Bulldogs take on Fighting Irish Sunday (2p)

BULLDOGS TAKE ON TOUGHEST OPPONENT YET, PLAY BIG EAST MEMBER NOTRE DAME SUNDAY AT 2 P.M. IN SOUTH BEND

Game Notes
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Bryant University men's basketball ­wraps up its season-opening six-game road stretch with arguably its toughest opponent to date in BIG EAST foe the University of Notre Dame Sunday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center in South Bend, Ind. The 2 p.m. contest marks the first of two BIG EAST matchups for the Bulldogs on the 2011-12 season, as Bryant looks for its second win of the year to wrap up November action.

THE SERIES
This is the first-ever meeting between the Bulldogs and the Fighting Irish. Sunday's game is the 12th time Bryant has faced off against the BIG EAST Conference in program history, but the first against Notre Dame.

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH
Notre Dame enters Sunday's contest having lost two in a row on back-to-back days at the Progressive CBE Classic in Kansas City, Mo., first to No. 21/21 Missouri, 87-58, on Nov. 21 in the tournament semifinals and then to unranked Georgia, 61-57, Nov. 22 in the consolation game. The latest hit for the Irish came Friday afternoon with the loss of fifth-year senior co-captain Tim Abromaitis to a torn right ACL, and Notre Dame will take on the Bulldogs in its first outing without the preseason all-conference first teamer since the injury. Still, the Irish are a perfect 4-0 at home this season and are led by 14.8 points per game from sophomore Eric Atkins and 13.7 ppg from six-game starter Jerian Grant. The duo are two of five Notre Dame players averaging double-digits points, including Abromaitis's 14.0 ppg. On the glass, 6-foot-9 junior Jack Cooley paces the team, pulling in 8.0 boards per game in six starts, averagin 22.3 minutes per game. Grant's 56.8 percent shooting (25-44) is a team high, and he also leads the Irish from beyond the arc, converting at team-most 11-of-19 attempts for a a 57.9 clip. As a unit, Notre Dame shoots 43.5 percent from the floor and 36.6 percent from downtown while averaging 70.2 points per game and 43.3 boards per outing.

BRYANT vs. THE BIG EAST
The Bulldogs look for their first-ever win over a BIG EAST program Sunday in South Bend, having gone 0-11 against the conference all time. Bryant will match up against two BIG EAST foes in 2011-12, taking on instate rival Providence College on Dec. 10. Notre Dame marks the sixth member of the BIG EAST the Bulldogs have taken on in their history, but last met up with the league in 2009-10.

Bryant came closest to conquering this David vs. Goliath-type matchup back on November 1, 2006, when the Black and Gold played Syracuse to a 92-86 battle at the Carrier Dome, an exhibition outing that ending in the Orange just edging out the Bulldogs in the last minutes of the game. Bryant has never played a BIG EAST team at home.

Bryant all time against BIG EAST members
vs. UConn (0-5)
Nov. 11, 2004: 90-65 L*
Nov. 3, 2005: 109-62 L*
Nov. 6, 2006: 70-45 L*
Nov. 4, 2007: 100-65 L*
Nov. 29, 2008: 88-58 L

vs. Syracuse (0-1)
Nov. 1, 2006: 92-86 L*

vs. Providence (0-3)
Dec. 21, 1994: 85-60 L
Dec. 22, 2008: 81-64 L
Nov. 13, 2009: 96-53 L

vs. Rutgers (0-1)
Dec. 20, 2008: 67-37 L

vs. St. John's (0-1)
Dec. 23, 2009: 80-44 L

* denotes exhibition game

COMMON DENOMINATOR
Bryant and Notre Dame have three opponents in common on their 2011-12 schedules, including one from each of the team's home conference. The Irish will host Northeast Conference member Sacred Heart on Dec. 19, while the Bulldogs will travel to the Dunkin' Donuts Center Dec. 10 for a meeting with Providence College. Both teams also take on Ivy League foe Dartmouth on the year, the Bulldogs already having lost to the Big Green, 66-62, last Saturday on the road.

NOTABLE NOTATIONS
>> Sophomore Alex Francis has recorded 20+ points in three of the Bulldogs' five games so far this season. He owns three of the team's five such efforts in 2011-12 and has met or passed the 20-point marker nine times in his career. Junior Frankie Dobbs (24 points) and sophomore Corey Maynard (21 points) are responsible of the other 20-point outings this season.

>> Bryant outrebounded the Black Knights by 13 despite the loss Tuesday on the road, the second time the Bulldogs bested their opponents on the glass in 2011-12. The 43-30 margin is the largest of the year and upped the team's rebounding margin from -5.5 to -1.8, a jump of 3.7 rebounds per game.

>> Tip Top: Bryant has won four of five opening tips on the 2011-12 season.

>> The Bulldogs have twice been within a single point at the halftime break this season, but took a halftime lead into the locker room for the first time Tuesday night at Army, edging the Black Knights at the break, 36-31.

