances with its oldest rival when the "Colonials" host UAlbany on "Throwback" Saturday at the Events Center. Tip is at 2 p.m. at Dr. Bai Lee Court. The Weis Markets "Pack the House" game is expected to draw a large crowd and they will see the Bearcats wearing retro Colonials jerseys for the second straight season to mark the game promotion.  

The matchup is No. 113 between the two schools, who sport identical overall (9-10) and conference (1-3) records. The rivaly dates back to 1948 and the programs have met as NCAA Division III, II and now I members. 

ABOUT UALBANY 
• Coming off 89-79 home loss to Bryant on Thursday — team's third loss in last four and seventh in last 10
• Senior forward Cacper Klaczek had 21 pts. and 10 rebs. but Bryant shot 51% and put five in double figures to win slugfest
• Danes began AE play with four-point loss to UMass Lowell, four-point win at UNH and 21-point loss at Maine
• On season, UA is scoring 75 a game and giving up 75
• Picked to finish seventh (one spot behind BU) in the Preseason Poll
• Loaded with newcomers (7 transfers, 3 freshmen)
• Six players back, led by all-conference guard Amar'e Marshall (13.7 ppg.)
• Hoist an average of 22 3-pointers a game (make 31%, 8th of 9 AE)  
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UALBANY 
•    Albany leads the series, which dates back to 1948, 76-36
•    Last year they split the season series with each team winning by double digits on its home floor
•    Last Jan. 13 in Albany, the Great Danes built a 10-point halftime lead en route to a 95-75 win at Broadview Center. Binghamton outshot UAlbany but the Great Danes benefited from 24 more shot attempts. Albany used 17 offensive rebounds and 14 BU turnovers to score the most points BU has surrendered to a conference opponent in six years.
•    In the return game Feb. 8 at the Events Center, Binghamton used an 11-0 second-half run to stretch a single-digit lead and pull away for a 69-57 win. The team wore "Colonials" jerseys for the "Throwback Game" promotion, which drew 2,543 fans. 
•    Since both schools joined the AE, Albany leads 27-18
•    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 26 head-to-head
•    BU swept the season series in 2022-23 (first time in 13 years)
•    The road team has split the last 10 games
•    In Vestal, BU is 20-40 all-time and has dropped 10 of the last 13
•    17 of the last 18 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) 

BETTER THAN MOST AT PATRICK GYM
Binghamton made its annual trek to Burlington and played the Catamounts closer than it has in 16 years on Thursday, falling 72-64. Vermont is 48-4 vs. the America East in the last three years and despite being seemingly more vulnerable this year, UVM had enough to run its head-to-head win streak to 22 games. Fifteen Bearcat turnovers were the difference in this one, resulting directly in 23 UVM points. It marked just the second time this season Binghamton has shot 50% or better and lost (Maine).      

CHENERY LIGHTS UP STAT SHEET
Graduate guard Tymu Chenery has been a steady stat leader the entire season but has ratcheted it up the last three games. In that recent stretch, he is averaging 19.3 points on 63% shooting. Chenery is shooting 62% from 3-point range and is chipping in 4.7 assists and 2.3 blocks during the three-game span. Currently he ranks fifth in the AE in blocks (1.3), seventh in assists (3.5), eighth in FG% (49%) and 10th in scoring (14.4) and he's logging the third-most minutes (35/game).     

BALANCED SCORING
Binghamton has FIVE players scoring in double figures — most in the America East. The five double-digit scorers are separated by just 4.3 points: Tymu Chenery (14.4) to Ben Callahan-Gold (10.1). That quintet is accounting for 82% of the team's scoring and is shooting 49%, while the remaining eight players who have seen time are shooting 39%.  

WINNING NON-CONFERENCE MARK
With its eight wins in Nov.-Dec., Binghamton produced a second straight winning record in non-conference play. The team went 8-5 last season, giving the Bearcats back-to-back above-.500 seasons in non-conference play for the first time in seven years. The eight wins are the second-highest non-conference total in the team's 24-year Division I era (9 wins in 2016-17 and 2017-18).  

PLUS/MINUS LEADERS
Graduate forward Ben Callahan-Gold is the team's top plus/minus man at +12. Graduate guard Tymu Chenery is at +5 and sophomore forward Gavin Walsh is even.  

BENIGNI RETURNS TO LINEUP
Graduate guard Jackson Benigni has played back-to-back games with increasing minutes after returning from an injury that cost him more than six weeks. Benigni played 20 minutes at UNH and then drew 27 minutes Thursday at Vermont. He led the team with seven rebounds against UVM and ran the point in the absence of injured point guards Wes Peterson and Jayden Lemond. Benigni, who averaged 11.3 points at Stonehill last season, played the first two games of the season (Penn State, Oneonta) before suffering an injury. He was expected to be in contention for a starting backcourt role this year and perhaps more importantly, a vocal, veteran leader.  

