VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball looks to continue its surge when the Bearcats (9-7, 1-0 America East) begin a two-game road trip at Maine (8-8, 0-1 AE) Thursday night. The teams tip at 6 p.m. at The Pit at Memorial Gymnasium. 

Binghamton has won seven of its last eight and opened conference play with a strong 87-82 home win over UMBC last Saturday. The Bearcats close their five-day road trip with a stop in Durham to face New Hampshire on Saturday. 

ABOUT MAINE
• Opened conference play with 81-55 loss at Bryant on Saturday
• Have dropped three in a row and four of last six
• Half of the team's losses (4 of 8) have been by four or fewer points
• Graduate guard Kellen Tynes is the two-time reigning America East Defensive Player of the Year and currently is third in the NCAA with 3.1 steals per game
• Picked fourth in AE Preseason Poll — highest projection in 14 years
• After non-conference play, Maine had the second-best NCAA NET Rating (#200) of any America East school (behind UMass Lowell)
• Rank second in AE in defense (67.4 pts. allowed) and force 15.4 turnovers per game, which leads the conference
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MAINE
• Series is tied 23-23
• Binghamton swept the season series last year, winning 51-50 on the road and 76-74 (ot) in Vestal
• Teams have alternated sweeping season series in each of the last SIX years, with the Bearcats winning in 2019, 2022 and 2024 and Maine winning in 2018, 2020 and 2023 (minus 2021 COVID season when they didn't play each other)
• The last three games have been decided by four or fewer points
• On the road, Binghamton is 7-15 in the series (16-7 at home)
• Last Jan. 27 in Bangor, Symir Torrence hit a one-handed 12-foot floater with 4.8 seconds left to lift Binghamton to a 51-50 win at the Cross Insurance Center. The Bearcats led for 36+ minutes in the contest but trailed 50-49 after Maine sank a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining. Torrence drove the right side of the lane and swished the game-winner. Maine's last-ditch 3-point attempt was off the side of the rim at the buzzer.
• In the return game at the Events Center on Feb. 29, Binghamton made 4-of-6 shots in overtime and sank 6-of-8 free throws to hold off visiting Maine. Armon Harried produced 16 points, eight rebounds and a career-high seven assists in the full 45 minutes. Gavin Walsh scored a game-high 17 points with nine rebounds.

STRONG FINISH YIELDS OPENING WIN OVER UMBC
Binghamton opened conference play with a hard-fought 87-82 home win over UMBC Saturday at the Events Center. Senior guard Chris Walker scored 13 of his team-high 21 points in the closing seven minutes. Walker sparked a game-deciding 18-5 second-half run that turned a 64-60 Retrievers lead with 9:54 left into a 78-69 Bearcat lead. Binghamton sealed the win by making 5-of-6 free throws in the final 2:06. All five starters were in double figures and the 87 points were a season high.

NEARLY IDENTICAL TEAM STATS IN OPENER
Binghamton and UMBC each shot 32-for-58 (55%) in Saturday's opener. The winning edge came via free throws, where typically struggling BU made 17-of-21 (81%). The teams each tallied 48 points in the paint.

WINNING WAYS
The Bearcats have won seven of their last eight games after starting the season 2-6. The team had its six-game win streak snapped at Marist on Dec. 29 but started another with the win over UMBC. During the win streak, Bing shot 50% as a team (43% from 3-point) and averaged 75.7 points on offense.

WALSH AMERICA EAST PLAYER OF WEEK AFTER ANOTHER HUGE GAME
Sophomore forward Gavin Walsh produced yet another monster game in the win over UMBC. Walsh piled up 18 points and 17 rebounds — his league-leading sixth double-double of the season. It also was Walsh's third game with 17 or more rebounds — the most such games in the NCAA. Walsh nearly had a double-double by halftime with 12 points and nine rebounds. He leads the America East in rebounding (10.5) and is currently averaging a double-double (10.1 ppg.).  

BALANCED SCORING
Binghamton has FIVE players scoring in double figures — the only America East team to have that many. The five are separated by just 3.4 points from Tymu Chenery (13.5) to Gavin Walsh (10.1). In the win over UMBC, all five Bearcat starters reached double figures — the first time this season. The five starters accounted for 77 of BU's 87 points. When Binghamton has three or more players score in double digits, the team is 9-3.

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).  

TOP-FOUR SPOT, HOME PLAYOFF GAME IS TARGET
As the 16-game conference slate opens, Binghamton will begin its quest for a top-four regular season spot with the prize being a home quarterfinal game on March 8. The last time BU hosted a home playoff game was the 2009 championship game, which No. 1 BU won 61-51 over No. 6 UMBC. The last time the Bearcats hosted a quarterfinal game was in 2006, when No. 2 BU toppled No. 7 Maine, 71-62. Binghamton is 10-17 all-time in the America East tournament (3-3 home).

