Bryant welcomes Mount St. Mary's Saturday 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
Bryant returns home for just a single game Saturday and will host Mount St. Mary's at the Chace Athletic Center in the second half of an NEC doubleheader (4 p.m.).

THE SERIES
Mount St. Mary's has won eight of 10 all-time meetings between these two programs, including two-of-three last season after taking down the the Bulldogs in the NEC Tournament Quarterfinals, 75-69. Bryant's only two wins over The Mount have come at the Chace Athletic Center. Eight of the 10 all-time tilts have come at the Division I level, with the series beginning on Dec. 28, 1982 in Emmitsburg, Md.

SCOUTING THE MOUNT
Mount St. Mary's has three scorers averaging double figures, paced by 18.5 points per game from Julian Norfleet. Rashad Whack adds 16.7 with 4.2 boards per outing, with Sam Prescott leading the team on the glass (4.7 rpg) and chipping in 10.3 points of his own each time out. Norfleet leads the team with 124 assists on the year while shooting 47.4 percent from the floor, while Byron Ashe is the most accurate from long range, converting 39.4 percent of the time (37-94). As a team, Mount St. Mary's averages 76.5 points per game but allows 81.2 and is shooting at a 43.6 percent clip from the field. Opponents are shooting 50.4 percent against Mount, who are 6-3 in league action and enter Smithfield on a three-game winning streak.

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Bulldogs are 7-2 against the Northeast Conference in 2013-14 with a 28-51 record (.354) against current NEC members since joining the Division I ranks. All-time against current conference institutions, the Bulldog basketball program is 42-68 (.381), having most frequently faced off against regional rival Sacred Heart (12-16). Bryant went 12-6 against league opponents last season, finishing tied for second in the regular-season standings to earn a No. 4 seed in the 2013 NEC Tournament.

FRANCIS FANTASTIC
Bulldog standout Alex Francis has been on fire as of late. After a 20-point performance at Central Connecticut Thursday night, the senior forward has now scored 20 or more points in nine of the last 10 contests, including six straight from Dec. 30 through Jan. 23. He added 10 rebounds in the contest, picking up his fifth double-double over the last seven contests. He has seven such performances on the year so far, totalling 33 on his Bulldog career. In Northeast Conference play, the senior leads the league with 23.8 points and 9.4 rebounds each time out while ranking second with 64.1 percent shooting from the floor. He has a pair of 30-point outings on the year as well.

POTENT PAIR
There have been some great one-two punches in NEC basketball in recent years, but over the last two years, senior forward Alex Francis and junior guard Dyami Starks take a back seat to no one. In fact, Starks (20.0) and Francis (19.7) are currently the third-highest scoring duo in the country, combining for 39.7 points per game this season. Only Louisiana Lafayette's Elfrid Payton and Shawn Long (40.4) and VMI's QJ Peterson and Rodney Glasgow (40.3) average more in tandem.

Starks and Francis could go down as the NEC's highest scoring duo since LIU Brooklyn Charles Jones (29.0) and Mike Campbell (19.7) combined for 48.7 points per game in 1997-98. The St. Francis Brooklyn duo of Steven Howard (20.2) and Richy Dominguez (19.1) totaled 39.5 points per outing and ranked one-two in the NEC in scoring in 2000-01. Starks currently ranks first in the league and Francis third in point production.

FOR THE 100TH TIME...
Thursday against Central Connecticut, senior Alex Francis earned the 100th start of his career. Last Thursday against Robert Morris, starting guard Corey Maynard appeared in the 100th game of his career, joining Francis (Dec. 7 against North Dakota State) and Claybrin McMath (Dec. 30 against Lehigh) in reaching the benchmark.

20-20 VISION
For the seventh time this season, two Bulldogs finished the game with 20 or more points Sunday afternoon in a 76-67 victory over Sacred Heart. Senior forward Alex Francis and junior guard Dyami Starks have been the pair who achieved the feat on five of those occasions, and Sunday was no different, with Francis scoring 20 and Starks registering a game-best 24 points.