>> The Bulldogs are shooting well from the floor, 44.0 percent, and have been strong from beyond the arc at 35.2 percent, but they have had trouble controlling the shooting of their opponents, who convert at a 48.2 percent clip from the field and with 40.2 percent accuracy from long distance. Bryant's field goal precentage and 3-point field goal percentage defense ranks 11th and 10th in the Northeast Conference, respectively, and the Bulldogs will need to improve to get back on the side of winning.

DOUBLING DOWN
Alex Francis has recorded a double-double twice in five games on the young 2011-12 campaign and now boasts 10 on his young career. The sophomore put up 16 points and 10 rebounds in Bryant's second game of the season in a win over UC Davis at the Basketball Travelers Classic in San Diego, Calif., and collected his second double-double in the Bulldogs' last outing at Army Tuesday night with 20 points and a career-high 14 boards, despite seeing a near season-low 28 minutes of action.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP HERE
The Bulldogs are led on the year by a potent sophomore class that is responsible for over 50 percent of Bryant's scoring and rebounding. The three-member class represents 59.5 percent of the team's 338 points scored (201 points) and 52.2 percent of its work on the glass (83 rebounds). The Black and Gold are led in both categories by sophomore forward Alex Francis.

END OF THE ROAD
The Bulldogs start the season with six-straight road contests in 2011-12, a stretch that ends Sunday afternoon against the University of Notre Dame. Bryant enters the game 1-4 on its current road run that will encapsulate the entire month of November action. Still, the Bulldogs appear in competition within the friendly confines of the Chace Athletic Center just once — the December 1 NEC opener against Central Connecticut — before returning to the highways for five more consecutive outings, putting the team's season-opening total away from home at 11 of its first 12 games. This is the longest road start for the Bryant men's basketball program not just since joining the Division I ranks in 2008-09, but in recent memory, stretching back to the early 1980s.

THREE'S COMPANY
While it is still early in the season, the Bulldogs are manufacturing 3-pointers in impressive fashion. The Black and Gold have received treys from six different sources and more than 45 percent of the team's shot selection has come from beyond the arc. Bryant is converting those takes at a rate of 35.2 percent — a mark that has dropped in each of the last two games after a hot start. The Bulldogs are led by the accuracy of such players as junior point guard Frankie Dobbs (45.2 percent) and junior shooting guard Raphael Jordan (52.4 percent). Of the Bulldogs' 338 points so far this season, 39.1 percent of them — or 132 points — have come courtesy of the three. Of the guards who have averaged at least eight minutes per game, only 33.3 percent of shots taken have come from inside the 3-point line.

ALEX THE GREAT
Now-sophomore and reigning NEC Rookie of the Year Alex Francis is picking up right where he left off after a freshman season that saw him lead the Bulldogs in nearly every offensive category and finish in the top 10 of five different categories on the Northeast Conference circuit. Already in 2011-12, Francis ranks in the league's top 12 on six lists, including field goal percentage (seventh), rebounding (fourth) and minutes (12th). But none of his sophomore numbers are more impressive than his 19.8 points per game through five contests, an average that ranks fourth among all NEC players and sits atop the Bulldog stat sheet. Francis has already recorded two double-doubles and a trio of 20+-point performances and was named to the season-opening Basketball Travelers Classic All-Tournament Team.

FREE AND EASY
Alex Francis took nearly 200 trips to the free throw line as a rookie in 2010-11, among the most fouled players in the Northeast Conference. But the forward converted on just 52 percent of those opportunities (103-198). In 2011-12, though, the now-sophomore has already improved significantly from the charity stripe, posting a.700 shooting percentage from the free throw line while accounting for 42 percent of the team's points from the line. Only five Bulldogs in total have earned free throw opportunities this season, and Australian-born sophomores Claybrin McMath and Corey Maynard lead Bryant with 100 percent (4-4) and 80 percent (8-10) accuracy, respectively.

BRYANT IN FINAL YEAR OF DIVISION I TRANSITION
Bryant University enters its fourth and final season of the mandatory Division I transition period in 2011-2012, also marking the final year in which the Bulldogs will be ineligible for the postseason. The 2011-12 campaign is the program's fourth competing at the DI level and third playing within the Northeast Conference (NEC). Bryant is set to become the 12th full member of the NEC upon completion of Division I Athletic Certification this summer and is slated to formerly join the NEC for the 2012-13 season. Until the completion of its current four-year transition period, the Bulldogs are not eligible for NCAA or conference postseason tournament play, but are eligible for weekly and postseason NEC honors. Bryant will also be included in the conference standings for the third-straight season.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs open their 2011-12 home slate with their first Northeast Conference contest of the season, hosting Central Connecticut at the Chace Athletic Center on December 1 at 7:00 p.m. The 2011-12 NEC opener will be aired on MSG+ and on Cox Sports in Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut.