ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's basketball team is set to play three-straight games on the road, starting with a trip to UMass Lowell on Wednesday night. Tipoff for Wednesday night's road contest is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The matchup will be available on ESPN+ and broadcast on ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team in Albany.
Game Info
Wednesday, Jan. 26 – at UMass Lowell
Costello Athletic Center in Lowell, Mass.
7:00 p.m. EST
ESPN+ |
ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team |
Live Stats
Leading the Pack
- The Great Danes come in to Wednesday's game having won three of their last four conference games, with victories coming against UMass Lowell, NJIT, and UMBC, and the lone loss coming at the hands of Stony Brook.
- The Great Danes are averaging 61.9 ppg, with opponents averaging 66.7 ppg. The team is shooting 40.1% from the field, 29.3% from three, and 70.8% from the charity stripe.
- In conference-only games, UAlbany sits tied for second overall with the fewest amount of points allowed (65.8) and fifth in total offense (68.3).
- With De'Vondre Perry sidelined for the season, Matt Cerruti is leading the team in scoring with 10.8 per game. The Huntington Valley, Pa., native is shooting 43.8% from three and 45.2% from the field. In 16 games, he has attempted 64 long balls.
- Jamel Horton follows closely behind with 10.6 points per game. He leads the team in assists with 67 on the season. He is shooting 40.2% from the field, totaling 57 rebounds on the year.
- Justin Neely, a four-time America East Rookie of the Week, leads the team in rebounds with 92 on the season – averaging 5.8 per contest.
Last Time Out
The Great Danes saw their three-game win streak come to an end on Saturday night with a 75-86 defeat to Stony Brook at home.
- Jamel Horton led the way with 18 points, also leading with five assists and notching four rebounds.
- Matt Cerruti knocked down 15, had five rebounds, two steals, and an assist.
- Chuck Champion also notched double-digit points with 11. He finished with three assists, two rebounds, and a steal.
- Cerruti and Justin Neely both had a team-high five rebounds.
- UAlbany shot 44.8% (30-67) from the field and 27.3% (6-22) from three. Stony Brook shot 55.8% (29-52) from the field and 47.6% (10-21) from three.
- UAlbany out-rebounded Stony Brook, 34-27.
Scouting UMass Lowell
The River Hawks come into Wednesday's game with an overall record of 10-8 and a conference record of 2-4. The team is coming off of a 1-1 week in which it saw a win at home against Maine, 71-62, and a loss on the road to New Hampshire, 61-67. In UMass Lowell's last game against UNH, senior Allin Blunt led with 12 points, followed by Quinton Mincey with 10.
On the year, UMass Lowell is averaging 71.1 points per game, limiting opponents to just 63.1. The Riverhawks are shooting 43.9% from the field and 28.8% from three-point territory. Kalil Thomas leads the team in scoring, averaging 10.6, and Max Brooks leads in rebounding with 5.9 on a nightly basis.
Last Time Against the Riverhawks
The two America East foes met at SEFCU Arena just two weeks ago, where the Great Danes won by a score of 57-57. In that game:
- Paul Newman dominated the boards, grabbing 16 rebounds. Paired with 12 points, he was able to notch a double-double.
- Matt Cerruti scored eight of his 12 points in the second half, acting as a catalyst for the Great Danes' offense late in the game.
- Jamel Horton also finished in double-digits with 10 points. He added two rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
- Chuck Champion led with three assists and tied for the lead with three steals. A late-game three put UAlbany up four points, never looking back.
- The Great Danes shot 31.9% (22-69) from the field and 26.7 (4-15) from three. UMass Lowell shot 38.0% (19-50) from the field and 18.8% (3-16) from three.
- UAlbany forced 21 turnovers from the River Hawks, giving up on eight themselves.
- The Great Danes won the rebounding battle 47-36 despite not playing with the team's leading rebounder, Justin Neely.
#AEHoops Notes (1.24.22)
- Vermont is off to a 5-0 start in #AEHoops play for the fifth time in the last six seasons and has won its five games by an average of 20.0 points per game.
- The Catamounts, winners of seven in a row and eight of their last nine, rank 70thh in the country, behind only Iona among regional peers.
- Stony Brook has won three in a row and five of its last six to start conference play 4-1.
- The Catamounts visit the Seawolves on Wednesday in a matchup of the top two teams in the league standings.
- Vermont matched the conference's single-game record and set a new program standard by hitting 19 three-pointers in a 98-65 win over Stony Brook on Jan. 6.
- Stony Brook is the league's top scoring team averaging 72.9 points per game while Vermont is the top defense holding teams to 61.9 points per contest.
