Men's Basketball

#AEHoops Preview - Jan. 2: Men's League Play Begins!

#AEHoops men's play begins today with a pair of conference games. Two women's games also take place.

Jan. 2
Men's Matchups
NJIT at Maine, 2 p.m. - ESPN3
  • This is the third matchup between the Black Bears and Highlanders as conference opponents after the two teams split a pair of games last season.
  • NJIT hasn't played since Dec. 12 while Maine fell at Rutgers on Dec. 30. 
  • NJIT's Dylan O'Hearn is the league's leading scorier entering conference play averaging 17.9 points per game. He's averaging a league-best 2.8 three-pointers per game.
  • LeChaun DuHart leads Maine scoring 8.8 points per game.
 
UMass Lowell at Binghamton, 2 p.m. - ESPN+
  • UMass Lowell enters league play with an 8-4 record, it's best ever non-conference mark at the Division I level. 
  • Winners of three of their last four games, the River Hawks tout road wins at Dayton and George Washington.
  • Binghamton has not played since Dec. 11 due to COVID-19 issues. 
  • UML has won eight of the last 10 meetings, including both last year.
  • Leading scorers in the game are Binghamton's Dan Petcash (11.3 ppg) and UMass Lowell's Everette Hammond (11.3 ppg).
Postponed games
UAlbany at Vermont
UMBC at New Hampshire
Stony Brook at Hartford


Women’s Matchups
NJIT at Maine – 2 p.m. – ESPN+
  • The all-time series is tied 2-2 with Maine winning each of the two meetings in 2020-21 including its conference home opener.
  • The Black Bears have won their last six home openers in conference play.
  • NJIT’s six wins are the most since the 2018-19 season.
  • The Highlanders became just the second team this season to beat Stony Brook and recorded their first win over a Power-5 program in school history with a win over Wisconsin earlier this year.
  • Maine won its fifth conference opener and sixth in the last seven years on Thursday.
 
Hartford at Stony Brook – 2 p.m. – ESPN+
  • Hartford holds the all-time advantage 32-14, but Stony Brook swept the 2020-21 season series.
  • The Hawks have won 12 of 19 meetings on Long Island.
  • With wins over Rutgers and Washington State this season, the Seawolves became the first #AEHoops team to beat two Power-5 teams in the same season since Maine in 2015-16.
  • The Seawolves have won their first home game of the conference season in each of the previous two seasons and have not started league play 0-2 since 2017-18.
  • In her first season as head coach, Melissa Hodgdon is seeking her first win.

Postponed Games
Binghamton at UMass Lowell
New Hampshire at UMBC
Vermont at UAlbany