Bulldogs travel to Ann Arbor to take on the Wolverines, Wednesday at 7 p.m. (Big Ten Network)

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team will play its first game since Dec. 12 when it takes on the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. The game from the Crisler Center can be seen live on the Big Ten Network and btn2go.com.

THE SERIES
Wednesday's game marks the second all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and the Wolverines. Bryant played at Michigan on Dec. 23, 2010 and held a lead with 10 minutes to spare in the opening frame before falling, 87-71, at the Crisler Center.

SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
Michigan is led by a triad of double-digit scorers that includes junior guard Derrick Walton Jr. (10.3 ppg), sophomore forward Duncan Robinson (12.5 ppg) and the Big Ten's fourth-leading pointgetter in senior guard Caris LeVert (17.2 ppg). Both LeVert and Walton Jr., who are also the team's top rebounders, have recorded triple-doubles this season, making Michigan the only Division I program to have two triple-double performers in 2015-16. Robinson and Walton Jr. sit first and third, respectively, in the conference in 3-point FG percentage with clips of .606 and .548. Robinson's output from beyond the arc ranks him fourth in the nation. As a unit, the Wolverines rank 16th in the country in that same category with a .411 clip from distance and shoot 49.9 percent from the floor to rank them 15th nationally.         

BRYANT vs. THE BIG TEN
Bryant is 0-5 all-time against current members of the Big Ten, having matched up against four different opponents. The Bulldogs have twice traveled to Assembly Hall to take on the Hoosiers and have also done battle with the likes of Michigan, Iowa and, most recently, Ohio State. This is the only Big Ten matchup on the Bulldogs' 2015-16 slate.

BRYANT ALL-TIME AGAINST BIG TEN MEMBERS
vs. Iowa (0-1)    December 5, 2008: 61-36 L    
vs. Indiana (0-2)    December 28, 2009: 91-42 L / November 9, 2012: 97-54 L
vs. Michigan (0-1)    December 23, 2010: 87-71 L
vs. Ohio State (0-1)    December 11, 2013: 86-48 L

LAST TIME OUT: UPSET BID AT #15 PROVIDENCE FALLS SHORT
Bryant led by as many as 11 points in the first half but would trail by as many as 12 in the second before falling to No. 15/18 Providence College, 74-67, Dec. 12 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Junior forward Dan Garvin paced four Bulldogs to finish in double figures, netting a season-high 16 points to go along with nine boards, a pair of assists and two blocks. Senior captain Shane McLaughlin finished with a season-best 14 points and six rebounds while guards Hunter Ware and Nisre Zouzoua finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Freshman bigman Marcel Pettway posted a team-best 10 boards while adding nine points, also dishing out four assists and grabbing two steals. Freshman reserve Drew Edwards led the Friars with 17 points second-half points, including a 5-for-9 effort from beyond the arc. Ben Bentil finished with 16 points off the bench, entering midway through the opening frame to change the momentum of the contest for Providence.

QUICK HITS     
» Block Party: Junior forward Dan Garvin is just one block shy of the 100th stuff of his career. He would become the fifth player in Bryant history to hit the mark and first at the Division I level.

» Charity Strike: The eight free throws attempted and the four makes against Providence were the fewest totals since Bryant recorded the same 4-for-8 clip from the line on Feb. 21, 2015 at Robert Morris.

» December to Forget: December has been anything but one to remember for the Bulldogs, who are now just 10-42 in the year's final month since the start of the Division I era (2008-09). Bryant has posted a winning record in the month just once, going 4-2 in 2012-13. The Bulldogs are winless so far in December 2015.

PETTWAY PICKS UP SECOND WEEKLY HONOR
For the second time this season, bigman Marcel Pettway has been named the NEC Rookie of the Week, tacking on the first ECAC Rookie of the Week accolade in the program's Division I history as well. Last week, the frosh averaged a double-double (11.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg) over a two-game stretch. Pettway began the week with his second-career double-double in the Bulldogs' 77-55 loss to Army, posting 13 points on a 6-for-9 clip from the floor and grabbing 10 boards, also adding three steals and two assists. The North Providence, R.I., product went on to earn his fourth-career start at No. 15 Providence College on Dec. 12, finishing with nine points on 4-of-8 shooting to go along with a team-leading 10 caroms. He also grabbed two steals and distributed a career-high four assists in a career-long 40 minutes on the court.

LINEUP DANCING
Just 11 games into the 2015-16 campaign, the Bulldogs have unveiled eight variations of their starting lineup. Head coach Tim O'Shea has repeated a starting lineup just twice this year, including keeping the opening five consistent in the last two outings. The cast of senior Shane McLaughlin, sophomore Hunter Ware, freshman Nisre Zouzoua, freshman Marcel Pettway and junior Dan Garvin have earned back-to-back starts Dec. 8 and Dec. 12. The Bulldogs have not seen eight or more editions of a starting lineup since the 2011-12 season.

ON THE REBOUND
The Bulldogs have yet to outrebound an opponent in 2015-16, posting a -7.5 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 11-straight outings. The last time the Bulldogs were outboarded in more than 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. To find the last time the squad was outrebounded in 11 or more straight contests, you must look all the way back to the 2009-10 season, when the Bulldogs lost the board battle in 20 in a row from Dec. 3-Feb. 13. Bryant currently ranks 331st in Division I in rebounding margin (-7.5) and 293rd in rebounds per game (34.09).

FREE THROW WOES
The Bulldogs have struggled from the charity stripe throughout the 2015-16 season so far, finishing under 60 percent in six of the team's 11 contests. Bryant's worst performance of the year came Nov. 28 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 50 percent or less five times this season (.462 vs. Prairie View A&M, .462 at Yale, .500 at Providence, .500 at Duke) and currently ranks fourth to last in Division I with a 58.5 percent clip on the year.