THE BEST OF THE BEST
Having joined the 1,000-point club last season, senior forward Alex Francis is just 38 points away from joining an even greater echelon of scorers. Francis — who averages 19.7 points per game so far this season — is on pace to score his 2,000th point Feb. 13 at Mount St. Mary's. The senior would become just the third player to cross the threshold in the history of Bryant basketball, joining only Tom Smile (2,390 from 1963-67) and Ernie DeWitt (2,239 from 1977-81), and would be the first to do so at the Division I level. Currently, there are just four active DI players in the nation with 2,000 points — Creighton's Doug McDermott, Oakland's Travis Bader, Delaware's Devon Saddler and Loyola Marymount's Anthony Ireland.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB
With a layup just 49 seconds into the second half Jan. 23 against LIU Brooklyn, junior guard Dyami Starks became the 34th player in program history to reach the 1,000 point threshold. He also becomes the third player in the last two seasons to accomplish the feat. Current senior Alex Francis (1962 points) and Director of Operations Frankie Dobbs (1232 points) each joined the club in 2012-13.

Senior point guard Corey Maynard is knocking on the door as well, needing just 57 more points for 1,000 in his career. Maynard, who is currently averaging 13.3 points per game, needs to average just 8.1 points each time out to reach the goal by the conclusion of the 2013-14 regular season.

FRANCHISE FRANCIS: IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
In the latest NCAA rankings, Bryant senior forward Alex Francis currently sits among the top active NCAA Division I players in numerous categories. As of February 6, the senior is ranked second in career field goals (currently 745), sixth in total points (1,962), sixth in career double-doubles (33), seventh in total rebounds (913), 14th in free throws made (459), 15th in career scoring average (17.1 ppg) and 24th in rebounding average (7.9). He is one of just eight active players to have 1,500 points and 750 rebounds to his name. Francis also ranks 16th in field goal percentage this season (.593) and 36th in points per game (19.7).

FRANCHISE FRANCIS: IN THE NEC RANKINGS
Bryant senior forward Alex Francis reached yet another plateau on his march up the NEC career scoring chart, moving up to No. 8 all-time with 1,962 career points and passing his second NEC Hall of Famer (FDU's Desi Wilson, 1,902 points; Marist's Rik Smits, 1,945). The senior forward needs just four more points to take over the No. 7 spot on the charts and will need to cross over the 2,000-point threshold to make it into the top 5. But with seven games remaining in the regular season and any postseason games thereafter, Francis is well on his to becoming the sixth player in league annals to crack that 2,000-point barrier.

Francis remains 11th on the league's all-time rebounding list (913) and has a chance to become the first player in conference history to finish with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. He needs three boards to break into the top 10.

More Francis/NEC Highlights...
» Francis has the chance to become the first player in conference annals to finish in the top-10 in both points and rebounds.

» Francis is one of just four players in NEC history to rank in the top 20 in both scoring and rebounding in his career, joining the likes of CCSU's Ken Horton, LIU's Jamal Olasewere and Marist's Rik Smits.

» Francis is one of just 13 players in NEC history to reach 1,500 points and 750 rebounds in his career, and one of just five players in the league annals to reach 1,700 points and 800 boards.

» Francis currently occupies spots in the NEC top-3 in scoring (19.7, third), rebounding (7.6, third) and field goal percentage (.589, 1st).

FRANCHISE FRANCIS: IN THE BRYANT RANKINGS
With seven regular-season games still to play, senior forward Alex Francis is already seated among the greatest scorers and rebounders the program has ever seen. His 24-point performance Jan. 23 against LIU Brooklyn vaulted him into third on the all-time scoring list, however Francis would need 277 more points to move up any farther in the rankings.

Francis enters Saturday's matchup ranked fourth on the rebounding charts with 913 in his career after passing Jason Noel with his 11 rebounds on Jan. 23. He needs 74 more to reach third all time. He also ranks in the program's top-10 in scoring average, field goals, field goal percentage, free throws made and rebounding average.

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 plays its second-straight game against Mount St. Mary's, this time on the road in Emmitsburg, Md., Thursday (7 p.m.).