VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball (5-21, 1-10 America East) welcomes its oldest rival when UAlbany (8-17, 4-6 AE) comes to town for a Saturday matinee at the Events Center. Tip-off between the Bearcats and Great Danes is set for 4 p.m.

The Bearcats will play their second game in less than three days after absorbing a 73-65 setback to visiting Vermont Thursday night. 

There are five regular-season games remaining and Binghamton sits three back of a playoff spot, so each remaining game carries big implications. 

ABOUT UALBANY 
•    Coming off a bye Thursday so haven't played since losing at home to UMass Lowell 89-79 last Saturday
•    Have dropped five of their last six games after winning three straight 
•    Picked to finish tied for second in preseason poll – highest projection in eight years
•    All-Rookie Team selection and preseason all-conference selection Amir Lindsey leads conference in scoring (17.2 ppg.)
•    Start two players 6-foot-9 and taller
•    Are shooting 46% in conference play (2nd in AE)
•    Score 68 and give up 68 vs. conference opponents
•    Returned five lettermen but no starters from 17-16 team that went 8-8 in AE, good for fourth place. That team lost to eventual champion Bryant in the semifinals

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UALBANY
•    Albany leads the series, which dates back to 1948, 79-37
•    Albany won the first meeting this season back on Jan. 15, 69-53
•    In that game, UAlbany took the second-half lead with a 17-6 run. After Bing brought it back to six points, the Great Danes closed the game with a 15-5 run. UAlbany scored 42 points in the pivotal second half.
•    Since both schools joined the America East, Albany leads 30-19
•    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 23 of last 29 head-to-head
•    The road team has won seven of the last 14 games
•    In Vestal, UAlbany leads 39-22, though teams have split the last 4
•    The teams have squared off 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)
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ANOTHER NARROW SETBACK TO VERMONT
For the second time this season, Binghamton played conference kingpin Vermont to the closing minute only to fall sport. On Thursday, the visiting Catamounts prevailed 73-65, thanks to a 15-5 game-ending run. Five weeks earlier, UVM won 60-59 in Burlington. 

QUIGLEY TOPS AMERICA EAST IN ASSISTS, NOW 5TH IN SCORING
Junior point guard Jeremiah Quigley continues to lead the America East in assists (6.4/game) and has moved up to fifth in scoring (13.8 ppg.). Quigley ranks 16th in the country in assists.    

QUIGLEY APPROACHING ASSIST RECORD
Junior point guard Jeremiah Quigley has 160 assists this season. It's the second-highest mark in the school's 25-year D-I history. Quigley is 13 assists away from tying the school record of 173 set by Symir Torrence in 2023-24. Torrence will still hold the record for assist average (7.2).

BEVERLY RANKS THIRD IN CONFERENCE IN EFFICIENCY
Junior forward Zyier Beverly ranks third among all America East players in Player Efficiency Rating (sports-reference.com). The rating is based on per-minute production and Beverly has a rating of 20.4 (league average is 15). In traditional stats, Beverly ranks second in FG% (61%), fifth in blocks (1.3), ninth in rebounding (5.1) and 14th in scoring (11.9).