Bulldogs take on SHU on road Thursday

BULLDOGS TRAVEL TO SACRED HEART THURSDAY NIGHT (7 P.M.) IN SEARCH OF NINTH-STRAIGHT VICTORY

FULL GAME NOTES
Watch: NECfrontrow.com
Live Stats: sacredheartpioneers.com
Follow along on Twitter: @BryantGameday

THE PARTICULARS
Bryant returns to the road in search of its ninth-consecutive victory and seventh road win of the season, heading to Fairfield, Conn., to take on Sacred Heart at the Pitt Center Thursday night (7 p.m.). The Bulldogs have taken their only DI victory over the Pioneers on the road, and the Black and Gold look to remain unbeaten in NEC action in 2012-13.

THE SERIES
The Bulldogs have matched up against the Pioneers more than any other team in the Northeast Conference with the exception of Quinnipiac, and Sacred Heart holds a 15-9 advantage in an all-time series that dates back to the 1965-66 season. Sacred Heart and Bryant first faced off in the programs' Division II days, where 16 of the 24 contests between these sides took place. In eight Division I meetings, Bryant has won only once, a 72-59 victory on the road January 15, 2011. The Bulldogs have never topped the Pioneers at home in the Division I era, and Sacred Heart swept the 2011-12 season series, edging out the Black and Gold, 79-77, at home three days before taking a 72-46 win at the Chace Athletic Center.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
The Bulldogs will face the league's second-leading scorer on his own home court in Shane Gibson, who averages 19 points per game in 2012-13, good for 27th in the nation. Gibson shots 42.2 percent from 3-point range (46-109) and 43.6 percent from the floor with a 51-of-58 mark from the line to lead Sacred Heart on the year. Louis Montes, whose 6.7 rebounds per contest are a side best, has eight blocks and 19 steals to compliment 13.2 points per game as well, while Steve Glowiak also chips in double-digit figures at 10.4 points per outing. Phil Gaetano has dished out 125 helpers in 17 starts, averaging 7.4 assists per game to rank sixth among all Division I players in the category. As a team, the Pioneers are shooting at a 42.9 percent clip with a 35.1 percent mark beyond the arc. Sacred Heart sits just two games back on the Bulldogs with a 4-2 conference mark and is 6-11 overall, having won four of its last six games.

LAST TIME AGAINST SACRED HEART (February 11, 2012)
Just three days after taking the Pioneers down to the wire in Fairfield, Conn., the Bulldogs couldn't keep Shane Gibson in check on their home court as the SHU leading scorer dropped in 34 points to lead Sacred Heart to a 72-46 NEC Rivalry Week victory. Alex Francis picked up his seventh double-double of the season in the game with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, but Bryant shots just 36 percent from the field and turned the ball over 21 times. The Pioneers shot 56.8 percent in the contest, paced by an 11-of-17 performance from Gibson. The Bulldogs took the early edge in the outing, but a 17-4 run to finish off the first frame gave SHU a 34-20 lead at the halftime break. The visitors would start the second hot, shooting 70 percent for a 54-31 advantage from which the host Black and Gold could never recover, eventually sweeping the season series with the 72-46 win.

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Bulldogs are 6-0 against the Northeast Conference in 2012-13 with a 21-53 record against current league members since joining the Division I ranks. All-time against current NEC members, the Bulldog basketball program is 49-107 (.314), having most frequently faced off against former Northeast-10 Conference (DII) member Quinnipiac (18-42).

QUICK HITS
» Pushing the Limit: Bryant's 82-59 win over Wagner Saturday afternoon marked just the second time the Seahawks have let up 80 points this season. The first time came on the road against then No. 8 Syracuse on Nov. 18 (88-57 loss).
» Lucky No. 13: The Bulldogs keep improving on their Division I single-season wins record, picking up their 13th victory of the year at home against the Seahawks last time out. Bryant has now won more games this season than in the last three campaigns combined (12).
» That's Gr8: Bryant enters Thursday's game riding an eight-game winning streak dating back to Dec. 22, 2012. The run marks the program's most consecutive victories in the DI era. The team is also the winner of 13 of the last 15.
» Record Watch: A win against Sacred Heart would earn the Bulldogs their seventh NEC victory of the season, tying the program's Division I single-season record of seven league victories, established in 2010-11.
» 20's Plenty: The Bulldogs' margin of victory over Wagner Saturday afternoon was 23 points, the largest victory of the year and the third time the team has won by 20 points or more in 2012-13 (78-58 at Saint Francis U. Jan. 5 and 78-56 vs. Binghamton Dec. 8).
» Movin' On Up: The Bulldogs have now been ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 for a full month, and in their fourth-straight appearance on the list move up four spots to No. 17 this week. Bryant first cracked the prestigious list at No. 25 on Dec. 31 for the first time program history and has spent the last two weeks at No. 21. The Black and Gold are the only NEC team to appear in the poll.
» Tremendous Turnaround: Bryant is the most improved team in the nation when it comes to pure win turnaround, as the Bulldogs already boast 11 more wins in 2012-13 than it had a season ago. The next best in terms of win improvement? Towson, at nine.
» RPI Update: The Bulldogs jumped up eight places in this week's RPI rankings as well, now sitting at No. 106 and still the highest of any NEC team.
» Bracketology Breakthrough: Bryant appears on ESPN's Bracketology with Joe Lunardi for the second-straight week and has moved from a 16 seed to a 15 seed.
» And Then There Was One: Bryant is the last remaining unbeaten in the Northeast Conference, with a 6-0 start to the league slate. 

