ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's basketball team returns to America East play this weekend with two games against conference newcomer NJIT at SEFCU Arena.
 
Game Info
Saturday, January 16 vs. NJIT (5:00 pm)
Live Stats | ESPN+
 
Sunday, January 17 vs. NJIT (5:00 pm)
Live Stats | ESPN+
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany ranks second in the America East in 3FG%, turnover margin, and assist/turnover ratio
• NJIT leads in turnover margin
• Antonio Rizzuto leads the conference in 3FG% and 3FG per game
• Kellon Taylor ranks third in FG%

 
Scouting NJIT
The Highlanders are .500 on the season, 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the America East, so far in their first season as a fellow member institution to UAlbany, including a double-overtime victory at Vermont.  NJIT is led by two players, Zach Cooks, who leads the conference in minutes played and ranks second in steals, and Dylan O'Hearn, who ranks fifth in scoring and third in FG%.  The Highlanders were picked eighth in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll this year, and Cooks was selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.  Last year, in the Atlantic Sun Conference, NJIT went 9-21 and 6-10, falling in the quarterfinals to top-seeded Liberty.  UAlbany is unbeaten in five previous meetings with the Highlanders.
 
Last Time vs. NJIT
UAlbany last played NJIT during the 2015-16 season, defeating the Highlanders by one in SEFCU Arena.  Three Great Danes, led by Joe Cremo's 18 points on 6-7 shooting, scored in double-figures, as did three Highlanders.  UAlbany outscored NJIT 36-20 in the paint and 32-11 off the bench, but NJIT held a 14-8 advantage off of turnovers.  NJIT tied the game at 57 mid-way through the second half, but UAlbany would not relinquish the lead again, hitting each of their next six free throws.  NJIT did tie the game at 73 with just over a minute to go, but Peter Hooley drew a foul with 1.2 seconds on the clock and hit one of two free throws to secure the victory for the Great Danes.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany visited Saint Joseph's over the weekend in place of their Stony Brook series, marking the first meeting between the two programs.  The Hawks opened the game on a 6-2 run and led by as many as 10 in the first half before UAlbany came back on a 13-3 run to tie the game.  St. Joe's led by one at the break, and came out in the second half on a quick 4-0 run.  UAlbany kept pace, soon taking an eight-point lead, but St. Joe's clawed back over the final nine minutes, tying the game at 59 after another 7-0 run.  UAlbany regained the lead, temporarily, before St. Joes held UAlbany scoreless over the final 2:38, closing out the game on a 5-0 run to win 67-64.
 
Around the America East
Idle Stony Brook remains atop the America East standings at 4-0 in-conference and 6-4 overall, but has not played either of the last two weekend series due to COVID-19 issues.  UMBC swept New Hampshire last weekend to retain second place, while preseason favorite and defending champion Vermont have strung together three-straight victories to climb into sole possession of third place.  NJIT is fifth, one spot behind Hartford, tied with New Hampshire in-conference but ahead by one half game overall.  UAlbany has fallen to ninth, behind UMass Lowell and Maine, and ahead of Binghamton.
 
Saturday's America East Games

• UMass Lowell at Binghamton,
• Hartford at UMBC, 1:00 pm
• Maine at Vermont, 2:00 pm
• New Hampshire at Stony Brook, 2:00 pm
• NJIT at UAlbany, 5:00 pm

 
Sunday's America East Games

• UMass Lowell at Binghamton,
• Hartford at UMBC, 1:00 pm
• Maine at Vermont, 1:00 pm
• New Hampshire at Stony Brook, 2:00 pm
• NJIT at UAlbany, 3:00 pm

 
Upcoming Milestones

• Will Brown: 399 victories
• Cameron Healy: 969 points, 246 rebounds

 
Milestones Reached

• Antonio Rizzuto: 500 points

 
Approaching 1,000
Junior guard Cameron Healy is set to become the 13th UAlbany men's basketball player to hit the 1,000-point career milestone.  Through his first two seasons, Healy has scored 953 points, averaging 15.1 points per game.  UAlbany's last 1,000-point scorer was Healy's former teammate Ahmad Clark, who eclipsed the mark on February 12, 2020 at Hartford.
 
Approaching 400
Through three games in 2020-21, head coach Will Brown has won 398 games as a head coach, leaving him just two wins away from hitting the 400-win milestone for his career.  After spending three seasons as an assistant coach at Saint Rose, Brown earned his first head coaching position at Sullivan County Community College ahead of the 1998-99 season.  In three years at Sullivan, Brown went 90-10 before being named interim head coach at UAlbany in the 2001-02 season.  Brown was named head coach officially, and since has compiled 308 of his 398 career victories with the Great Danes.
 
