Bulldogs take on Big Green Wednesday (7p)

FULL GAME NOTES
Watch Online: dartmouthsports.com
Listen Online: dartmouthsports.com
Live Stats: dartmouthsports.com
Follow along on Twitter: @BryantGameday

THE PARTICULARS
The Bryant University men's basketball team takes on regional foe Dartmouth College for the third time in three years Wednesday night, traveling to Leede Arena in Hanover, N.H. for a 7:00 p.m. tip.

THE SERIES
The result of Wednesday's contest will break a 1-1 series tie dating back to the 2011-12 season, when the Big Green topped the Bulldogs in New Hampshire, 66-62, on Nov. 19. The Black and Gold returned the favor with a home win last season, 79-66, on Dec. 22.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Five players recorded double figures in Dartmouth's season-opening 106-61 victory over Division III Lyndon State, and the Big Green return nine of their top 10 scorers — including all of the team's top 5 — to the 2013-14 lineup. Gabas Maldunas and Alex Mitola each averaged more than 11 points per game in 2012-13, with the latter knocking down 65 of the team's 159 triples last season. Maldunas was the team's leading scorer (11.4) and rebounder (6.9) a year ago, and he led the team on the glass in the 2013-14 opener (7r). Tyler Melville returns as the team's most accurate shooter from the floor at 48.5 percent, while Connor Boehm contributes 5.4 rebounds per game with a .462 field goal percentage with 87.2 percent accuracy from the line. Malik Gill paced Dartmouth's offense against Lyndon State with 14 points.

BRYANT vs. THE IVY LEAGUE
Wednesday's matchup marks the first of four contests against members of the Ivy League in 2013-14 and is the third time these teams have met in the last three seasons. The Bulldogs beat both Dartmouth (79-66) and Brown (68-61) for the first time in program history last season. All-time, Bryant is 3-16 against the Ancient Eight in its short Division I history, having matched up against Columbia (0-3), Brown (1-4), Cornell (0-2), Harvard (0-2), Yale (1-4) and Dartmouth (1-1) over the last five seasons. In the history of the program, the Bulldogs are just 3-23 against Ivy League opponents, most frequently matching up with intrastate rival Brown (1-11).

CURRENT BULLDOGS vs. THE BIG GREEN
Nine of Bryant's 16 current players have faced Dartmouth at least once in a Bulldog uniform, and they have performed quite well against the Ivy League foe. The nine returning Bulldogs have shot a combined 33-of-59 (.559) against the Big Green in two games over the last two seasons, going an impressive 21-of-23 (.913) from the line while totaling 94 points and 40 rebounds. Seven Bulldogs — including senior Alex Francis — are perfect from the line against Dartmouth and four have shot 50 percent or better from the floor. Francis (13.5), Corey Maynard (13.0), Dyami Starks (12.0) and Joe O'Shea (10.0) all average double figures against the Big Green.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs return to Smithfield to open their home schedule with a Saturday night showdown against the University of Vermont Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Chace Athletic Center.

DYAMI DYNAMITE
Junior sharpshooter Dyami Starks looked quite at home in the Kennel in Spokane, Wash., dropping a career-high 35 points on the 15th-ranked team in the nation Saturday in the Bulldogs' season opener against Gonzaga. The Preseason All-NEC pick also set new career marks in field goals made and attempted, going 13-for-22 from the floor to earn the season's first Choice Hotels/Northeast Conference Co-Player of the Week honor. Starks scored 29 of his 35 points in the second frame, converting 10-of-12 from the field — including 3-of-4 from long distance — and hitting 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final 20 minutes. The performance marked his first-career 30-point game.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
Another milestone, anyway, for senior forward Alex Francis, who scored his 1,500th-career point during a 13-point performance against the 15th-ranked Zags in Saturday's opener. The unanimous Preseason All-NEC pick and 2012-13 first teamer enters Wednesday's game with 1,503 career points.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING?
Senior forward Alex Francis has the potential to become the first player in Northeast Conference history to score 2,000 points and pull down 1,000 rebounds in a career. An All-NEC First Teamer last season, he enters Wednesday's game with 1,503 career points and 732 career rebounds and currently ranks 62nd on the Northeast Conference all-time career scoring list. Francis is the NEC's active scoring leader and currently ranks second in career rebounds among all active players on the league circuit.

Francis has boasted back-to-back 500-point campaigns, but will need to post a career season on the glass (272) to hit the mark. A former NEC Rookie of the Year and potential Player of the Year candidate as a senior, Francis finished the 2012-13 season ranked in the NEC's top five in scoring average (5th, 17.4 ppg), rebounding average (3rd, 8.6 rpg), shooting percentage (3rd, .569) and double-doubles (2nd, 10), while his field goal accuracy also ranked 21st in the nation among all Division I players. He also set Division I program records for single-season field goals (205), single-season rebounds (260), shooting percentage in a game (.917) and rebounds in a game (18) as a junior.

LEADER OF THE PACK
In addition to Alex Francis's top rankings on the NEC active lists, senior guard Corey Maynard also makes an appearance among the league's active leaders in both rebounding and assists. With 332 career boards and 247 career dimes, Maynard ranks seventh and fifth on the active leader lists, respectively.

1,000 REASONS...
After leading the Bulldogs in nearly every offensive statistic and setting the program's Division I mark for points in a season, junior sharpshooter Dyami Starks could become the third player in a two-year span to join the 1,000-point club. He enters Wednesday's contest the season with 671 career points, 88 of those coming during his freshman campaign at Columbia (2010-11). Starks would need to average 11.0 points per game — well below both his Bryant (18.2) and career (12.9) scoring average — to eclipse the milestone by the end of the 2013-14 regular season.

THE CENTURY MARK
Against No. 15 Gonzaga Saturday, Bryant allowed its opponent to hit triple digits for the first time since December 22, 2011, when the Bulldogs fell to the University of Arizona, 100-60, in Tuscon, Ariz.

TICKET TO RIDE
Single-game and season ticket packages are still available for the 2013-14 Bryant University men's and women's basketball seasons. Fans can purchase tickets online at bryantbulldogs.com/tickets or by calling the Bryant Athletics Ticket Office at 401-319-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 2013-14. NEC Front Row brings viewers an industry-leading video streaming solution for more than 100 Bryant University home contests during the 2013-14 athletic seasons, including live, free-of-charge broadcasts of all Bulldog home and in-conference road men's basketball games. Live event productions include multiple camera angles, an on-screen scoreboard and state-of-the-art graphics. Visit necfrontrow.com for more information and a schedule of events.

BRYANT HOOPS ON WOON RADIO
For the sixth-consecutive season, all Bryant University basketball home games and select road contests can be heard LIVE on WOON 1240 AM and online at bryantbulldogs.com. Veteran sportscaster Jon Wallach of 98.5 FM The Sports Hub Boston returns to call the action as the voice of the Bulldogs, alongside color analyst Tristan Hobbes.