ROAD WARRIORS
Entering this week's action, Bryant is third in the nation when it comes to true road wins, taking six victories on unfriendly courts. Albany leads the way with eight, while Stony Brook, Bucknell and Oral Roberts each boast seven road wins. Bryant is next on the list, tied with 12 other teams with six road victories in 2012-13. Bryant's six victories on opposing territory already trump the team's road-win total from the last three seasons combined (4) and is just a single true road win shy to tying all previous road victories at the Division I level (7 since 2008-09).

DOUBLE OR NOTHING
Junior forward Alex Francis recorded his fourth double-double of the season and 20th of his career Saturday against the Seahawks, picking up 12 points with a game-best 10 rebounds. Notably, Francis did so without the benefit of points from the line, as the forward was not awarded a single free throw in the contest. The last time Francis never stepped to the charity stripe during the course of a game came at home on January 23, 2012 against intrastate rival Brown. Saturday's game was just the fourth time in his career he hasn't shot a single free throw, also avoiding the line January 22, 2011 at home against Monmouth and Nov. 24, 2010 at home against Harvard, when the Bulldogs as a team were awarded zero free throws.

HIGH FIVE
For the fourth-consecutive home game, five different Bulldogs posted double-digit points Saturday afternoon against Wagner. Junior guard Corey Maynard, senior guard Frankie Dobbs, junior forward Alex Francis, sophomore guard Dyami Starks and sophomore forward Joe O'Shea all finished with more than 10 points against the Seahawks for the second-straight game after also doing so Thursday night against Mount St. Mary's. At home against Quinnipiac Jan. 10, all five Bryant starters achieved the feat (Vlad Kondratyev instead of O'Shea), while the aforementioned five each posted double figures for the first time Dec. 22 against Dartmouth.

50/50
For the seventh time this season, the Bulldogs shot better than 50 percent from the floor Saturday against the Seahawks, hitting 56.3 percent of their shots (27-48). Bryant also shot better than 50 percent in both halves for the sixth time in 2012-13 (.556; .571) and converted 50 percent or better from 3-point range for the fourth time this season (vs. Binghamton, at Robert Morris, vs. Quinnipiac, vs. Wagner).

LEADER OF THE PACK
Two of just six active 1,000-point scorers in the Northeast Conference, both Alex Francis and Frankie Dobbs rank near the top of multiple NEC active leaders lists. Entering this week's action, Francis and Dobbs are fifth (1237) and sixth (1058), respectively, among active scoring leaders, while the former sits fifth on the depth chart for total career rebounds (607), third in 20-point games (20) and fourth in 30-point games (2). With 417, Dobbs sits third among active players for career assists and is 10th among active players for 20-point games (10).

TICKET TO RIDE
Single-game and season ticket packages are still available for the 2012-13 men's and women's basketball seasons. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.bryantbulldogs.com/tickets or by calling the Bryant Athletics Ticket Office at 401-519-TIXX.

CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE GAME?
Bryant University Athletics and the Northeast Conference have partnered with Pack Network to create NEC Front Row, the home for all NEC men's and women's basketball broadcasts in 2012-13. NEC Front Row brings viewers an industry-leading video streaming solution for more than 100 Bryant University home contests during the 2012-13 athletic seasons, including live, free-of-charge broadcasts of all 15 Bulldog home men's basketball games. Live event productions include multiple camera angles, an on-screen scoreboard and state-of-the-art graphics. Visit www.necfrontrow.com for more information and a schedule of events.

UP NEXT
Bryant returns home this Saturday to host two-time defending NEC champion LIU Brooklyn at the Chace Athletic Center in the second half of a men's/women's doubleheader. Tipoff is slated for 4:00 p.m.