Bulldogs travel to New Haven to take on Yale Wednesday at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team plays its fourth game in eight days Wednesday night when it takes on Yale in New Haven, Conn. The 7:00 p.m. tip marks the end of a four-game road stint for the Bulldogs.

THE SERIES
Wednesday's game marks the eighth-straight season these Bulldog sides have competed, with Yale winning the most recent matchup last season in Smithfield, 67-60. And while the Black and Gold won the most recent meeting at John J. Lee Amphitheater, it is Yale who owns the series, leading 5-2, with wins in four of the last five contests.

SCOUTING YALE  
The Ivy League Bulldogs have four players that average double-figure scoring, led by sophomore guard Makai Mason (16.8) and senior forward Justin Sears (16.6). Sears leads the Ivy League in blocks per game (2.4) and offensive rebounds per game (4.4), while Mason and Sears sit fifth and seventh, respectively, in assists per outing. Senior guard Jack Montague averages 12.7 points while shooting 85.7 percent from the line, ranking him third in the conference. Senior forward Brandon Sherrod tallies 11.7 points per contest on 52.1 percent shooting and 7.0 boards. The teams leading rebounder is senior Nick Victor (7.3 rpg), who paces all Ivy League guards. As a unit, Yale shoots 41.3 percent from the floor and 35.1 percent from long range, averaging 72 points per game.

CURRENT BULLDOGS vs. YALE
Nine Bulldogs have squared off against Yale in their careers, with just four seeing the Connecticut Bulldogs on more than one occasion. Only senior Shane McLaughlin has appeared in three previous outings, though the point guard has totaled just four points and four assists in 54 total minutes. Senior Zach Chionuma scored 11 against Yale in last season's matchup, while junior Dan Garvin averages 6.0 point, 5.0 rebounds and a .545 shooting percentage over a pair of looks. As a team, current Bulldogs are shooting a lifetime .341 (15-44) against Yale.

BRYANT vs. THE IVY LEAGUE
Wednesday's matchup is the second of four contests against members of the Ivy League in 2015-16, including the first of three in the month of December. After an 80-45 loss at Harvard last week, Bryant is 6-22 against Ivy League schools in its short Division I history, having matched up against Columbia (0-3), Brown (2-5), Cornell (0-2), Harvard (0-5), Yale (2-5) and Dartmouth (2-2) over the last eight seasons. In the all-time history of the program, the Bulldogs are just 6-29 against Ivy League opponents, most frequently matching up against intrastate rival Brown (2-12).

LAST TIME OUT
Despite just a one-point halftime deficit and a 15-3 run early in the second frame, the Bulldogs dropped their fourth-straight contest Monday night at the University of New Hampshire, 75-67. Trailing, 54-47, the Wildcats answered the Bryant stretch with a 19-3 run of their own over a span of nearly six minutes, proving to be too much for Bryant to overcome in the final minutes. Junior forward Dan Garvin paced the Black and Gold with a season-high 15 points, shooting 70 percent from the floor. Senior point guard Shane McLaughlin also posted a season-high with 12 points, while sophomore sharpshooter Hunter Ware registered his sixth double-digit effort this season (11). Frosh forward Marcel Pettway tied a career best with his second-consecutive 12-rebound performance. Jaleen Smith led all scorers with 23 points for the Wildcats, while Jacoby Armstrong added 14 points.

MIGHTY MARCEL
Frosh forward Marcel Pettway has been stellar for the Black and Gold since the start of last week, setting and resetting nearly every career mark despite a trio 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). The outings earned him NEC Rookie of the Week honors, but Pettway was not finished, as he again grabbed 12 rebounds and reset his career best in minutes played (39) and steals (2) Monday night at New Hampshire.   

IT'S NOT NOW YOU FINISH...
Sometimes, it's how you start. Bryant has gotten off to some slow starts to begin the season, trailing at the half in five of its seven contests. The Bulldogs are 0-5 when trailing at the intermission, currently being outscored, 216-139, in the opening frame. Bryant is 2-0 when leading at the half, outscoring the opposition, 83-55, in the opening stanza in those contests. The Bulldogs went 10-4 last season when leading at the break.

ON THE REBOUND
The Bulldogs have yet to outrebound an opponent in 2015-16, posting a -7.0 rebounding margin on the young season. This is the first time in the program's Division I history the team has opened a campaign on the short side on the glass in seven-straight outings. The last time the Bulldogs were outboarded in seven-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 played just one game in which the final margin has been within 10 points, coming last time out at UNH (75-67). Prior to Monday's loss, the Bulldogs' four defeats 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.

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 seven contests. Bryant's worst performance of the year came Saturday 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).

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 15.8 points per game while shooting better than 45 percent from the field (37-79) and over 35 percent (13-36) from long range, stats that are good for fifth, 11th and 11th 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.

BRYANT HOOPS ON WOON RADIO
For the eighth 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 alongside color analyst Tristan Hobbes.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs continue with action against the Ivy League but return home to do so, hosting instrastate rival Brown at the Chace Athletic Center Saturday afternoon (4:00 p.m.).