Men's Basketball Opens 2014-15 Visiting Defending BIG EAST Champion Providence
UALBANY GAME NOTES | PROVIDENCE GAME NOTES | TWITTER | LIVE STATS
ALBANY, N.Y. – University at Albany men's basketball (0-0) opens the 2014-15 campaign on Saturday night at Providence (0-0). The contest against the reigning BIG EAST Champion will be broadcast live from the Dunkin Donuts Center at 7:00 p.m., on FOXSports2.
LAST TIME OUT
University at Albany men's basketball is coming off its second straight America East title. The Great Danes made their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance, earning the program's first Division I Tournament win in the First Four. Will Brown's squad downed Mount St. Mary's 71-64 in the Dayton Regional before facing overall No. 1 seed Florida in Orlando.
EARLY SIGNING
Will Brown received three early signing period commitments yesterday, including Joe Cremo, Kyle McKinley and 11 year-old JP Honsinger. Honsinger joins the Great Danes as a five-star point guard out of Clifton Park, N.Y. The sixth-grader inked his National Letter of Intent after being diagnosed with Niemann-Pick disease Type C, an extremely rare and debilitating disease also known as childhood Alzheimer's. The disease has no known cure. For more information about JP or to support his cause, visit www.jamminforjp.com.
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
UAlbany is 2-0 in its season openers in the last two seasons. The Great Danes beat Siena in the season-opener in 2013-14, and downed Duquense to start 1-0 in 2012-13. Dating back to the 2005-06 season, when the Purple & Gold wins its season-opener, it also makes an NCAA tournament appearance.
GREAT DANES VS. THE BIG EAST
The Great Danes have not faced a member of the BIG EAST since 2011-12, suffering a 98-74 loss against Syracuse exactly three years ago to the day. UAlbany has not met a member of the current BIG EAST membership since a 88-64 loss at Xavier on Dec. 28, 2010. For that contest, UAlbany transferred Xavier guard and then-leading scorer Mark Lyons from the Albany region to Cinncinati, due to inclement winter weather. Lyons was a capital region native visiting his family for the holidays. Will Brown was honored at the National Sportsmanship Awards later than season.
MILESTONES TO WATCH
Head coach Will Brown is nine wins away from tallying 200 for his career. He will be the second UAlbany head coach all-time to reach the 200+ win mark, bested only by 41-year head coach Doc Sauers.
Peter Hooley and Sam Rowley are both approaching the 1,000-point mark. Hooley has 779 career points, while Rowley has 735. Hooley is four made threes shy of reaching 100 and 10 assists away from 200 for his career.
CATCH 'EM ON THE TUBE
The game against Providence is the first of at least eight T.V. appearances in 2014-15. The Great Danes will face local rival Siena at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel. UAlbany will also highlight the America East ESPN TV package at home, hosting Hartford on Feb. 20 on ESPNU.
AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL
The Great Danes were picked to finish third in the America East preseason poll, and Peter Hooley was named to the preseason All-Conference team. UAlbany has won the America East Tournament the last two seasons as the No. 4 seed, upsetting the No. 1 or No. 2 seed on the road in the championship game.
Hooley played his way onto the Preseason All-Conference team after being named the Most Outstanding Performer of last year's tournament. He was the first sophomore since 1999 to be named the MOP, and also garnered Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. He is the first Great Dane on the Preseason All-Conference team since Mike Black in 2012-13, and the first junior since Tim Ambrose in 2009-10 to garner the recognition.
AMERICA EAST MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAY-OFFS
The conference reverted to a highest-seed format for the America East Tournament for at least the next two seasons, announced in the summer of 2014. The eight-team tournament quarterfinals will take place at the highest seed, and the field will be re-seeded for the semifinals. UAlbany hosted the league tournament the last two seasons.
CAPITAL REGION COACHES VS. CANCER
Head coach Will Brown and his wife Jamie co-hosted the 9th Annual Coaches vs. Cancer Basket Ball on Wednesday, Sept. 24 in Troy, N.Y. The event helped raised local funds for the American Cancer society, totaling one million dollars in eight years.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Junior guard Peter Hooley and senior forward Sam Rowley were named team captains in the fall, marking the second consecutive year the Aussie pair will serve as co-captains.
SCOUTING PROVIDENCE
- Providence is coming off of a BIG EAST Championship, earning its first league title in 20 years.
- The Friars lose size and leadership, losing point guard Bryce Cotton and 6-9 power forward Kadeem Batts to graduation.
- Cotton averaged 21.8 points per game, in addition to a .853 clip from the free throw line and a field goal percentage of .419.
- LaDontae Henton is the leading returning scorer for the Friars, with 23.4 points per game in 2013-14.
- Henton was the BIG EAST's runner-up in rebounds per game a season ago (7.9), and Providence's leader on the boards.
- In a scrimmage at Stonehill, Tyler Harris led the Friars with 19 points, nearly tallying a double-double with eight rebounds.
- The Friars will also host America East foe Binghamton, on Nov. 17 at 7:00 p.m.
