VESTAL, N.Y. - Having capped the first half of conference play with a win, Binghamton men's basketball begins its final eight-game stretch with a pair of road games against first-place teams. The Bearcats' (5-18, 1-7 America East) first stop will be in Baltimore with a Thursday night test against UMBC (13-8, 6-2 AE). The teams will tip at 6 p.m. at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. 

Binghamton sits two games out of a playoff spot but its win over Bryant last Thursday gives Bing an early tiebreak edge. The Bearcats will open February by playing four of their first six games on the road. After Thursday night's game at UMBC, Binghamton travels to Newark for a Saturday afternoon contest at NJIT, a surprising first-place team. 

Junior point guard Jeremiah Quigley (13.5 ppg., 6.4 apg.) and junior forward Zyier Beverly (12.2 ppg., 5.2 rpg.) pace the Bearcats, who continue to battle through a number of season-ending injuries that leads the entire nation.  

ABOUT UMBC
• Sit in three-way tie for first place at halfway point
• Have won four of last five and seven of nine
• Coming off 68-65 win at UAlbany on Saturday
• Are 8-2 at home this season (5-6 on road)
• Picked seventh in the Coaches' Preseason Poll but did have one player on the Preseason All-Conference team (Josh Odunowo)
• Placed eighth last season at 5-11 (13-19 overall)
• Balanced offense with four players averaging double figures — all between 10-14 ppg.
• Shooting league-high 46% in conference play
• Lead AE in 3-point percentage (35%) and hit 8.0 per game

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UMBC
• On the strength of seven wins in the last 10 meetings, UMBC leads the series 27-22
• UMBC posted a 78-60 win in Vestal on Jan. 19
• In that game, Visiting UMBC stretched a 12-point halftime lead with 63 percent shooting in the second half. The Bearcats led by five early on before UMBC went on a 20-5 run to take control midway through the first half. Binghamton drew no closer than 11 points throughout the second half. Senior guard Wes Peterson, Jr. and junior forward Zyier Beverly paced the Bearcats with 18 points apiece
• The teams have split the season series in each of the last three years, with the road team winning half the games. The home team won both games last year.
• In Baltimore UMBC leads 16-8
• Average margin of victory in 5 of the last 6 games is 5 points
• Points come easier in this series than other AE matchups. In the last seven years, the winning team has average 77 points.

RALLY PAST BRYANT LEADS INTO BYE WEEKEND
The Bearcats got on the board in conference play with a 63-60 come-from-behind win over visiting Bryant last Thursday. Binghamton closed the game with a 10-0 run to finish the month of January with a much-needed win. The game marked the halfway point in the America East slate and also gave Bing a lift and much-needed rest with its bye weekend. Point guard Jeremiah Quigley tallied eight of his team-high 21 points in the final five minutes as the Bearcats rallied.    

QUIGLEY LEADS AE IN ASSISTS, IS 7TH IN SCORING
Junior point guard Jeremiah Quigley continues to lead the America East in assists (6.4/game) and ranks seventh in scoring (13.5 ppg.). Quigley ranks 17th in the country in assists and has registered 8+ assists eight times this season. Former PG Symir Torrence averaged a school-record 7.2 assists in 2023-24 (5th in NCAA).  

BEVERLY RANKS THIRD IN AE 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 21.2 (league average is 15). He also ranks ninth in wins share (1.8). In traditional stats, Beverly ranks second in FG% (63%), fifth in blocks (1.5), eighth in rebounding (5.2) and 13th in scoring (12.2).  

PETERSON WITH CAREER GAME AT UNH
Senior guard Wes Peterson, Jr. poured in a career-high 28 points in 54 minutes at UNH (most minutes any NCAA player has played in a game this season). Peterson had 10 points in the first half, tallied all seven Bing points in the first overtime and wound up with 13 points in the three extra periods. The big game gives Peterson 46 points in his last two games (18 vs. UMBC). It's his second 20+ point game of the season.
   
WALK (A SEASON) IN OUR SHOES
The shorthanded Bearcats will get no sympathy from opponents but to appreciate the unprecedented injuries, each opponent should:
1. Remove 46% of its roster (6 of 13 scholarship players)
2. Make sure to take away three starters
3. Wipe out team's top perimeter defender (Evan Ashe)
4. Remove the consensus all-conference center (Demetrius Lilley), who led AE in rebounds and was No. 2 in scoring before injury
5. Use 12 different starting lineups with no player starting all of them
6. Use a 7-8 player rotation for final 2+ months of season
7. Don't practice 5-on-5 after August because of volume of injuries

TRIPLE OVERTIME GAME AT UNH
Ahead of the big snowstorm that swept across the country on Jan. 24-25, the Bearcats endured a tough two-game, four-day road trip to UNH and Maine. On Jan. 22, Bing and UNH engaged in a 55-minute contest that wound up in the hosts' favor 88-82. It was the first triple overtime game for the Bearcats in 29 years and second-longest in school history. Binghamton led for more than 40 minutes and had an 18-point second-half cushion but came up short on the scoreboard and in the lineup, where three of its seven available scholarship players fouled out.

BALANCED SCORING
Binghamton had five players reach double digits at Maine on Jan. 24. In 16 of the 23 games, the Bearcats have had at least three players in double figures. Six different players have had the team-high in points and for the season, six players are averaging 9.0+ points. Last season, the team had four players at 9.0 ppg. and above.

BEARCATS RANK NO. 3 IN NCAA IN POINTS VIA FREE THROWS
Led by junior guard Jeremiah Quigley (93 makes, 78%), Binghamton is getting to the free throw line and converting points. The Bearcats rank six in the entire nation in percentage of points from free throws with 25.6% of their points coming at the line. As a team, Bing leads the America East in free throw makes (381) and percentage (75%).