ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany men's basketball team is coming off of a quick turnaround, having just played on Thursday night in Albany. The Great Danes will travel to play America East foe New Hampshire in Lundholm Gymnasium. Tip is set for noon in Durham. The matchup will be available on ESPN3 and broadcast on ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team in Albany.
 
Game Info
Saturday, Jan. 8 – at New Hampshire
Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, N.H.
12:00 p.m. EST
ESPN3| ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team | Live Stats
 
Head Coach Dwayne Killings on UNH
"The Wildcats haven proven to be a tough and physical team all year and will be a great test for us in our first road game in league play. They are very well coached, experienced and competitive. This will be a great opportunity to test our nine available players Saturday afternoon in Durham."
 
Leading the Pack

• The Great Danes are averaging 60.2 ppg, with opponents averaging 68.7. ppg. The team is shooting 40.4% from the field, 30.4% from three, and 68.2% from the charity stripe.
• The Great Danes have more steals than their opponents, with 91 in favor of UAlbany and 73 in favor of their opposition. The team trails in rebounds, with opponents out-rebounding UAlbany 453-372.
• UALbany is now on the positive end of the turnover battle, giving up just 179 compared to 181 from opponents.
• De'Vondre Perry leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.1 ppg and shooting 50.7% from the field. He has shot 36.6% from three-point range and has pulled in 5.4 rebounds per game. He is averaging over 33 minutes per game on the court.
• Matt Cerruti leads the team shooting from beyond the arc, shooting at a clip of 43.8% (minimum 10 attempts) from three and averaging 4.0 attempts from deep per game. He is second on the team with 9.0 ppg, shooting 41.8% from the field.
• Jamel Horton leads the team in assists per game (3.9) and ranks third in scoring average (8.5).
• Justin Neely, now a four-time America East Rookie of the Week, leads the team in rebounds with 72 on the season – averaging 5.5 per contest.

 
Scouting UNH
New Hampshire has only played one game in the last 25 days, a 68-82 loss to Vermont to begin conference play just last night (Jan. 6). Before that? The last game for the Wildcats came all the way back on Dec. 13 when the team beat Keene State, 92-54. New Hampshire was supposed to play VCU (Dec. 21) and Dartmouth (Dec. 29), but both games were impacted by COVID-19.
 
In Thursday night's defeat to Vermont, Senior Nick Guadarrama scored a team-leading 18 points to pace three UNH men's basketball players in double digits. Sophomore Blondeau Tchoukuiegno scored all 16 of his points in the first half, including a career-high four 3-point field goals, and graduate student Josh Hopkins tallied 14 of his 16 after halftime for UNH (5-5, 0-1 America East), which was playing its first game in 24 days.
 
As a whole, the team comes into Saturday afternoon with a record of 5-5, having the sole losss to Vermont in conference action. The Wildcats are averaging 72.8 points per game while shooting .44.2% from the field and 37.8% from deep. Jayden Martinez leads the team in scoring with 16.7 points on average, followed by Tchoukuiegno with 11.5 per game, and Guadarrama with 10.8 per game. Martinez has been hot from beyond the arc, shooting 48.9% on 45 attempts.
 
Last Time Out
The Great Danes fell victim to lights-out shooting from the Binghamton Bearcats on Thursday night. UAlbany played well, but Binghamton shot nearly 50% from three-point range throughout the game to stay out of striking distance and secure the win.

• UAlbany shot 48.3% (29-60) from the field and 37.5% (6-16) from three-point range – one of the teams' best shooting games of the season. Binghamton shot 58.5% (31-53) from the field and 48.0% (12-25 from deep.
• UAlbany won the rebounding war 30-24.
• Binghamton finished with 13 turnovers, UAlbany finished with 12.
• 38 of UAlbany's points came from inside the paint. On the other side, 36 of Binghamton's points came from three-point range.
• De'Vondre Perry had the best night of his career – 26 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals
• Jamel Horton also had himself a night to remember, scoring 23 points.
• Paul Newman was the final Great Dane to finish scoring in double-digits, posting 10 points to go along with five rebounds two blocks, and two assists.
• Chuck Champion led the team with four assists.

 
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 yesterday 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.
 
#AEHoops Notes (1.3.22)

• Binghamton held UMass Lowell to 37 percent shooting en route to a 68-63 win on Sunday, its first in a league opener since the 2018-19 season.
• Jacob Falko and Tyler Bertram each scored 20 points to pace the Bearcats.
• NJIT shot 54 percent from the floor and came back from a second-half deficit to knock off Maine Sunday.
• Miles Coleman contributed 23 points and 10 rebounds off the bench to lead the way.
• Five conference games have been postponed to date. Every effort will be made to reschedule postponed games.
• Vermont will host UNH  on Jan. 6 in a game that will air on ESPNU.
• Three teams (Vermont, UMass Lowell and Stony Brook) posted 8 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.
• Stony Brook has won five of its last six to wrap up non-league play 8-5.
• 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.
• Vermont, winners of five of its last seven, is in the top 100 of the NET again this week (96).

 
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).
 
America East Lineup
Conference action kicks off after the new year with the great Danes traveling to face Vermont on Jan. 2. The team plays their first America East game at home that same week with a matchup against Binghamton slated for Jan. 6. Other home conference matchups include UMass Lowell (Jan. 12), NJIT (Jan. 15), Stony Brook (Jan. 22), UMBC (Feb. 2), Maine (Feb. 9), Vermont (Feb. 12), New Hampshire (Feb. 19), and Hartford (Mar. 1).
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.