BOSTON - Conference play got underway last week and saw Albany and Stony Brook, the top two teams in the conference standings entering league play, each go 2-0. The Great Danes beat UMBC at home and earned a tough road win at Vermont while the Seawolves extended their win streak to seven games with wins at Binghamton and vs. UMass Lowell. UMBC, UMass Lowell, New Hampshire and Vermont also picked up their first America East wins last week.
Albany's Mike Rowley earned America East Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career and Hartford's George Blagojevic picked up Rookie of the Week presented by Under Armour accolades.
Read more about the weekly award winners and conference notes below:
Player of the Week
Mike Rowley, Albany - Jr., Forward, Sydney, Australia
- Averaged 15.0 points and 9.5 rebounds while leading Albany to wins vs. UMBC and at Vermont last week.
- Missed only three shots in two games, shooting 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the field.
- Had 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and eight rebounds vs. UMBC Wednesday.
- Recorded his first career double-double with a career-high 18 points and 11 boards as Albany dominated the paint.
Rookie of the Week presented by Under Armour
George Blagojevic, Hartford - Fr., Forward, Geelong, Australia
- Scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds in Hartford's lone game of the week at UMass Lowell Wednesday.
- Shot 8-of-15 from the field.
- This is his second Rookie of the Week honor this season.
Notes
- Albany and Stony Brook are off to 2-0 starts in America East play.
- Stony Brook, which has a league-best RPI (80), is riding a seven-game win streak.
- Albany has a top-95 RPI (93) and has won six in a row and 12 of its last 13.
- It's the first time America East has had two top-100 RPI teams after the first week of conference games since 2009 when both Binghamton and Vermont finished the season in the top 100.
- America East ranks 23rd out of 32 Division I conferences in RPI, according to the Jan. 11 College Basketball News RPI Report, a four-spot improvement from this time last year.
- Six of America East's nine teams have better RPIs than at this time last year.
- America East teams combined for 55 regular-season non-conference wins, the most since the 2012-13 season and 11 more than a year ago.
- New Hampshire beat Binghamton in its conference opener Saturday and is off to a 1-0 start in conference play.
- New Hampshire’s seven non-conference wins match its program record set last season.
- UMBC, UMass Lowell and Vermont also picked up league wins last week.
- Only four of the 36 teams to win America East titles have finished outside of the top two in the regular-season standings.
- UMass Lowell's win over Boston College on Dec. 6 was the first by an America East team over an ACC foe since Maine beat the Eagles on Jan. 2, 2010.
- Jameel Warney earned his 13th career America East Player of the Week award on Dec. 21, tying Vin Baker for the second-most in league history.
- Warney eclipsed the 1,000 career rebound mark earlier this season becoming just the sixth player in league history with 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Weekly Award Winners
Nov. 16 - Player of the Week: Iba Camara, New Hampshire; Rookie of the Week: Ernie Duncan, Vermont
Nov. 23 - Player of the Week: Trae Bell-Haynes, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Issac Vann, Maine
Nov. 30 - Co-Players of the Week: Willie Rodriguez, Binghamton & Jameel Warney, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: George Blagojevic, Hartford
Dec. 7 - Player of the Week: Jameel Warney, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Devine Eke, Maine
Dec. 14 - Player of the Week: Will Darley, UMBC; Rookie of the Week: Joe Sherburne, UMBC
Dec. 21 - Player of the Week: Jameel Warney, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Everson Davis, Binghamton
Dec. 28 - Player of the Week: Carson Puriefoy, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Joe Cremo, Albany
Jan. 4 - Player of the Week: Jameel Warney, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Joe Cremo, Albany
Jan. 11 - Player of the Week: Mike Rowley, Albany; Rookie of the Week: George Blagojevic, Hartford