- Binghamton is off to its best #AEHoops start in 13 seasons. The Bearcats last started 4-2 during the 2008-09 championship wining season.
- 10 conference games have been postponed to date. Every effort will be made to reschedule postponed games.
- Three teams (Vermont, UMass Lowell and Stony Brook) posted eight non-conference wins.
- UMass Lowell had its best-ever record entering conference play at 8-4, including wins at Dayton and George Washington.
- Vermont is 8-4 and finished non-league play with a .667 win percentage for the fourth time under John Becker.
- America East teams beat two ACC squads in non-league play. UMBC trounced Pittsburgh, 87-77, on Nov. 27 while UAlbany beat Boston College, 61-57, on Dec. 13.
- The Catamounts finished non-league play with a .667 win percentage for the fourth time under John Becker.
Rookie Madness
Freshman
Justin Neely has been named the America East Rookie of the Week four times this year, earning back-to-back titles on Nov. 22 and Nov. 29, on Dec. 13, and most recently on Dec. 27. The rookie is averaging over 18 minutes per game, fifth on the team, and leads the team in rebounds.
Postponements
UAlbany has had two games postponed this season due to COVID-19, a Dec. 28 matchup against Bucknell and a Jan. 2 matchup against Vermont. The America East announced that UAlbany's matchup with Vermont has been rescheduled to January 31 at 7:00 p.m. in Burlington. The Bucknell game has yet to be rescheduled.
To view all America East schedule adjustments,
click here.
Drive the Lane with UAlbany Hoops
It was recently announced that UAlbany had expanded its partnership with ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team and City Line Bar & Grill. Coaches
Dwayne Killings and
Colleen Mullen, along with select student-athletes, will join ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team's Charlie Voelker and Dan Bahl every Monday from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. live from City Line Bar & Grill for a weekly segment entitled 'Drive the Lane with UAlbany Hoops'.
Fans are invited to come out to City Line Bar & Grill to join Coach Killings, Coach Mullen, student-athletes and the ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team crew. Food and drink specials will be available on a weekly basis as the teams embark on their new seasons and talk hoops every Monday.
Meet Coach Killings
Dwayne Killings, a native of Amherst, Mass., begins his journey as Head Coach of the Great Danes after previously serving at Marquette University, where he spent the previous three seasons. While at Marquette, Killings served under Head Coach Steve Wojciechowski. In Killings' three years in Wisconsin, the Golden Eagles posted two winning seasons and made one appearance in the NCAA Tournament. In 2020, his recruiting class ranked in the top-20 nationally and he coached 2019-20 BIG EAST Player of the Year and AP All-American Markus Howard.
Roster Changes
The coaching staff isn't the only thing that's new for the Great Danes. The roster has had a complete transformation from last year's squad, which made it to the America East Quarterfinals as the No. 5 seed. Nine new student-athletes are suiting up in the purple and gold for 2021-22 -
De'Vondre Perry,
Matt Cerruti, Gerald Drumgole Jr.,
Paul Newman,
Ny'Mire Little,
Justin Neely,
Aaron Reddish,
Luke Fizulich, and
Tairi Ketner. Returning for UAlbany is
Will Amica,
Trey Hutcheson,
Jarvis Doles,
Jamel Horton,
Sam Shafer, and
Chuck Champion.
Along with the coaching staff, these 22 men officially make up the 2021-22 UAlbany Great Danes. In total, 16 of these individuals are new to UAlbany.
Coaches' Poll
A completely new team, the Great Danes were picked to finish seventh in this year's America East Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving 34 points. Stony Brook came in atop the list with 77 points and five first-place votes, just ahead of Vermont with 74 points and four first-place votes. New Hampshire rounded out the top three with 64 points and a single first-place vote.
Defending champion Hartford placed fourth with 56 points, UMBC placed fifth with 49 points, and UMass Lowell placed sixth with 43 points. Following the Great Danes' seventh-place spot was NJIT (23 points), Maine (16 points) and Binghamton (14 points).
FREE with your ID
UAlbany students are welcome to SEFCU Arena and get in FREE with their student ID! Coach
Dwayne Killings and the entire hoops team encourage the UAlbany student body to come out and support the Great Danes all season long.
Secure Your Tickets
This year marks a new chapter in history for the Great Danes, don't miss out! Season tickets for UAlbany basketball can be purchased by calling the UAlbany Ticket Office at (518) 442-DANE or by visiting
UAlbanySports.com/Tickets.
Social Central
Stay up to date with UAlbany men's basketball by following the team on Twitter (
@UAlbanyMBB) and Instagram (
@ualbany_mbb) for all of the latest news and highlights throughout the season.
