ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's basketball team, winners of five of its last six games, travels to Burlington on Monday night to take on the first-place Vermont Catamounts. Tipoff for the matchup is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The game will be available on ESPN+ and broadcast on ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team in Albany.
 
Game Info
Monday, Jan. 31 – at Vermont
Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, Vermont
7:00 p.m. EST
ESPN+ | ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team | Live Stats
 
Leading the Pack

• The Great Danes come into Saturday's game having won five of their last six conference games, with victories coming against UMass Lowell (twice), NJIT (twice), and UMBC, with the lone loss coming at the hands of Stony Brook.
• The Great Danes are averaging 62.1 ppg, with opponents averaging 65.8 ppg. The team is shooting 40.5% from the field, 30.2% from three, and 70.4% from the charity stripe.
• In conference-only games, UAlbany leads all America East teams defensively – allowing just 63.8 ppg. On the offensive side, the Great Danes sit in sixth place with 67.3 points scored per game.
• Jamel Horton now leads the team in scoring after a big month, averaging 11.4 ppg. He's dished out a team-leading 76 assists, and shoots .421 from the field.
• Matt Cerruti is averaging 10.9 ppg, shooting .437 from beyond the arc.
• Justin Neely, a four-time America East Rookie of the Week, leads the team in rebounds with 99 on the season – averaging 5.5 per contest.

 
Last Time Out
The Great Danes picked up their second-straight win on Saturday night, completing the season sweep on NJIT with a 64-53 victory.

• Jamel Horton led the way with 23 points, finishing with four rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.
• Jarvis Doles dropped 12 in the win, also finishing with five rebounds an assist, and a steal.
• Matt Cerruti and Chuck Champion both led with six rebounds each.
• UAlbany finished shooting 45.7% (21-46) from the field and 50% (8-16) from three. NJIT finished shooting 32.8% (20-61) from the field 21.7% (5-23) from three.
• Both teams finished with 37 rebounds.
• UAlbany had 14 turnovers, NJIT finished with 10.
• The Great Danes led for 98.7% of the game.

Scouting Vermont
The Catamounts are the top team in the America East, averaging 84.6 points per game in conference play (leads AE) and allowing just 66.6 (fourth) while sitting at 7-0. Both Ben Shungu and Ryan Davis lead the America East in scoring with 18.9 ppg (conference only). Last time out, the Catamounts took down Maine by a score of 81-68. In that game, UVM registered 80 points in a win for the seventh-straight game. The seven-game winning streak of scoring 80-plus points is the longest in program history. Vermont had only scored 80-plus points in four-straight wins prior to its active streak. Davis registered a game-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. The senior has reached at least 20 points in each of his last three games. Davis scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half for the Catamounts. Shungu had 19 points for Vermont, sinking a career-high 11 free throws on 12 attempts from the line. The UVM guard drew a game-high nine fouls and was 4-for-8 from the field.


#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 winning 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 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 Drumgoole 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.