HISTORY SAYS YOU NEED NINE CONFERENCE WINS TO BE IN TOP-4 ... EXCEPT LAST SEASON
Tracking the win-loss records relative to the final standings over the last 15 years (since BU last hosted a playoff game) yields an average number of wins required to finish among the top-4 and secure at least one home playoff game. The average wins (since 2009) of the fourth-place America East finisher is 9+. Third-place finishers have averaged 10+ wins. Second-place teams have won 11+ games and the regular season champion has averaged 14+ wins. So a 9-7 BU record (two-game improvement over last season) would likely put the Bearcats in the mix for a top-four spot, with tiebreakers always in play to sort out the seeds. Last season was a slight aberration of the data with the top-3 teams going a combined 37-11 to pull away. The No. 4 tournament seed went to UNH, who finished in a three-way tie with the Bearcats and Maine at 7-9.  

MORE EVENLY-MATCHED FOES TO KICK OFF AMERICA EAST SLATE
Last year, the Bearcats had an unforgiving schedule to open league play. They had to face the top three teams — both in the Preseason Poll and final standings — Vermont, Bryant, UMass Lowell in the team's first four games. That gauntlet began a tough 0-5 start that pinned Binghamton down in the standings. This season, however, the Bearcats open with games against Preseason #5 (UMBC), #4 (Maine) and #9 (UNH), which presents an opportunity to establish some early momentum before a challenging 15-day stretch (Jan. 16-30) that includes two games against three-time reigning champion Vermont and a road game at Preseason #3 Bryant.  

WALSH SETS REBOUNDING RECORD WITH 20 BOARDS AT ARMY
Six weeks after tying the school record (Div. I era) with 19 boards at Fordham, sophomore forward Gavin Walsh secured the record himself with 20 rebounds at Army on Dec. 21. Walsh had 10 in each half and wound up with three offensive and 17 defensive boards to set the new standard.  

PLUS-MINUS LEADERS
Sophomore forward Gavin Walsh leads the team with a +31 plus/minus rating. Graduate guard Tymu Chenery is at +15 and graduate forward Ben Callahan-Gold is at +14.

BENIGNI CLOSE TO RETURNING
Graduate guard Jackson Benigni is close to returning to action after missing the last 6+ weeks with injury. 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 role this year as a 2-guard and perhaps more importantly, a vocal, veteran leader.

WALSH HAS COMMANDING AMERICA EAST REBOUNDING LEAD
Sophomore forward Gavin Walsh continues to lead the America East in rebounding (10.5) by more than two boards per game over Max Brooks of UMass Lowell (7.9). Walsh ranks SECOND in the country in defensive rebounds (8.4/game), seventh in total rebounds (158) and 10th in rebounds per game. He also leads the conference and ranks 20th in the nation with sixth double-doubles, thanks to a stretch of four consecutive (one shy of the school record). Walsh is averaging a double-double for the season (10.1 ppg., 10.5 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 AS STARTER
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 12.6 ppg.), field goal percentage is up from 33% to 55% and 3-point shooting is up from 28% to 51%. He has already surpassed his season 3-point total from last season (30 this year, 29 last year) with half the season remaining. In his last nine games (all starts), Walker is averaging 17.3 points and has hit the 20-point mark a team-high four times. During that nine-game stretch, he is shooting a sizzling 59% from the field, 57% from 3-point range, and 72% from the line. He was the America East Player of the Week on Dec. 9.    

PETERSON COMING OFF BEST GAME OF SEASON AGAINST UMBC
Senior point guard Wes Peterson, Jr. had his most productive game as a Bearcat in Saturday's win over UMBC. Peterson contributed a career-high 14 points (5-of-9 FG) with four rebounds. More importantly, he played 36 minutes and didn't have a turnover. For the season, Peterson is shooting 62% inside the arc (21-for-34) and 51% overall. Peterson's insertion into the starting lineup (Dec. 1 at Lafayette) has coincided with a 6-1 stretch for the Bearcats.

SLIMMED DOWN ROTATION
In six of the last eight games, head coach Levell Sanders has used eight or fewer players. In the AE-opening win over UMBC, Binghamton tied its season low by playing just seven, with only sophomore guard Evan Ashe (28 min.) and graduate forward Ben Callahan-Gold (16 min.) entering the game after the starting group of Peterson-Chenery-Walker-Walsh-Benson (5-1 as a group).

BEARCATS NEAR TOP OF AMERICA EAST RANKINGS
Binghamton is asserting itself in the conference rankings during the first half of the season. The Bearcats lead the America East in defending against the 3-pointer (29%) and rank second in field goal percentage defense (42%) and 3-point accuracy (38%). Binghamton is  third in 3-pointers per game (7.7), field goal shooting (46%) and rebound margin (+2.0). Individually, aside from Gavin Walsh's dominance on the glass, senior forward Nehemiah Benson (58%) and classmate Chris Walker (55%) are 3-4 in field goal percentage. Graduate forward Ben Callahan-Gold is fourth in 3-pointers per game (2.5) and fifth in 3-point accuracy (.426).  

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%, GET TO 70 POINTS ... WIN
This year, when the Bearcats reach 70 points on offense, they are 8-0 and when they don't, they are 1-7. 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 9-1. When shooting below that threshold, they are 0-6.  

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 14 games, he ranks fourth in the America East with 2.5 "3s" a game (on 43% accuracy, 4th in AE and 48th in NCAA). Callahan-Gold has had eight games with three or more 3-pointers. With Callahan-Gold leading the way, Binghamton is also averaging 7.7 3-pointers per game, which ranks third in the conference. After shooting 31% from beyond the arc last season, the Bearcats are at 38% this season.