Bulldogs in action against first-time foe Denver Sunday

GAME NOTES

DENVER, Colo. -- Following an 11-day break for final exams, the Bryant University men's basketball team is back on the road for its final pre-holiday matchup, taking on the University of Denver Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Mountain Time at Magness Arena.

THE SERIES
This is the first time the Pioneers and the Bulldogs have met on the hardwood.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Denver is 5-6 on the 2014-15 season and will play its third game in five days Sunday. The Pioneers enter the contest fresh off a Friday night heartbreaker, 85-84, at the hands of Colorado State, but are 4-2 at home so far this year. Cam Griffin leads Denver in scoring (13.0 ppg) and on the glass (5.8 rpg), while Nate Engesser (12.5 ppg) and Brett Olson (11.4 ppg) also average double-figure scoring. The Pioneers are strong in spreading the ball around, averaging 16.1 assists per game as a team, but are less successful on the glass, averaging just 24.5 boards per contest. Denver is strong from the floor (48.7 percent) and from long range (39.8) and average 63.9 points each time out. Engesser leads the way in terms of accuracy from the field, converting 60.6 percent from the floor with an impressive 52.1 clip from beyond the arc. As a unit, the Pioneers rank in the nation's top-20 in 3-pointers per game (20th, 8.7), assist-to-turnover ratio (16th, 1.45) and 3-pointers made (15th, 96), while Engesser ranks ninth in the country in 3-point percentage.

BRYANT vs. THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
The Bulldogs have met up against a team from the Summit League just once before. Bryant hosted North Dakota State University at the Chace Athletic Center on Dec. 7, 2013 as part of the Gotham Classic. The Black and Gold dropped a 66-62 decision to the Bison and are 0-1 against the conference all-time.

SCORING FRENZY
The Bulldogs posted their highest scoring output of the season in a 80-73 win over Army Dec. 9 in the team's last contest. The victory also saw Bryant record its highest shooting percentage of the season (.500) with the most made field goals (28) and most steals (9) of 2014-15. Bryant never trailed in the victory.

ROAD RAGE
With their 80-73 win over Army in West Point, N.Y., last time out on Dec. 9, the Bulldogs earned the first road victory of the 2014-15 season and just the second win of the year.

SCOCCA SOARS
Sophomore bigman Andrew Scocca made the most of his career-high 26 minutes against Army, setting new career marks in points (11), rebounds (7), made baskets (4) and field goal attempts (7). Scocca registered double-digit points for the first time in his career and added two blocks for the second-straight contest, as the forward continues to press for more court time in 2014-15.

WARY OF WARE
Opposing defenses are starting to take notice of Bulldog rookie guard Hunter Ware, who picked up his second-consecutive career high last time out against the Black Knights. Ware dropped in 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor with a trio of triples one game after scoring 11 at intrastate rival Brown. Ware's 29 minutes against Army were also a career best and were complimented by three assists and a steal.

PARTY OF FIVE
For the first time all season, Bryant saw five players record double-digit points last Tuesday against Army. Senior guard Dyami Starks led the way with 23 points — his third 20-point performance in the last four outings — while rookie Hunter Ware added 17, sophomore Andrew Scocca collected 11 and both Dan Garvin and Joe O'Shea added 10.

THREES A CROWD
The Bulldogs took less than 20 three-point shots for the first time in their Dec. 9 victory over the Black Knights, firing off 18 from beyond the arc for an 8-of-18 clip (.444). Prior to the team's most recent contest, Bryant had not taken less than 21 triples in a game and Bulldog shooters have fired off 25 or more triples on four occasions in 2014-15, with a season-high 29 attempts coming at Brown Dec. 6. On the year, 42 percent of the Bulldogs' total shots have come from beyond the arc, with 41 percent of the team's scoring coming from the 3-point ball. Nationally, the Bulldogs rank 25th as a team in 3-pointers per game (8.6).

THE STATS ON STARKS
The leading scorer in the NEC and the team's leading scorer in each of the first seven games, senior guard Dyami Starks enters Sunday's contest ranked 26th in the nation at 19.6 points per game. A big part of his scoring prowess comes from his deadliness beyond the arc, from which the senior captain accounts for more than 59 percent (81) of his 137 points this season. In fact, Starks currently sits seventh in the national rankings for threes per game, draining 3.9 each time out. He also ranks 17th in free throw percentage (.917) and 36th in minutes per game (35.9).

HOLD ON TIGHT
As a team, the Bulldogs currently rank second in the nation in fewest turnovers, giving the ball away just 79 times. They rank 36th in the country and tops in the NEC with an 11.3 per game average and have boasted single-digit turnovers twice in the last four games.

BLOCKHEADS
Sophomore forward Dan Garvin set a new career high with five blocks Dec. 6 at intrastate rival Brown and became the first Bulldog to hit the mark since Ben Altit did so against Robert Morris during the 2011-12 season (Feb. 16, 2012). Sophomore forward Andrew Scocca added two more for a season-high seven as a team on the night. Scocca's two stuffs were the first blocks of his career, but the sophomore repeated the effort at Army three days later. Of the 19 total blocks recorded by the Bulldogs so far this season, 11 have come in the last two contests alone.

BENCH BULLETS
After seeing just 25 percent of scoring come off the bench through the first five games of the season, Bulldogs outside the starting five have upped their game in the last two tilts. Non-starters scored 26 of the team's 62 total points Dec. 6 against Brown and added 28 Dec. 9 at Army, totaling 38 percent of the team's points in the last two outings.

STARKS DRAINS 200TH TRIPLE
Bryant senior guard Dyami Starks landed on some round numbers in early December when he became the 50th player in NEC history to reach 200 career 3-pointers. He hit the mark in a seven-point setback to Yale on Wednesday, making 5-of-6 from beyond the arc to finish with a game-high 23 points. He added three more Dec. 6 at Brown and currently leads the NEC with 3.9 trifectas per contest, a figure that also ranks him seventh in the nation. With 210 trifectas over the course of his career at Bryant, Starks ranks 49th all-time in the conference. To reach the top-20 by year's end, the Minnesota native would need to hit just 29 more treys. Already, Starks is the program's Division I leader in threes and ranks sixth on the all-time list. He boasts 229 in total on his collegiate career.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs are off until New Year's Eve, when they return to Smithfield, R.I., for just their third home game of the season, hosting Dartmouth at the Chace Athletic Center at 1:00 p.m. The Dec. 31 tilt can be heard on WOON 1240 AM and seen live on NECFrontRow.com.