Captain
Head Coach Will Brown selected junior guard Antonio Rizzuto as the team's lone captain for the 2020-21 season.  The decision, made by Coach Brown on January 12, marks a departure in the team's usual format for selecting captains.  Brown noted Rizzuto's consistency and work ethic as reasons he felt Rizzuto was particularly suited to lead the team through the unprecedented season.
 
500
In the second of back-to-back games at Vermont, junior guard Antonio Rizzuto matched his career-high with 21 points, leading the Great Danes in defeat.  The total allowed Rizzuto to eclipse the 500-point milestone for his career.  He entered the game just two points shy of 500 through four games in his junior-year season.  In two-plus years as a Great Dane, encompassing 60 appearances and 41 starts, Rizzuto is averaging 8.7 points per game.
 
Storming Back
Trailing by as many as 18 in the first half at Vermont, and by 16 at halftime, UAlbany stormed back in the second half, using a 21-3 run, including 16-0, over nearly 11 minutes to stun Vermont to clinch the team's first victory of the 2020-21 season.  The win also snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Catamounts, a nine-game overall losing streak dating back to the end of the 2019-20 season, and was the program's first victory over Vermont in Patrick Gymnasium since 2016.  CJ Kelly led the way for UAlbany, scoring 27 points, including nine of the Great Danes' first 12.
 
Double-Double
Kellon Taylor recorded UAlbany's first double-double of the season, scoring 12 points to go with 11 rebounds in the team's defeat against Niagara on December 22.  Taylor shot 6-8 from the floor against the Purple Eagles, playing 38 minutes.
 
Presidential Scholar-Athlete
Junior Adam Lulka was named one of six America East Presidential Scholar-Athletes for the Fall 2020 semester.  Lulka, who completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology in December with a 4.00 GPA, was one of three Great Danes to be recognized (men's lacrosse's Jakob Patterson and women's soccer's Hailey Summers).  To qualify as a Presidential Scholar-Athlete, an individual must be graduating with an undergraduate GPA of 3.75 or higher.
 
Preseason All-Conference
For the second-straight season, junior guard Cameron Healy was selected to the America East Preseason All-Conference Team.  Healy averaged 14.2 points per game last season, despite falling off in production over the final stretch of the year due to injury.  Healy led the America East in FT% in 2019-20, ranking fifth in the NCAA.  He also ranked second in the conference in 3FG% and 10th in scoring.
 
Picked Fourth
For the third-straight season, UAlbany has been picked fourth in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.  The Great Danes received 51 total points, behind Vermont, who claimed the top spot for the fifth-straight year, UMBC, and New Hampshire.
 
Father-Son Connection
Head Coach Will Brown's oldest son, Jackson, joined the team this season as a freshman.  Additionally, Coach Brown has a connection to transfer CJ Kelly.  Brown played with Kelly's father, Chris, in high school during clinics and summer camps on Long Island.  After transferring to Dowling College, Brown once again played with Chris.  Coach Brown describes Chris as a well-rounded, defensively-minded 6-3 wing with a high basketball IQ.  CJ, by contrast, prefers the offensive end of the floor compared to his father.  Additionally, CJ's mother, Marlene, also played at Dowling, and one of his sisters played at Siena.
 
Late Start
December 19 is the latest date on record that the UAlbany men's basketball team has played its season opener.  The previous latest date was December 6, 1975, when UAlbany defeated Cortland 75-45.
 
America East Announces Basketball Schedule Format
On October 19, 2020, the America East debuted its revised schedule format for the 2020-21 season.  The conference season will begin on December 19-20, with teams playing back-to-back games at the same site against the same opponent on Saturdays and Sundays.  There are built-in off weekends to accommodate potential postponements throughout the season.  It will also be the first year that the conference schedule expands to 18 games to account for NJIT joining the conference.
 
Iati Voted Among Top Assistants in America East
A vote by 20 America East men's basketball coaches selected UAlbany Associate Head Coach Jon Iati as the second-best assistant coach in the conference.  The vote, conducted by Stadium, saw Iati recognized among his peers as second behind only Vermont's Kyle Cieplicki.
 
Will and Jamie Brown Donate to American Cancer Society
A longtime participant in the Coaches vs. Cancer program, UAlbany head coach Will Brown and his wife, Jaime, announced a donation of $10,000 to the American Cancer Society in April to help cancer patients facing new struggles due to COVID-19.  Brown announced the donation as he received the Society's Champion Award, recognizing coaches who have shown extraordinary leadership and commitment to the Society' mission.  Coach Brown has been a participant in Coaches vs. Cancer for 15 years since UAlbany's inaugural Coaches vs. Cancer game.
 
Next: UAlbany visits New Hampshire on January 23 and 24.