ALBANY, N.Y. – A second-straight road game sees the University at Albany men's basketball team take on ACC opponent Boston College on Tuesday where the Danes will look to snap a two-game slide ahead of their final home game on 2019 on Saturday.

Game Info

Tuesday, December 10 at Boston College (7:00 p.m.)

Live Stats | ACCNX

Leading the Pack

• Cameron Healy has hit a three-pointer in 42-straight games
• Head Coach Will Brown has 299 victories at UAlbany
• UAlbany leads the America East in FT% (.723)
• Healy ranks first in the America East in FT% (.943) and ranks seventh nationally

Scouting Boston College

The Eagles arrive at Tuesday's game with a record of 5-5, having just won 73-72 on the road at Notre Dame on Saturday.  It was the Eagles' first victory over the Fighting Irish in 13 ACC meetings.  The Eagles were picked 13th in the ACC Preseason Coaches's Poll, and are led by graduate transfer Derryck Thornton, who returns to the ACC after departing Duke for Southern Cal.  Thornton averages 15.2 points per game, good for 10th in the ACC.

Last Time vs. Boston College

This is the first-ever meeting between the teams.  The last ACC opponent UAlbany played was Louisville on December 21, 2017, falling on the road to the Cardinals 70-68.

Last Time Out

The Great Danes visited Lewisburg, Pa. to play at Bucknell on Saturday, their third and final Patriot League opponent of the 2019-20 regular season.  UAlbany jumped out to a big lead in the first half, 21-6, only to see the Bison come back within eight by the half.  UAlbany led by as 12 in the second before Bucknell stormed back to take the lead late.  The Bison used clutch free-throw shooting to pull away just enough to weather UAlbany's final possession, and held on to defeat the Great Danes 65-64 to hand UAlbany its second-straight defeat.

Around the America East

UAlbany currently sits in a four-way tie for third place with UMBC, New Hampshire, and Binghamton, each of whom sport matching 5-5 overall records.  Just behind the four is UMass Lowell, who climbed to 5-6 after defeating St. Francis Brooklyn over the weekend.  Stony Brook maintains its half-game lead over Vermont for the top spot in the conference, with the Seawolves riding a two-game winning streak with victories over Manhattan and Brown.  Vermont snapped a two-game skid, at Yale and at Cincinnati, bouncing back to defeat Towson by 17 points to keep pace with the Seawolves' seven victories.

Streaking

Sophomore guard Cameron Healy started all 32 games for the Great Danes last season, and connected on a three-pointer in each of those 32 games.  Through nine games this season, Healy has extended his made three-pointer streak to 42 games, the fourth-longest active streak in the nation.  The national leader is junior Mack Smith from Eastern Illinois, who has made a three-pointer in 58-consecutive games.

Approaching 300

At 5-5 in 2019-20, head coach Will Brown has won 299 games at UAlbany, leaving him just two wins away from hitting the 300-win milestone.  Since taking over as the Great Danes' head coach during the 2001-02 season, Brown has won five America East titles, two America East regular-season titles, one NCAA Tournament victory, and guided his teams to seven 20-win seasons.  Now entering his 19th season at the helm, Brown has averaged more than 16 wins per season, including high-water marks of 24 wins in three separate seasons.

Down but Not Out

The Great Danes won their season-high third-straight game, defeating American University at SEFCU Arena 68-64.  UAlbany trailed by as many as 19 in the first half, before storming back to take the lead in the second.  The Danes fell behind again by as many as nine, before rallying a second time to claim a four-point victory.  Cameron Healy and Antonio Rizzuto scored 18 and 17 points, respectively, with Rizzuto shooting 6-9 from the floor and 5-7 from three.

Bobcats Invitational Wrapup

The UAlbany men's basketball team arrived at the Bobcats Invitational, where they would play three games in three days at Quinnipiac University, with a 2-2 record.  Leaving the tournament, the Danes were 4-3, holding a winning record for the first time all season after posting consecutive wins, also for the first time this season, to close out their three games.  After falling to tournament host Quinnipiac, the Great Danes received career nights from Kendall Lauderdale and Antonio Rizzuto to defeat Sacred Heart, and then held off a stingy Presbyterian squad to finish the tournament 2-1.

Double-Double

For the first time in his career, sophomore Malachi de Sousa recorded a double-double.  de Sousa scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Great Danes' second game of the season, against Canisius.  It was the first double-double for a UAlbany player since February 2019 when Cameron Healy went for 31 and 10 in his record-setting performance against Binghamton.

