Bulldogs visit Cameron Indoor to challenge defending national champion No. 5/4 Duke Saturday in season opener

GAME NOTES

DURHAM, N.C. – The Bryant University men's basketball team kicks off the 2015-16 season against the reigning national champions, traveling to Durham, N.C., to take on preseason No. 5/4 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game, which can be seen live on ESPN3, marks the second-straight season in which the Bulldogs have opened up against the defending champs (UConn — Nov. 14, 2014).

THE SERIES
This is the first-ever meeting between the Bulldogs and the Blue Devils.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS
After winning the 2015 National Championship, Duke returns to the court ready to defend its title. Despite a nation-leading seven McDonald's All-Americans on the roster, the Blue Devils return only 24 percent of their scoring from a season ago. Duke also saw more than two-thirds of its rebounding disappear to the NBA Draft and graduation, and the group combines for just 77 career starts. Still, the Blue Devils are a force on their home court, boasting a 169-12 record at Cameron Indoor over the last 10 seasons entering the 2015-16 campaign.

Through two exhibitions this preseason, Duke has been paced by a pair of highly touted rookies in Brandon Ingram (20.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Luke Kennard (19.5, 7.0), while sophomore Grayson Allen has dished out 11 assists. Seven Blue Devils averaged double-digit points, while five averaged five boards or better.

BRYANT vs. THE ACC 
Bryant is 1-8 all-time against current members of the ACC, with its only victory coming during the 2012-13 campaign in a 56-54 topping of Boston College in Chestnut Hill. The Bulldogs have matched up against four different members of the league, including five contests against Boston College, two against Notre Dame and one apiece against Maryland and Pitt.  Bryant has played an ACC school in each of the last eight seasons — every campaign since joining the Division I ranks — though this is the only ACC matchup for the Bulldogs on the 2015-16 slate. Northeast Conference teams are 5-109 all-time against the ACC, with a 1-4 mark against the Blue Devils. Wagner College topped Duke, 84-77, at Cameron Indoor Stadium back on Jan. 5, 1983.

MEET THE 2015-16 BULLDOGS
After making the NEC playoffs for the third-straight season and winning the program's first Division I postseason game in 2014-15, Bryant University returns to the court looking to go even further in 2015-16. As the team works to continue the program's trend of taking huge strides forward each year, the Bulldogs balance a strong core of returners with a group of high-potential newcomers, despite losing a pair of key components from the 2014-15 edition. Returning Second Team All-NEC selection and 2015-16 preseason all-conference pick Dan Garvin will lead the way on offense after finishing his sophomore season ranked first on the side in rebounds (7.9 rpg) and blocks (48) and second in scoring (10.9 ppg). The Bulldogs will also look to the likes of starting point guard and senior captain Shane McLaughlin, 31-game sharpshooter Hunter Ware and dynamic scorer Bosko Kostur to rack up the points this season, as the Black and Gold look to account for 21.9 points per game – 44 percent of the team's total offense – lost with the graduation of all-conference selections Dyami Starks and Joe O'Shea. But the Bulldogs have even more depth waiting in the wings, from senior co-captain Curtis Oakley Jr. to a trio of eager rookies in Marcel Pettway, Nisre Zouzoua and Taylor McHugh, who will all make their cases for major minutes from the start of the 2015-16 campaign.

OPENING NIGHT
Since the inception of the Bryant men's basketball program in 1963-64, Bulldog teams are 27-25 (.519) all-time in season openers. Bryant took the win in the program's first eight season tips, not suffering an opening-day loss until the 1971-72 campaign. But the Bulldogs haven't seen a victory in the season's first contest since 2005-06, when they topped Adelphi, 70-62. The Bulldogs are still winless in Division I season openers dating back to the 2008-09 season, and Bryant is 6-10 in its last 16 after a 66-53 loss to then-reigning national champ and No. 17/15 UConn in the team's 2014-15 debut. Bryant opens its season against a nationally ranked opponent for the fourth-straight year in 2015-16 and will begin the campaign on the road for the seventh-straight season. 

TAKING ON THE CHAMPS
Bryant continues its trend of scheduling challenging non-conference slates in 2015-16 and will open its season against a nationally ranked opponent for the fourth-straight year. And once again in 2015-16, the Bulldogs won't be facing just any ranked team — they will be taking on the reigning national champs for the second-consecutive season (UConn — 2014-15). Bryant will take on 2015 NCAA Champion and preseason No. 5/4 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, November 14 (8 p.m.) to kick off the 2015-16 campaign in a game that can be seen live on ESPN3.

THE GRIND CONTINUES
Bryant's schedule doesn't get much easier after the opener against the Blue Devils, as the Bulldogs have opponents from nine different conferences lined up in 2015-16. The 31-game slate features 14 home contests and includes six games against 2015 NCAA tournament qualifiers (Duke, Georgetown, Providence College, Harvard, Robert Morris) and five against teams currently ranked or receiving votes in the AP Top 25 and USA Today Preseason Coaches Polls (Duke, Georgetown, Providence, Michigan, Yale).

PULLING RANK
Saturday's contest will be the fifth time the Bulldogs have faced off against a nationally ranked opponent in its short Division I tenure. Bryant's first contest against a national ranking came in 2012-13, when it opened up on the road against preseason favorite Indiana. The Black and Gold challenged two ranked foes in 2013-14 in No. 15/14 Gonzaga and No. 3/2 Ohio State, and took on No. 17/15 UConn to start the 2014-15 campaign. Bryant is still looking for its first win over a ranked opponent.

BULLDOGS SET TO HOST 2K CLASSIC SUBREGIONAL
Bryant will be part of the eight-team field participating in this year's 21st annual 2K Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project. The in-season tournament will pit the Bulldogs against regional round hosts No. 5/4 Duke on Nov. 14 in Durham, N.C., and RV/RV Georgetown on Nov. 28 in Washington, D.C. The Black and Gold will also play host to the tournament's Smithfield Subregional Round Nov. 20-21 at the Chace Athletic Center, which will feature Bryant, Prairie View A&M, Radford and Siena in a pair of doubleheaders. Two more Regional Round hosts – national runner-up Wisconsin and NCAA tournament participant VCU – also join the 2K Classic field.

BULLDOGS ANNOUNCE 2015-16 NATIONAL BROADCAST PACKAGE
The Bryant University men's basketball team will be featured on live national and regional broadcasts seven times throughout the 2015-16 season, including three times as part of the 34-game NEC TV package. The Bulldogs' season opener against reigning national champion Duke will air live on ESPN3 on Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. Continuing with 2K Classic action, the team's Nov. 28 matchup against Georgetown can be seen on Fox Sports 2. Two more games in December will be broadcast to a national audience — the Dec. 12 bout between Bryant and Providence College (Fox Sports 1) and a Dec. 23 visit to No. 25 Michigan (Big Ten Network).

The team's next appearance comes right after the new year, as the Bulldogs will head to Staten Island for a matchup with Wagner featured on the CBS Sports Network. Bryant returns to ESPN3 when it hosts league rival Robert Morris Jan. 23, while MSG and Fox College Sports will carry the team's visit to Fairleigh Dickinson on Feb. 11.

DAN THE MAN
The contributions of junior forward Dan Garvin on both ends of the floor have played an enormous role in keeping Bryant near the top of the NEC standings over the last two seasons. The 2015 All-NEC Second Team selection and 2015-16 preseason all-conference pick finished last season ranked fourth in the league and first on the team on the glass at 7.9 boards per outing and was third on the conference circuit with 48 blocks. Offensively, Garvin finished second on the side with 10.9 points per contest, good for a top-20 ranking on the NEC individual ladder. He shot a tidy .525 from the floor, fifth best in the conference, and added 30 thefts on the campaign. The forward led the team on the glass in 19 contests last season, posting six double-doubles while averaging 31.0 minutes per game. Look for those numbers to go nowhere but up with another year of experience under his belt.

THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER
If it seems like Bosko Kostur came out of nowhere to become a key cog in the Bulldog lineup late last season, you aren't far off. After playing just a combined 55 minutes over the first 18 games of the 2014-15 campaign (10 appearances), Kostur earned a starting nod in the final 12 contests of the season, averaging 11.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting nearly .500 from the floor and better than .450 from long range as a starter. The Bulldogs will be counting on the springy 6-foot-7 wing to continue that kind of production throughout the 2015-16 season to help make up for the loss of starting guards Dyami Starks and Joe O'Shea.

BIG SHOES TO FILL
One of the toughest challenges the Bulldogs will face in 2015-16 is filling the gaps left by the graduation of all-conference selections Dyami Starks and Joe O'Shea. An elite-level shooter and three-time All-NEC selection, Starks led the Northeast Conference in scoring (18.6 ppg), free throw percentage (.913), 3-pointers made (3.16) and minutes played (38.16) in 2014-15, graduating with the sixth-most trifectas in league history (218) despite playing just three seasons inside the NEC. He ranked in the top-10 nationally in free throw percentage (6th), minutes per game (7th) and threes per game (10th) as a senior while finishing 34th overall in scoring. Starks alone was responsible for 28 percent of the Bulldogs' 2014-15 scoring, leading the team in 20-of-31 contests. He finished his Bryant career ranked sixth all-time in scoring (1,691 points) and fourth in 3-pointers made (281).

While not quite as productive on the scoreboard, O'Shea was just as valuable to the Bulldogs on the court. The floor general who went from role player to playmaker in 2014-15, O'Shea finished second on the team on the glass (5.7 rpg) and third in scoring (10.5 ppg) en route to a Third Team All-NEC selection. He ranked inside the NEC's top-20 in a myriad of categories, including scoring, rebounding, shooting percentage, assists, free throw percentage, 3-point percentage, defensive rebounds and minutes played, and made arguably the biggest shot in the program's Division I history with a buzzerbeating triple to send the 2014-15 NEC Quarterfinals into overtime. The Bulldogs would eventually earn their first DI postseason victory in the game, 91-85, over Sacred Heart in double overtime.

OVERSEAS UPDATE
Many graduated Bulldogs aren't done when they leave the Chace Athletic Center court. Six former Bryant players are still active on rosters overseas entering this season, including 2015 graduates Dyami Starks and Joe O'Shea. Starks signed a contract with Kazakhstan's BK Kaspiy Aktau back in September, just a month after O'Shea inked a deal with Aris Leeuward of Holland's Dutch Basketball League. Corey Maynard, a 2014 graduate, suits up for the Townsville Crocodiles of Australia's National Basketball League (NBL), while classmate and fellow Aussie Claybrin McMath also plays professionally in Australia. Vlad Kondratyev ('13) is still playing professionally in the Ukraine, while Dan Calandrillo ('14) plays in Italy.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Seniors Shane McLaughlin and Curtis Oakley Jr. will serve as captains for the 2015-16 Bulldogs. A two-year starting point guard for the Black and Gold, McLaughlin led the side with 148 assists in 2014-15, ranking third in the NEC and 54th in the nation in dimes per game (4.77). A workhorse on the court, the senior averaged 36.7 minutes per game last season, adding 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 40.1 percent from the floor and 32.7 percent from 3-point range. A team leader on and off the court who can provide a spark whenever he's called on, Oakley Jr. saw time in 27 contests a season ago, shooting 38 percent from the floor while knocking down critical threes when the Bulldogs needed them most.

TICKET TO RIDE
Single-game and season ticket packages are available for the 2015-16 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.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs return to Smithfield for their 2015-16 home opener against Emerson College Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. The contest can be seen live on NECFrontRow.com and on the NEC On the Run app, or heard live on WOON 1240 AM.