Bulldogs host intrastate rival Brown TODAY at 4 p.m.

FULL GAME NOTES
Watch: NECFrontRow.com
Listen: WOON 1240 AM
Live Stats: bryantbulldogs.com
Follow along on Twitter: @BryantGameday

THE PARTICULARS
The Bryant University men's basketball team returns to the Chace Athletic Center for a 4:00 p.m. matchup against intrastate rival Brown on Thanksgiving Eve.

THE SERIES
This is the 13th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Bears and the sixth since Bryant went Division I. Brown has dominated the all-time series and leads, 11-1, but the Bulldogs came out on top in the teams' most recent faceoff, a 68-61 Bryant victory at the Pizzitola Center last season.

SCOUTING THE BEARS
Sean McGonagill paces Brown with 20 points per game on the young season and leads four Bears who average double figures. Among them is Rafael Maia (10.6 ppg), who also paces the team on the glass at 8.6 boards each time out. Dockery Walker (9.8 ppg) and Norman Hobbie (10.8 ppg) are the team's most accurate shooters at 65.4 percent and 63.6 percent, respectively, while the squad as a whole converts with 45.4 percent accuracy from the floor. The Bears average 79.2 points per contest and hold opponents just under 70 points per game on a 4-1 start, having earned wins over Binghamton, Sacred Heart, UMass Lowell and Longwood with the final three coming on the road. Brown pulls down 42.4 rebounds per outing and converts at a 41.8 percent clip from long range, paced by Hobbie's 13-for-21 mark. 

CURRENT BULLDOGS vs. THE WILDCATS
Six of Bryant's 16 current players have faced off against Brown in prior seasons, but only seniors Alex Francis, Corey Maynard and Claybrin McMath have done so more than once. In three career matchups, Francis averages 18.7 points per game while Maynard chips in 8.3 over the three-game stretch. McMath has appeared against the Bears twice  to average 4.5 points per outing. Junior Dyami Starks dropped a game-high 25 last time these teams faced off, and returning Bulldogs  accounted for 53 of the team's 68 points from last season's victory.

BRYANT vs. THE IVY LEAGUE
The pre-Thanksgiving mashup marks the third of four contests against members of the Ivy League in 2013-14 and is the sixth time these teams have met in the Bulldogs' Division I era. Bryant is 1-1 against Ivy League opponents so far this season after topping Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., 87-77, Nov. 13 and falling at Harvard, 86-68, a week ago. All-time, Bryant is 4-17 against the Ancient Eight in its short Division I history, having matched up against Columbia (0-3), Brown (1-4), Cornell (0-2), Harvard (0-3), Yale (1-4) and Dartmouth (2-1) over the last five seasons. In the history of the program, the Bulldogs are just 4-24 against Ivy League opponents, most frequently matching up against intrastate rival Brown (1-11)

WHO TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS?
Bryant's 60-55 win at America East rival New Hampshire on Sunday did not come without its glitches. The game saw a 48-minute interruption with only 3:35 left to play in the contest when the entire UNH campus lost power. The Bulldogs, who were leading, 54-50, at the outage, held on for the five-point victory.

SHOOTING GALLERY
The Bulldogs have been outshot by their opponents in all five games this season, with the biggest shot discrepancy coming against the Wildcats Sunday afternoon. UNH took 66 shots to Bryant's just 42, but it was the Black and Gold who came away with the victory.

I'LL TAKE MY CHANCES
Bryant currently leads the Northeast Conference in shooting percentage and is the only school in the league to convert more than 50 percent of its shots. The Bulldogs' accuracy from the floor as a team is .504 entering Wednesday's contest with the league's No. 2 shooting team, Wagner, far behind at 43.3 percent. Nationally, the Bulldogs are 34th in team shooting percentage.

FRANCIS, STARKS AMONG THE NATION'S ELITE
Speaking of national leaders, Bryant boasts two players with numbers among the nation's elite. Senior Alex Francis leads the NEC in individual shooting percentage, hitting 31 of his 45 shots on the year for a 68.9 percent clip that ranks 13th in Division I. Meanwhile, junior sharpshooter Dyami Starks remains in the nation's top-10 for scoring, averaging 26.0 points per game to mark a league best and rank 10th among all DI players. Starks also ranks in the top 50 in 3-pointers made (37th) and minutes played (37th) and paces the NEC in the latter (36.2 minutes per game).

LUCKY NO. 13
Just 11 days after picking up th 1500th point of his career, senior forward Alex Francis reached yet another milestone November 20, pulling in his 750th career rebound. In doing so, Francis became just the 13th player in Northeast Conference history to reach 1,500 points and 750 boards in his career. Francis, who has amassed 1,573 points and 763 rebounds so far in his three-plus years donning the Black and Gold, joins select company, including NEC Hall of Famers Rik Smits and Desi Wilson.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING
In what has already been a season filled with milestones, senior forward Alex Francis has one more historic height to reach. With 1573 points and 763 rebounds, Francis has the potential to become the first player in NEC history to score 2,000 points and pull down 1,000 rebounds in a career. An All-NEC First Teamer last season and unanimous Preseason All-NEC pick, he will need to average 16.4 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per outing to hit those marks before the conclusion of the regular season.

A former NEC Rookie of the Year and potential Player of the Year candidate this season, Francis has boasted back-to-back 500-point campaigns, but will need to post a career season on the glass (272) to be the first to hit historic mark. Currently, Francis is the NEC's active scoring leader and ranks second in career rebounds among all active players on the league circuit. He enters Wednesday's contest 51st on the Northeast Conference all-time career scoring list and 24th in the league's all-time career rebounding rankings. The senior also currently ranks seventh in the Bryant record books for total points and fifth for total career rebounds.

KEEPING ACTIVE
In addition to Alex Francis's top rankings on the NEC active lists (see History in the Making above), senior guard Corey Maynard also makes an appearance among the league's active leaders in both rebounding and assists. With 356 career boards and 267 career dimes, Maynard entered the week ranked seventh and sixth on the active leader lists, respectively.

LEADERS OF THE PACK
As a team, Bryant currently leads the Northeast Conference rankings in field goal percentage (.504, 34th nationally), free throw percentage (.744, 57th nationally) and rebounding defense (34.6). Both Alex Francis and Dyami Starks lead the league in individual categories, with Francis pacing the NEC circuit in shooting percentage (.689, 13th nationally) and Starks leading the way in scoring (26.0, 10th nationally) and minutes played (36.2, 37th nationally). Bryant also boasts four of the NEC's top 15 in both individual field goal percentage — Francis (.689, 1st), Joe O'Shea (.514, 6th), Starks (.482, 12th) and Corey Maynard (.459, 15th) — and minutes played — Starks (36.2, 1st), Francis (35.4, 2nd), Maynard (31.6, 8th) and O'Shea (30.2, 15th).

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.

UP NEXT
Bryant stays at home following the quick Thanksgiving break and will host another Rhode Island opponent in Salve Regina on Saturday, Nov. 30 (1 p.m.).