Preseason Recognition

Sophomore guard Cameron Healy earned a spot on the America East Preseason All-Conference team.  After averaging 16.0 points per game last season and setting program records for three-point shooting, Healy earned a spot on the America East All-Conference Third and All-Rookie Teams a year ago, while finishing as runner-up for America East Rookie of the Year.  Additionally, senior guard Ahmad Clark was one of 50 players named to the Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List, which recognizes the top mid-major player in the country.

Picked Fourth

For the second-consecutive season, the UAlbany men's basketball team was picked fourth in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll, drawing 47 points to fall just behind Stony Brook's 48 in third.  Vermont was selected unanimously as the league favorite, marking the fourth-straight year the Catamounts have landed atop the preseason poll.  UMBC received the lone remaining first-place vote in second place with 53 points.

Record-Setting

Great Danes players set a handful of program records during the 2018-19 season.  Freshman Cameron Healy set or tied single-game and single-season marks for three-pointers made and attempted, and broke Jamar Wilson's freshman record for total points scored in a season with 512.  Additionally, Ahmad Clark tied the program record for single game assists with 10 at Niagara, and set a Division-I era single-season program record with 63 total steals.

From Deep

The Great Danes embraced the three-pointer last season, setting single-season program records for threes attempted (790) and made (274) in 32 games.  Sophomore Cameron Healy led the charge, taking 251 threes and making 104, including 55 in conference play, all of which were individual single-season program records.

Freshmen become Sophomores

For four of the last five games last season, starting February 21 against Stony Brook and excluding Senior Night on February 27, the Great Danes started freshman at all five positions.  The team started the season with freshmen at three starting spots, Cameron Healy, Adam Lulka, and Brent Hank, and moved to start four freshmen for the first time on December 20 against Manhattan when Antonio Rizzuto made his second career start.  All five freshman who played starting roles at some point last season return to the squad this year, including Healy and Lulka who each started every game last season.

Returning Depth

The Great Danes return nine players from the 2018-19 squad, including all five players who started at the end of the year.  The most prominent departure was Devonte Campbell, who averaged 7.8 points and 4.8 rebounds last year, while earning America East All-Defensive Team accolades for the third time in his career.  UAlbany returns each of its top five scorers, as well as two of its three most prominent bench players.

The North

In August, UAlbany took a week-long trip to play exhibition games against five Canadian universities.  The team played twice in Ottawa and three times in Montréal, ending the trip on a three-game winning streak against McGill University, Université du Québec à Montréal, and Concordia. 

Fighting Fires

During the offseason, sophomore guard Antonio Rizzuto signed up to be a volunteer firefighter with the McKownville Fire Department.  When he's not otherwise occupied with basketball or school work, Rizzuto answers calls when a situation requires respondents.  Rizzuto is an exterior firefighter, where he retrieves items from the trucks and hooks up the hoses to fire hydrants.

In-House

A point of pride for head coach Will Brown, each of his staff members holds a degree from the University at Albany.  Each of his assistant coaches, Jon Iati, Josh Pelletier, and Jerrad Knotts, hold UAlbany degrees, as do his director of basketball operations Greig Stire and video coordinator Shane Hammill.  Brown's is the only staff in the country that can boast holding degrees from their coaching institution across the board.  Iati, Knotts, and Stire all played for Brown during their collegiate careers.  Further, entering their eighth season together, the Great Danes staff is tied for the second-longest tenured staff in the country.  West Virginia coach Bob Huggins' staff enters their eighth year together, while Tom Izzo's staff at Michigan State enters their 10th.

Captains

The Great Danes announced three players, Ahmad Clark, Adam Lulka, and Nick Fruscio, to serve as team captains for the 2019-20 season.  Clark and Lulka each enter their second-straight season as team captains, while senior Nick Fruscio was selected by his teammates to serve in his final year.

Decade Recap

The Great Danes finished the 2010's with a record of 188-148, the second-highest decade wins total in program history behind the 190 victories during the 1980's.  UAlbany also won 93 America East games in the 2010's, and averaged nearly 19 wins per season in the last decade.

Next

The Great Danes will play their final home game of 2019 on December 14 against Niagara, part of another double-header with the women's team, who will play St. Francis Brooklyn.  UAlbany will play each of its next four on the road before returning to SEFCU Arena to host Maine on January 11.