Bulldogs continue road stint at UNH Monday night (7 p.m.)

GAME NOTES

DURHAM, N.H. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team remains on the road for the third of four-straight contests, taking on the University of New Hampshire Monday night at Lindholm Gym (7 p.m.).

THE SERIES
This is the fourth meeting in four seasons between the Bulldogs and the Wildcats, with Bryant winning all three previous matchups. Last time the teams met up in Durham, N.H., Bryant earned a five-point win, 60-55, on Nov. 24, 2013. The Bulldogs won the series opener at home, 76-64, back in 2012 and took a 72-63 victory in Smithfield last season.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Tanner Leissner leads UNH with 18 points per game this season despite missing the last two contests, but is only one of four Wildcats to average double-figure scoring. Iba Camara averages a double-double at 10.2 points and 12.2 rebounds each time out, while Jacoby Armstrong is shooting 53.8 percent from the field for 15.5 ppg. Jaleen Smith also posts double figures at 11.0 ppg (28 assists) and is a perfect 19-for-19 from the line entering Monday's contest. Pat McNamara is the deadliest threat from long range, connecting on 13-of-25 tries (.520) from downtown. As a unit, UNH scores just less than 72 points per outing and is rebounding challengers by nearly 10 boards per game. The Wildcats shoot 45.9 percent from the floor with a 36.1 percent clip from 3-point range.

CURRENT BULLDOGS vs. NEW HAMPSHIRE
Nine Bulldogs have experience against the Wildcats over the last three seasons, with six seeing UNH on more than one occasion, but only seniors Shane McLaughlin and Curtis Oakley Jr. have appeared in all three outings. McLaughlin and senior Zach Chionuma are the top returning scorers from last season's matchup at nine points apiece, while sophomore guard Hunter Ware scored eight in the victory. As a team, returning Bulldogs are 20-for-64 (.313) from the field in tilts against UNH with a 6-of-16 (.375) clip from downtown.

BRYANT vs. THE AMERICA EAST
Monday's matchup marks the only contest against a member of the America East for the Bulldogs in 2015-16. Bryant enters the game 5-4 against the conference at the Division I level and 15-12 against current America East members since the 2000-01 season, including an 8-8 mark against America East newcomer UMass Lowell. In total, Bryant has met up with America East members Binghamton (1-1), New Hampshire (3-0), Vermont (1-1) and Albany (0-2) since joining the Division I ranks in 2008-09.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulldogs held Georgetown to a single-digit lead through the opening 18 minutes of Saturday's game before the Hoyas took control of the momentum for good en route to a 77-47 victory at the Verizon Center in 2K Classic action. Rookie forward Marcel Pettway picked up the first double-double of his young career, posting career and team highs in points (15) and rebounds (12), while senior point guard Shane McLaughlin finished the day with 10 points. Junior forward Dan Garvin pulled down 10 boards (7 points), but the Black and Gold were outdone on the glass by a bigger Georgetown side, 47-37. The Bulldogs shots just 31.7 percent on the afternoon while the Hoyas converted at a 43.3 percent clip. L.J. Peak paced the home side with 10 points while Marcus Derrickson posted his own double-double (12p, 12r).

THRIFTY FIFTY
Bryant has now scored less than 50 points in back-to-back games (45 at Harvard, 47 at Georgetown), marking the first time that has happened since the 2011-12 season. The Bulldogs scored just 46 points in a 72-46 home loss to Sacred Heart on Feb. 11, 2012, and suffered a 69-40 setback on the road at the hands of Robert Morris five days later. The last time the Bulldogs scored less than 50 points in any game before Wednesday's loss to the Crimson was Jan. 5, 2015 against St. Francis Brooklyn (47).

MIGHTY MARCEL
Frosh forward Marcel Pettway had a huge week for the Black and Gold, setting and resetting nearly every career mark despite a pair of losses. After posting career highs in points (10), rebounds (8), shots (9) and minutes played (31) Wednesday night at Harvard, the North Providence native earned his first-career start Saturday afternoon against Georgetown, where he picked up his first collegiate double-double. Against the Hoyas, Pettway reset seven career bests — points (15), rebounds (12), field goals made (7), field goals attempted (12), assists (3), free throws attempted (5) and minutes played (38) ­ — and tied one more (steals, 1), finishing the week averaging a double-double (12.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg).

FREE THROW WOES
The Bulldogs have struggled from the charity stripe throughout the start of the young season, finishing under 60 percent in four of the team's six contests. Bryant's worst performance of the year came last time out against Georgetown, when the Black and Gold went just 5-for-15 from the line (.333), converting less than 40 percent of their free throw attempts for the first time since a 4-of-11 (.364) performance against Mount St. Mary's back on Jan. 14, 2012. Bryant has finished at less than 50 percent twice this season (.462 vs. Prairie View A&M) but also finished above 90 percent in a single outing, coming Nov. 25 against Harvard (10-of-11, .909).

ON THE REBOUND
The Bulldogs have yet to outrebound an opponent in 2015-16, posting a -8.0 rebounding margin on the young season. The last time Bryant opened a campaign on the short side on the glass in six-straight games was in the program's first Division I season back in 2008-09. The last time the Bulldogs were outboarded in more than six-straight games at any point in a season was back in 2011-12, when the team lost the battle on the boards in nine-consecutive games from Nov. 27-Jan. 5.

IN THE MARGINS
Bryant has yet to play a game in which the final margin is within 10 points. The team's four losses came by 38 (Duke), 35 (Harvard), 30 (Georgetown) and 19 (Siena), while its two wins (Emerson, Prairie View A&M) each came by 13 points.

HAPPY 100TH!
Senior captain Shane McLaughlin made his 100th career appearance donning the Black and Gold Saturday against Georgetown. The point guard has earned the starting nod in the last 51 consecutive contests, first taking over the starting role on Jan. 18 of his sophomore season (at Fairleigh Dickinson).

WARE, OH WARE
Sophomore guard Hunter Ware has emerged as an offensive weapon to be reckoned with early in the 2015-16 season. The Georgia native averages a team-high 16.8 points per game while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field (33-67) and 40 percent (12-30) from long range, stats that are good for fifth, eighth and sixth in the NEC, respectively. Ware opened the season with two of the best offensive performances of his career, logging back-to-back 20-point outings that included a career-high 24 points in the Nov. 14 season opener at No. 5/4 Duke.

HIGH MILEAGE FOR McLAUGHLIN
Senior point guard Shane McLaughlin is once again proving to be a workhorse for the Bulldogs on the court, playing 34 minutes or more in each of the season's first six contests. The Old Tappan, N.J., native was third in the NEC last year with an average of 36.68 minutes per game and remains in that slot as a senior with a current average of 36.5 minutes per outing. Over his last 51 starts, McLaughlin has played 37 minutes or more 25 times. He has played the entire game seven times in the span, including all 50 minutes in a double-overtime win against Sacred Heart in last year's NEC Tournament.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs wrap up their current four-game road stint with a Wednesday night matchup against Ivy League opponent Yale in New Haven, Conn. (7 p.m.).