Two teams will punch tickets to the 2016 America East men's basketball title game on Monday as the #AEPlayoffs semifinals take place. For the first time in the conference's 37-year history, the #1 and #7 seeds and #3 and #4 seeds will square off with trips to the league final on the line.
Top-seeded Stony Brook will host seventh-seeded Hartford in one semifinal at 7 p.m. while third-seeded Vermont hosts fourth-seeded New Hampshire in the other semi at 7:30 p.m. Both games will air on ESPN3 and WatchESPN. Chris Villani (play by play) and Adam Finkelstein (analyst) have the call from Long Island while Eric Frede (play-by-play) and Frank Sullivan (analyst) have the call in Burlington.
Visit Playoff Central for all live coverage links, including live stats and live video. Ticket information for each site can also be found there. Capacity crowds are expected at both venues after over 10,000 fans attended the four semifinals on Wednesday.
The two winners will advance to the title game next Saturday, March 12 at 11 a.m. The game will be played at the highest remaining seed and be televised nationally on ESPN2.
#7 Hartford at #1 Stony Brook, 7 p.m. - ESPN3
- Top-seeded Stony Brook (24-6) closed its quarterfinal game vs. UMBC on a 14-6 run to post an 86-76 win to advance to the semifinals for the seventh-straight year.
- Seventh-seeded Hartford (10-22) hit nine of its 12 three-pointers in the first half to grow an 18-point lead and never looked back in a 68-59 upset win over Albany to advance to the semifinals for the fourth time in six years.
- Stony Brook, the league's regular-season champion for the fourth time in the last seven years, is aiming of its fifth championship game appearance in the last six years.
- Hartford, which became just the second No. 7 seed to beat the No. 2 seed in 31 all-time meetings, is seeking just its second championship game appearance (2008).
- Stony Brook has won seven straight and 16 of the last 17 meetings between the two teams and holds a 20-14 edge in the all-time series.
- Stony Brook won the two regular-season meetings by an average of 23.5 points per game.
- Rayshaun McGrew led four Seawolves in double figures with 16 points and Stony Brook held Hartford to a season-low 43 points in a 77-43 win on Jan. 18.
- Jameel Warney scored a career-high 36 points on 16-of-18 shooting and added 13 rebounds in a 85-72 Stony Brook win over Hartford on Feb. 8. Pancake Thomas had 23 points for the Hawks.
- Warney, the league's three-time Player of the Year, and Thomas, a second-team All-Conference selection, rank first and second in the league in scoring with both averaging 18.9 points per game.
- This is the fourth all-time tournament meeting between the two teams and first in the semifinals. Of the four previous meetings, two took place in the first round and one in the quarterfinals.
- Hartford holds a slight 2-1 edge in championship play and won the last meeting in the 2007 first round as well as a quarterfinal matchup in 2003. Stony Brook's win came in the 2005 first round.
#4 New Hampshire at #3 Vermont - 7:30 p.m. - ESPN3
- Second-seeded Vermont (20-11) shot 66 percent from the floor and never trailed en route to a 99-82 win over Maine in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
- The Catamounts are in the semifinals for the 14th time in the last 15 years.
- Fourth-seeded New Hampshire (19-11) converted 19-of-23 free throws to overcome a tough shooting night and beat Binghamton, 56-51, in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals for the second-straight year.
- This is the 146th all-time meeting between the two charter members of the conference.
- Vermont leads the series 97-48 and has won 12 of the last 16 and 31 of the last 36 meetings.
- The Catamounts have won 16 in a row vs. the Wildcats at home with UNH's last win at Patrick Gym coming in 2000.
- The two teams finished tied for third in the conference standings at 11-5 but Vermont earned the No. 3 seed by virtue of its season sweep of UNH.
- The Catamounts held the Wildcats to just 30.2 percent shooting in the two games, a 66-50 win on Jan. 27 in Durham and a 73-67 victory on Feb. 24 in Burlington.
- This will be the sixth tourney meeting between the two programs.
- UVM has won all five previous meetings by an average of 14.2 points.