Albany (1-1) (KenPom: 166, RPI: 19)
Opponents
11/11 - @ Penn State, W 87-81
11/14 - @ Cincinnati, L 51-74
Starting Lineup
G David Nichols
G Marqueese Grayson
G Joe Cremo
F Greig Stire
F Mike Rowley
Albany kicked off their season on Friday November 11th with an 87-81 win at Penn State, a game that they led by as many as 19. Joe Cremo led the Great Danes with 22 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes of action. The Penn State trap did little to slow Albany throughout the contest and the Great Danes outrebounded the Nittany Lions 43-26. Albany led the contest for 32:54 of the 40 total minutes. Albany would finish the contest 7-14 from deep and 49.2% from the field overall. Their defense held Penn State to 9-25 from deep and 42.9% overall.
Following their trip to State College the Great Danes headed to Cincinnati where they would face the Bearcats. Just a two point game at halftime, Cincinnati would outscore the Great Danes 45-24 in the second half on the way to their 74-51 win. Cincinnati's length and quickness smothered Albany, forcing 22 total turnovers leading to 24 points off turnovers and 20 fast break points. David Nichols (13) and Joe Cremo (12) would be the only two Great Danes in double figures. As a team Albany would shoot 2-14 from three, with almost all of their shots being contested by the Cincinnati defense.
My take: It was a positive opening weekend for a team who spent it on the road facing opponents with much larger operating budgets. Albany has plenty of pieces that are able to contribute, they are however struggling to find some consistency at their third guard spot behind David Nichols and Joe Cremo.
Up Next: 11/16 vs SUNY Oneonta, 11/19 vs Grand Canyon at Mohegan Sun
Binghamton (1-1) (KenPom: 259, RPI: 141)
Opponents
11/11 - Cornell, W 68-62
11/14 - @ St. John’s, L 61-77
Starting Lineup(s)
11/11
G J.C. Show
G Everson Davis
G Marlon Beck II
F/C Dusan Perovic
F Thomas Bruce
11/14
G J.C. Show
G Marlon Beck II
G Timmy Rose
F/C Dusan Perovic
F Thomas Bruce
Binghamton opened their season hosting Cornell from the Ivy League on Friday November 11th. The Bearcats trailed Cornell 27-24 at the half before outscoring the Big Red 44-25 over the final 20 minutes. Binghamton was led in scoring by JC Show who poured in 23 points, with 16 of those coming in the second half. They held Cornell to 4-29 (13.8%) from deep and 34.9% overall. Although they struggled shooting in the first half (8-31, 25.8%), the Bearcats would find their stroke in the second half hitting 55.6% of their attempts.
For their second game of the season the Bearcats visited St. John’s of the Big East. The Bearcats would hold a three point lead early in the contest, but a St. John’s run would give the Red Storm a seven point lead by halftime. Binghamton was once again led in scoring by JC Show who would be the only Bearcat in double figures with 12 points. Five Binghamton players would score at least 8 points, while eight players would record at least 4. As a team they would shoot 37.3% overall and 34.5% from deep.
My Take: We still don’t know much about Binghamton being that they played both of these games without star forward Willie Rodriguez. I think most of their fans would sign up for a 1-1 record after 2 games without Wilfredo in the lineup. The win over Cornell is a nice one, especially without their star... they had lost by 17 at Cornell in OOC play last season.
Up Next: 11/16 vs CCSU, 11/18 @ VCU
Hartford (1-1) (KenPom: 329, RPI: 275)
Opponents
11/11 - CCSU, L 60-75
11/15 - Niagara, W 82-78 (OT)
Starting Lineup
G Jalen Ross
G Jason Dunne
G J.R. Lynch
F John Carroll
F George Blagojevic
Hartford hosted Central Connecticut State to open their season and fell by double digits thanks to poor shooting from deep (5-22, 22.7%) and allowing CCSU to out-rebound them 48-33. The Hawks were led in scoring by Jalen Ross (18 pts) and Jason Dunne (13 pts) as no other player reached double digits for them.
For their second matchup Hartford hosted Niagara from the MAAC for a 6:30 am ET tip on ESPN2. The Hawks controlled the game for the majority of it before Niagara got hot late. The Purple Eagles erased a 14 point lead over a 3 minute stretch late in the contest to tie it up at 68 with 1:22 left on the clock. Jalen Ross would hit a pair of late clutch free throws for Hartford before the game went to overtime. Jalen Ross led the Hawks with a career best 35 points, but it was Jason Dunne who carried Hartford in overtime with 8 points in bonus time.
My Take: When Pancake Thomas decided to depart as a grad transfer it completely changed the makeup of this team. The CCSU loss isn’t a pretty one, as they’ve managed to finish towards the very bottom of KenPom these past couple of seasons. Being able to regroup and win against Niagara in OT is nice, blowing a 14 point lead in 3 minutes isn’t. As John Carroll logs more game experience coming back from injury the Hawks will only get better.