THE NAME IS ZOUZOUA
Freshman Nisre Zouzoua made a name for himself in the first two games of his collegiate career and has gotten back on track as of late. He scored 16 points in his debut at No. 5 Duke, only to follow that up with a career-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting against Emerson. Zouzoua started 0-for-2 against the Lions but then made his next eight shots from the field on his way to his career day. And after six-consecutive single-digit outings, the Brockton, Mass., native has erupted for three-straight double-digit efforts, averaging 15.3 points per game since Dec. 5. In a 76-68 loss to Brown, Zouzoua drained four treys en route to a team-high 18 points. He then led the team in scoring for the third time in his young collegiate career with 17 points in a 77-55 loss to Army on Dec. 8 and followed that up with 11 points and a trio of 3-pointers at No. 15/18 Providence on Dec. 12.  

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 10 of the season's first 11 contests. The Old Tappan, N.J., native was third in the NEC last year with an average of 36.68 minutes per game and currently sits second as a senior with an average of 36.55 minutes per outing (23rd nationally). As a starter (56 games), McLaughlin has played 37 minutes or more 28 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.

THAT 70s SHOW
The Bulldogs have conceded 70 or more points in all nine of their losses this season but have held opponents to less than 70 points in their only two wins. Last season, Bryant finished 4-9 when allowing more than 70 points, posting a 12-6 record when holding teams below the 70-point threshold. Conversely, the Black and Gold finished last season 11-2 when totalling 70+ points and have concluded with north of 70 points in both wins this year.

IN THE MARGINS
Bryant has played just three games in which the final margin has been within 10 points, coming at UNH (75-67 L), at home against Brown (78-68 L) and at No. 15/18 Providence (74-67 L). The Bulldogs' six remaining defeats have come by 39 (Yale), 38 (Duke), 35 (Harvard), 30 (Georgetown), 22 (Army) and 19 (Siena), while its two wins (Emerson, Prairie View A&M) each came by 13 points.

MORE THREES PLEASE
While Army jacked up 38 triples against Bryant on Dec. 8 (14 makes), the Bulldogs hoisted just eight shots from beyond the arc, going 1-for-8 on the evening. The numbers tied for both the fewest makes and fewest attempts in the team's Division I history. The Black and Gold hit just one triple in back-to-back games in February 2010 (1-12 at CCSU, 1-22 vs. SFU) and have only twice launched single-digit 3-point attempts prior to the Dec. 8 contest (2-for-8 at Mount St. Mary's, Feb. 14, 2013; 3-for-9 at Yale, Dec. 9, 2009).

POST PRESENCE
The Dec. 8 double-doubles from Dan Garvin and Marcel Pettway (13p, 10r each) against Army were the second of the season for the two bigmen. It marked the first time two Bulldogs charted double-doubles in the same contest since Alex Francis ('14) and Joe O'Shea ('15) completed the feat at LIU Brooklyn on March 14, 2014. This achievement has happened seven times in Bryant's Division I history.  

DOUBLE-DIGIT TROUBLE
After failing to produce a double-digit scorer Dec. 2 against Yale for the first time since Feb. 11, 2010, the Bulldogs bounced back with four double-digit performers in two of the last three contests (vs. Brown, Dec. 5; at Providence, Dec. 12). The last time four Black and Gold players scored in double figures in a losing effort prior to this season was Feb. 21, 2015 against Robert Morris. Since the start of the 2013-14 season, this has happened to the Bulldogs 10 times.

PULLING RANK
The Bulldogs have faced off against a pair of nationally ranked opponents in 2015-16, opening the season at No. 5/4 Duke Nov. 14 and taking on intrastate rival No. 15/18 Providence College Dec. 12. Bryant has now taken on six nationally ranked foes in its short Division I tenure. The program'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.

THRIFTY FIFTY
Bryant has scored less than 50 points in three of its last seven games (45 at Harvard, 47 at Georgetown, 40 at Yale), marking the second-straight season it has failed to reach the 50-point mark in at least three games. The last time the Bulldogs scored less than 50 in three losing efforts came in 2009-10, when it happened in 12 different outings. Bryant currently averages just 61.5 points per game, ranking in the bottom 15 in scoring offense in all of Division I (334 of 346).

STEAL CITY
After nabbing 10 steals in back-to-back games Nov. 21 and Nov. 25, the Bulldogs repeated the effort for the third time this season Dec. 5 against the Bears. And while all three 10-theft outings came in losses (vs. Siena, at Harvard, vs. Brown), the Nov. 21 performance against the Saints marked the first time since Dec. 14, 2013 that the team had finished a game with double-digit steals (10 vs. Navy).

DIRTY THIRTY
For the second time this season, the Bulldogs failed to convert 30 percent of their shots from the field Dec. 2, going just 15-of-53 against Yale. Bryant shot a season-low 26.7 percent against Harvard Nov. 25, marking the first time since last Thanksgiving Eve (Nov. 26, 2014) that the team failed to hit the mark (29.1 percent at Vermont).

IT'S NOT HOW 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 eight of its 11 contests. The Bulldogs are 0-8 when trailing at the intermission, currently being outscored, 351-249, in the opening frame. Bryant is 2-1 when leading at the half, outscoring the opposition, 115-83, in the opening stanza in the three contests. The Bulldogs went 10-4 last season when leading at the break.

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 13.7 points per game, ranking him 10th in the NEC, while shooting better than 42 percent from the field (54-126) and over 33 percent (19-57) from long range. 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.

UP NEXT
Bryant will return to New England for its fourth and final matchup of the season against an Ivy League opponent. The Bulldogs will play at Dartmouth on New Year's Eve, with tipoff set for 2:00 p.m.