WALSH STILL TOPS IN AE REBOUNDING
Sophomore forward Gavin Walsh continues to lead the America East in rebounding (10.2) by more than two boards per game over Max Brooks of UMass Lowell (8.1). Walsh ranks fifth in the country in defensive rebounds (7.9/game), eighth in total rebounds (183) and 13th in rebounds per game. He also leads the conference and ranks 22nd in the nation with seventh double-doubles, thanks to a stretch of four consecutive (one shy of the school record). Walsh is averaging a double-double for the season (10.6 ppg., 10.2 rpg.). The last Bearcat to make a run at averaging a double-double for the season was all-conference freshman Jordan Reed in 2012-13. Reed averaged 16.6 points and a school-record 9.5 rebounds.   

WALKER DIALED IN
In his second season as a Bearcat, senior guard Chris Walker has raised his offensive statistics dramatically. Points have more than doubled (5.9 to 12.1 ppg.), field goal percentage is up from 33% to 54% and 3-point shooting is up from 28% to 51%. He has already surpassed his season 3-point total from last season (35 this year, 29 last year) with 12+ games remaining. In his last 12 games (all starts), Walker is averaging 15.3 points and has hit the 20-point mark a team-high four times. During that 12-game stretch, he is shooting 57% from the field, 56% from 3-point range, and 74% from the line. He was the America East Player of the Week on Dec. 9.    

SLIMMED DOWN ROTATION
With conference play underway, head coach Levell Sanders has shortened up his rotation with the starters getting heavy minutes. In the first four AE games, the starting unit is averaging 31 minutes per game and is scoring 84% of the points (62 pts./game). In three of the four conference games, Sanders has used just two players off the bench.   

BEARCATS NEAR TOP OF AMERICA EAST RANKINGS
Binghamton is asserting itself in the conference rankings during the first half of the season. The Bearcats rank second in 3-point percentage (38%) and third in field goal shooting (47%), rebound margin (+1.8) and defending the 3-pointer (31%). Individually, aside from Gavin Walsh's dominance on the glass, senior forward Nehemiah Benson is third in FG% (58%) and classmate Chris Walker is fifth (54%). Graduate guard Tymu Chenery is among the top-10 in blocks (5th, 1.3), assists (7th, 3.5) and field goal percentage (8th, 49%). Graduate forward Ben Callahan-Gold is fourth in 3-pointers per game (2.4) and sixth in 3-point accuracy (40%).  

CALLAHAN-GOLD FAMILY HAS LAST LAUGH
Graduate forward and Manhattan native Ben Callahan-Gold has quickly made his impact at Binghamton after playing the previous four years at Division III power Trinity. An added bonus has been the addition of Ben's famous mother, Judy Gold, who is a stand-up comedian, actor, podcaster and television writer. She won two Daytime Emmy Awards for her work as a writer and producer on The Rosie O'Donnell Show. Judy hosts the podcast "It's Judy's Show with Judy Gold." Gold's stand-up specials have aired on Comedy Central, LOGO, and HBO and she has made appearances on The Tonight Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and has been a guest on The View, The Today Show, The Drew Barrymore Show, and a free-speech advocate on MSNBC, CNN and NewsNation. 

SHOOT 45%, REACH 70 POINTS ... WIN
This year, when the Bearcats reach 70 points on offense, they are 8-2 and when they don't, they are 1-8. The trend is a continuation from last season, when 70 became a line of demarcation. Last season when BU held its opponent under 70 (in regulation), it was 12-2. When opponents reached the 70-point mark, BU was 3-12. When the Bearcats scored 70 or more points (in regulation), they were 10-4. Under 70 they were 5-10. This season, when the Bearcats shoot 45% or higher, they are 9-3. When shooting below that threshold, they are 0-7.  

CALLAHAN-GOLD DIALED IN FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Binghamton, which averaged just five 3-pointers last season (8th in AE), focused on long-range firepower in its recruiting class. Graduate forward Ben Callahan-Gold made 88 3-pointers for Trinity last season, helping the D3 power reach the NCAA semifinals. Through 17 games, he ranks fourth in the America East with 2.4 "3s" a game (on 40% accuracy, 6th in AE). Callahan-Gold has nine games with three or more 3-pointers, including a 4-for-8 showing at Vermont. With Callahan-Gold leading the way, Binghamton is also averaging 7.5 3-pointers per game, which ranks fifth in the conference. After shooting 31% from beyond the arc last season, the Bearcats are at 38% this season, which ranks second in the AE and 37th in the nation.