Up Next: 11/15 vs Niagara, 11/16 vs Rider, 11/18 @ Drexel
UMASS Lowell (1-1) (KenPom: 271, RPI: 131)
Opponents
11/11 - @ UMASS, L 76-90
11/14 Wagner, W 87-76
Starting Lineup
G Ryan Jones
G Isaac White
G/F Stefan Borovac
F Jahad Thomas
F Tyler Livingston
UML opened their season visiting big brother UMass where things didn’t go as planned, albeit against a rather competent Minutemen lineup. The River Hawks opened up a 7-2 lead early, but the contest was mostly UMass from there. UML was led in scoring by Matt Harris who tallied 16 points, doing most of his damage from the free throw line and beyond the arc. UMass led 48-37 at the half, outscoring UML by 3 over the final 20 minutes. Poor three point shooting and turnovers hurt the River Hawks in this one was they finished 5-24 from deep, and with 28 turnovers in the contest.
In their second game UML would host Wagner, coming off of a big upset win over UCONN. Wagner would lead by 3 early, but it was pretty much River Hawks from that point on. UML would shoot 50% overall in the first half and 5-9 (55.6%) from deep on their way to an 11 point halftime lead. Wagner would dominate rebounding (+22), points in the paint (+12) and second chance points (+13) but UML held them to just 7-26 from three in the contest. Once again the game featured a ton of turnovers as Wagner gave the ball up 21 times while the River Hawks handed it over 19 times. UML was led in scoring by Isaac White who poured in 20 points on 4-7 shooting, doing most of his damage from the charity stripe (10-10).
My Take: Both games pretty much went as expected as UMass controlled the first contest, while UML was able to jump all over a Wagner team who may have had a hangover coming off of their UCONN win. The good news for the River Hawks is that they haven’t had to rely on Jahad Thomas to control the offensive load through their first two contests. The turnovers are the main concern with this unit through the first two games.
Up Next: 11/16 @ Indiana, 11/19 @ Fort Wayne, 11/21 @ Liberty
UMBC (2-0) (KenPom: 308, RPI: 179)
Opponents
11/11 - Hood, W 92-61
11/14 @ UMES, W 77-73
Starting Lineup
11/11
G Ben Grace
G Jairus Lyles
F Nolan Gerrity
F Joe Sherburne
F Will Darley
11/13
G K.J. Maura
G Jairus Lyles
F Nolan Gerrity
F Joe Sherburne
F Will Darley
UMBC started their season off hosting non-D1 Hood where they hoisted up 43 three point field goals, tying a school record with 17 made. To get a sense of how their offense ran, they shot 19 more three point field goals than two point field goals. The Retrievers were led in scoring by Jairus Lyles with 18 points while 5 other UMBC players reached double figures. Not much to learn from this one from a team facing inferior competition while chucking up so many deep balls.
Next UMBC would travel to Maryland Eastern Shore for an afternoon tip where they would get 47 combined points from Will Darley and Jairus Lyles. Darley did most of his damage from deep where he finished the game 5-6; while Lyles did his work towards the rim, getting to the free throw line 12 times-- making 8. UMBC led by 4 at the half, while both teams scored 42 points over the final 20 minutes. UMES shot better from the floor than UMBC in this one, while the Retrievers did their damage from the free throw line.
My Take: Ignore the first game against a lower level opponent where UMBC bombed away from deep. While UMES isn’t a good team, the road victory is a nice one as they got major offensive contributions from Darley and Lyles. Questions still remain with this team-- who will be their third scoring option and will they compete inside? They have a very soft early OOC schedule, good time to work out the kinks and answer these questions.
Up Next: 11/16 Delaware St., 11/19 Kennesaw St.
Maine (1-1) (KenPom: 333, RPI: 124)
Opponents
11/11 - @ Virginia Tech, L 67-80
11/13 @ Longwood, W 80-58
Starting Lineup
G Aaron Calixte
G Austin Howard
G Wes Myers
G Ilker Er
F/C Vincent Eze
Maine opened the season visiting a very good Virginia Tech team from the ACC. The Black Bears took an early 3-0 lead before Virginia Tech went on a 7-0 run. The game would be tied at 13 before an 11-0 Virginia Tech run opened it up. VT would lead by 10 at halftime, outscoring Maine 39-29 over the first 20 minutes. Overall Maine would shoot 35.8% from the field and 30% (9-30) from deep. The Black Bears were led in scoring by Wes Myers with 18 points--Myers also tallied a team high 8 rebounds. Turnovers and rebounding were pretty equal in the contest, promising for a Maine team that lost a lot of talent to transfers this offseason.
Maine used a big second half to win their second game of the season, a road tilt with Longwood. After trailing by 4 with just over 6 minutes left in the first half, Maine went into the break with a 4 point lead. The second half would belong to the Black Bears as they shot 47% (7-15) from deep, outscoring Longwood 47-29. Maine was led in scoring by Ilker Er with 16 points, while Wes Myers had 15 of his own. In total four Black Bear players would reach double figures on the way to their 80 point effort. Maine did a nice job taking care of the ball in this one as they only turned it over 7 times while forcing 16 Longwood turnovers.
