Bulldogs host NYE clash against Dartmouth (1p)

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- Following an 10-day break for the holidays, the Bryant University men's basketball team returns to the court and will play at home for just the third time this season, hosting Dartmouth College at the Chace Athletic Center on New Year's Eve. The 1:00 p.m. tip can be seen live on NECFrontRow.com and heard on WOON 1240AM.

THE SERIES
The Bulldogs and the Big Green have met up in each of the last three seasons, with Bryant holding a 2-1 series advantage. The Black and Gold won the most recent two outings after Dartmouth won the series opener, 66-62, back in 2011.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Alex Mitola (15.0 ppg) leads three Dartmouth players who average double-digit scoring, along with Gabas Maldunas (11.2) and Connor Boehm (10.1), with the latter two pacing the team on the glass at 7.0 and 6.6 rebounds per game, respectively. Malik Gill has dished out 36 assists with 17 steals in 11 appearances, while Maldunas has recorded 21 of the team's 37 blocks on the year. Boehm's .524 shooting clip is tops on the squad, while Mitola is most accurate from beyond the arc at a 47.2 percent clip (36-83). As a team, Dartmouth is strong on the glass (34.5 rpg) but weak from the line, converting just 63.5 percent from the charity stripe. Wednesday's visitors shoot at 43.6 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from long range. The 5-6 Big Green are playing for the first time since Dec. 22.

CURRENT BULLDOGS vs. DARTMOUTH
Nine players have seen action against the Big Green over the last three seasons, though just Dyami Starks, Curtis Oakley, Joe O'Shea and Shane McLaughlin have done so more than once. Starks and O'Shea have performed the best against Dartmouth, each averaging double-digit points in a pair of meetings. Last season, Starks saw his career high tied with a 35-point effort (10-for-18, 5-of-8 from 3-point range), and the senior sharpshooter averages 23.5 points per game after a 12-point debut in 2012. O'Shea averages 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds through two previous contests against the Big Green. Current Bulldogs are shooting a lifetime .519 (27-52) against Dartmouth.

BRYANT vs. THE IVY LEAGUE
Wednesday's matchup marks the third of four contests against members of the Ivy League in 2014-15, including three in the month of December. Bryant is 6-19 against the Ancient Eight in its short Division I history, having matched up against Columbia (0-3), Brown (2-5), Cornell (0-2), Harvard (0-3), Yale (2-5) and Dartmouth (2-1) over the last seven seasons. In the all-time history of the program, the Bulldogs are just 6-26 against Ivy League opponents, most frequently matching up against intrastate rival Brown (2-12). Bryant dropped both previous Ivy League outings this season (vs. Yale, at Brown) and will face off against Harvard (Jan. 20) later this season.

AULD LANG SYNE
The Bulldogs will be looking to break their New Year's Eve streak in 2014, as Bryant is 0-2 on the last day of the year at the Division I level. Bryant hasn't played on Dec. 31 since 2011, when it lost at home to Lehigh, 72-55. The Black and Gold also dropped a New Year's Eve contest at Brown the season prior, falling to the Bears, 84-71, on Dec. 31, 2010.

TAKE IT EASY
With just eight appearances so far this season, the Bulldogs have played the fewest games in the nation through Dec. 29. Bryant is joined by Alabama State and New Orleans as one of three schools to have played just eight contests, and all three sit at 3-5 overall.

FACTS ABOUT 50
For the second time this season, the Bulldogs scored less than 50 points in a game Dec. 21 at Denver. Only this time, the result was far more positive. Despite the low-scoring affair, Bryant walked away with the win, 48-46, at Magness Arena. Prior to this season, the Bulldogs hadn't scored 50 points or fewer in a game since Dec. 11, 2013 (86-48 loss at No. 3 Ohio State).

Bryant has now held Division I opponents to 50 points or fewer five times and are 4-1 in the scenario, with the last such victory (prior that against the Pioneers) coming back on Feb. 17, 2009 (70-46 win vs. NJIT at home). The Bulldogs' win over Denver marked the first time in Division I program history that Bryant has scored 50 points or fewer and won, and also marked the first time that both teams have scored fewer than 50 points in a contest.

DYAMI ON THE SPOT
With Bryant trailing by three, 46-43, with 22 seconds to play at Denver on Dec. 21, it was that time... Dyami Starks time. The clutch senior guard did what he does best, tying the game at 46-46 on his sixth 3-pointer of the game. Following a Denver charge drawn out by junior point guard Shane McLaughlin and an ensuing time out, the ball was back in Starks' hands with the clock winding down.  As he has done so often, the Duluth, Minn., native rose to the occasion, hitting a pull-up jumper with 1.3 seconds remaining to hand the Bulldogs the 48-46 win and make Bryant's Rocky Mountain excursion one to remember. Starks would finish the game with a contest-high 21 points, his fourth 20-point effort in the last five outings.

THE STATS ON STARKS
The leading scorer in the NEC and the team's leading scorer in all eight contests, senior guard Dyami Starks enters Wednesday's game ranked 18th in the nation at 19.8 points per game. A big part of his scoring prowess comes from his deadliness beyond the arc, from which the senior captain accounts for nearly 63 percent (99) of his 158 points this season. Starks currently sits third in the national rankings for threes per game, draining 4.13 each time out. He also ranks 30th in free throw percentage (.885), 28th in minutes per game (36.1) and 57th in 3-point percentage (.407). As a team, the Bulldogs rank 22nd in the nation and first in the NEC in triples per game at 8.5 each time out.

TICKET TO RIDE
Single-game and season ticket packages are available for the 2014-15 Bryant University men's and women's basketball seasons. Tickets can be purchased 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. NEC Front Row brings viewers an industry-leading video streaming solution for more than 100 Bryant University home contests during the 2014-15 athletic seasons, including live, free-of-charge, high-definition broadcasts of all Bulldog home men's basketball games. Live event productions include multiple camera angles, an on-screen scoreboard, state-of-the-art graphics and brand-new DVR functionality. Visit necfrontrow.com for more information and a schedule of events.

BRYANT HOOPS ON WOON RADIO
For the seventh season, all Bryant University basketball home games and select road contests can be heard LIVE on WOON 1240 AM. 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.