BOSTON – Men’s #AEHoops conference play gets underway Saturday with four contests. Check out our conference notes and team-by-team capsules to get a primer on what to expect ahead of this weekend.
All games during conference play can be found on ESPN+ or ESPN3 on the AE on ESPN Home Page in the United States. Fans located internationally can watch all the action on AmericaEast.TV.
| Saturday, January 6 |
|
| UMass Lowell at UNH |
12:00 PM |
| Bryant at UMBC |
1:00 PM |
| Maine at Vermont |
2:00 PM |
| UAlbany at NJIT |
2:00 PM |
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
This season #AEHoops teams have combined for 68 non-league wins, which is the most for the league since the 2008-09 season. Overall teams have racked up an impressive .540 win percentage as seven different programs own a record over .500. It's first time in league history seven teams have accomplished the feat in non-conference action.
ABOVE .500
The America East is one of 11 conferences nationwide to have at least 75% of its teams own a record above .500. They’re one of just five mid major conferences to accomplish the feat this season, alongside the Atlantic-10, Ivy League, Missouri Valley Conference and Mountain West Conference.
CONFERENCE RANKINGS
UMass Lowell leads all America East programs with a NET rating of 119, followed by Vermont (135), New Hampshire (153) and Bryant (175) all in the top 200. UAlbany (212), Maine (226) and Binghamton (256) are all in the top 300. Bryant has played a league-high five opponents currently ranked in the top 100 of NET, while Binghamton, New Hampshire and NJIT have played three such games. In Ken Pom, Vermont has the highest rank at 127, followed by UMass Lowell (145) and Bryant (188) in the top 200.
HOME SWEET HOME
Three different programs are undefeated at home this season, led by Binghamton at 6-0, while New Hampshire is 5-0 and UAlbany is 4-0. All nine programs own a home record over .500 so far this year, and four have just a single loss.
CATAMOUNT COUNTRY
Reigning league champion Vermont is 10-5 this season and has won 15 straight games against conference opponents. The Catamounts have also won 22 straight games against conference opponents at home. Their last conference loss at home was in the 2020-21 #AEHoops Semifinals against Hartford.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Through eight weeks of #AEHoops action, seven different players from five different schools have been named Player of the Week. Bryant’s Earl Timberlake is the only repeat winner, and has claimed two of the past three awards. UAlbany, Binghamton, UMBC and New Hampshire have also won the award.
BLOCK PARTY
Bryant currently ranks fifth in the nation with 6.3 blocks per game. Daniel Rivera leads the team with 2.1 blocks per game, while Earl Timberlake (1.4) and Connor Withers (1.2) both average over 1.0 block per contest.
THREE-POINT DEFENSE
The America East has three different programs which rank among the top-20 in the nation in three-point percentage defense. UMass Lowell is the best in the nation at defending the three, allowing teams to shoot just 25.2 percent from beyond the arc. UNH is 10th at 26.8 percent while UAlbany is 16th at 27.4 percent.
A HELPING HAND
Binghamton’s Symir Torrence leads the conference and ranks fifth in the nation with 7.2 assists per game. Torrence has also dished off 10+ assists on two occasions this season.
TEAM CAPSULES
UMass Lowell (9-4)
The River Hawks sit atop the conference standings heading in league action for the second straight year. They currently lead the league in both scoring offense (80.8) and scoring defense (64.8), though they've only broken the 80-point barrier twice against Division I opponents. Ayinde Hikim leads the team with 16.8 points and 5.0 assister per game, while Cam Morris III has come on strong with 11.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Max Brooks anchors the defense with 10.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.2 steals per game.
Vermont (10-5)
Despite playing on the road five of its last six games the Catamounts went 3-3 over that span. UVM is ranked second in scoring defense at 64.9 points and has only allowed more than 72 points three times this season. Newcomer TJ Long leads the team in scoring at 13.1 points and ranks second in the league with 37 threes. He is also one of six players averaging at least 8.4 points per game. In 11 games, Shamir Bogues has been impressive with 11.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game.
New Hampshire (8-5)
The Wildcats are off to their best start since 2016-17 under new head coach Nathan Davis. They rank fourth in scoring offense (78.2), and first in threes per game (10.2) with five players averaging more than one make per game. Clarence Daniels leads the league in scoring (19.8) while ranking second in rebounding (9.2). Ahmad Robinson has been a spark plug for the offense with 15.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. Jaxson Baker is also in double figures at 10.1 points per game.
Binghamton (8-5)
A 4-1 mark in December propelled the Bearcats over .500 and they currently rank fourth in the league in both scoring defense (70.9) and scoring margin (4.8). The duo of newcomers Symir Torrence and Tymu Chenery has been the key for this turnaround. Torrence leads the team in both assists (7.2) and rebounds (6.0) while scoring 9.2 points per game. Chenery is averaging a team-best 14.8 points per game, to go along with 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.
Bryant (8-7)
The Bulldogs have played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the league, facing four teams ranked in the top 60 of NET rating and going 1-3 in those games with a win over FAU. They still rank second in the league in scoring (79.5) with four players averaging double figures. Sherif Gross-Bullock leads the team with 17.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 38.1 percent from three. Earl Timberlake does it all for Bryant with 13.0 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.
Maine (8-7)
Despite dropping three straight on the road, the Black Bears are 8-7 overall with their first non-conference winning record since 2003-04. Maine ranks last in scoring offense (68.8) but is third in scoring defense (66.3). Three players are averaging double figures, led by Peter Filipovity at 13.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Guards Kellen Tynes and Jaden Clayton have been dynamic together, averaging 21.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 3.5 steals per game this season.
UAlbany (8-7)
The Great Danes posted their best non-conference record since 2017-18 with an impressive 4-0 home record at the brand new Broadview Center. They rank fifth in scoring (77.0) and sixth in scoring defense (74.6), as well as second in offensive rebounding (11.7). Sebastian Thomas leads the team with 17.9 points and 4.3 assists per game, while Jonathan Beagle is putting up 13.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Amar’e Marshall is also in double figures at 15.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
UMBC (5-10)
The Retrievers have dropped five straight but are 4-3 at home this season. They are third in the conference in scoring (79.0), but rank last in scoring defense at (84.0). UMBC is second in three-point percentage, shooting 36.9 percent from beyond the arc on 8.3 makes per game. Four players are scoring in double figures, led by Dion Brown at 16.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Khydarius Smith is second on the team in scoring (12.9) and rebounding (4.3).
NJIT (4-8)
Over the last month the Highlanders have won three of five games, including two straight. They’re averaging 72.1 points per game and rank seventh in scoring defense (75.8). Four players are averaging in double figures, led by Adam Hess at 12.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 44.4 percent from downtown. Elijah Buchanan is also averaging 12.7 points as well as a team-high 6.3 rebounds. Freshman Sebastian Robinson is dishing off a team-high 3.8 assists with 9.2 points per game.
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