My Take: Very nice start for a team who lost Vann and Little this offseason. They played VaTech well and did an excellent job of taking care of the ball against Longwood. Very interested to see how they compete in their upcoming games against Boston University and Northeastern which are nice early tests for a team fighting for respect.
Up Next: 11/19 Boston University, 11/20 Northeastern
New Hampshire (2-0) (KenPom: 160, RPI: 7)
Opponents
11/11 - Lesley, W 85-60
11/14 @ Temple, W 57-52
Starting Lineup
G Jaleen Smith
G Daniel Dion
G Jordan Reed
F Tanner Leissner
F David Watkins
UNH opened their season at home against non-D1 Lesley as Jaleen Smith recorded a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Not much to learn from this one as the Wildcats led 47-17 at the break on their way to a 85-60 victory. It’s a nice stat line from Smith regardless of the level of competition.
Their second matchup would be a good one as UNH headed south to Philadelphia to take on Temple. The Wildcats would hold the Owls to 2-14 (14%) from deep in the first half and 26% shooting overall as they took a 30-24 lead into the break. UNH was led in scoring by David Watkins with 15 points, while Tanner Leissner and Daniel Dion each added 12 of their own. While the Wildcats only forced 7 Temple turnovers and allowed 12 offensive rebounds, they held Temple to 30% shooting and 22% shooting from three on 27 attempts. UNH did most of their damage on their first shots as they only had 3 second chance points on 5 offensive rebounds.
My Take: Ignore the first matchup, holding Temple to 52 points is impressive considering they scored 97 in an OT win over La Salle in their previous game. UNH will play defense, just like last season, the question is will they score enough to pull out some games they were unable to last year?
Up Next: 11/17 Abilene Christian, 11/20 @ West Virginia
Stony Brook (0-1) (KenPom: 211, RPI: 330)
Opponents
11/11 - Columbia, L 66-73
Starting Lineup
G Lucas Woodhouse
G UC Iroegbu
G/F Akwasi Yeboah
G/F Junior Saintel
F Tyrell Sturdivant
Stony Brook went 9 deep in their rotation for their opening matchup with Columbia, while 10 players saw at least some court time. The Seawolves were led in scoring by Roland Nyama who had 16 points on 6-8 shooting in the contest. Tyrell Sturdivant posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds (6 offensive) in 28 minutes of action. Columbia would shoot 40% from deep (10-25) against the Seawolves defense, that combined with an efficient 11-13 from the free throw line helped contribute to their win. Stony Brook killed themselves from the free throw line, finishing the night 12-21 from the charity stripe.
My Take: New coach, new lead players, same issue. Gotta hit those free throws if you want to win the close ones.
Up Next: 11/20 @ Boston College, 11/22 @ Maryland, 11/25 @ Towson
Vermont (1-1) (KenPom: 101, RPI: 265)
Opponents
11/12 - @ Quinnipiac, W 94-70
11/14- @ Providence, L 58-80
Starting Lineup
G Trae Bell-Haynes
G Ernie Duncan
G/F Kurt Steidl
F Payton Henson
F Anthony Lamb
Vermont put on an offensive show in their opener, pouring in 94 points at Quinnipiac. The Catamounts were led in scoring by freshman Anthony Lamb who had 23 points (8-12 FG) and 9 rebounds in 24 minutes. Vermont almost got contributions on the offensive end from Henson (19 pts) and Bell-Haynes (16 points), with Ernie Duncan (13 points) also reaching double digits. Not much to complain about in this one for Vermont, maybe the 17 turnovers, but when you score 94 points your offense wasn’t an issue. The Catamounts did allow Quinnipiac to shoot 40% from three for the game, but that number is inflated by their 5-8 first half as they held them to 4-14 (29%) from deep over the final 20 minutes.
UVM hit the road for their second game, heading to Big East foe Providence. The Catamounts were able to keep it close with Providence over the first 10 minutes, and the Friars would only hold a 6 point lead after the first 20. The Vermont offense was mostly held in check by the Friars during this one, as the Catamounts finished the night 42% from the floor and 5-20 (25%) from deep. UVM hung with Providence on the boards, but once again turned the ball over 17 times-- combine that with their poor three point shooting and the free throw disparity in this one and it equals a 22 point loss. The Friars finished the night with 20 free throw attempts, making 17, while Vermont finished with only 8 attempts and 5 makes. Payton Henson paced UVM on offense with 21 points, while no other Catamount reached double figures.
My Take: Very good team and it’s easy to see why they were the favorite coming into the America East season. If they continue the get these type of offensive contributions from newcomer’s Anthony Lamb and Payton Henson they will be a tough team to beat in conference play. While they don’t have a quality win yet on the season, they will have opportunities soon, as Yale at home and a trip to South Carolina aren’t too far down the road.
Up Next: 11/16 @ Marist, 11/19 Lyndon St., 11/21 Wofford (neutral site)
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