Bulldogs begin NEC action at home, hosting CCSU on Saturday at 4 p.m.

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team will play its first game in Smithfield since Dec. 8 as it begins Northeast Conference action, hosting Central Connecticut State University on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The contest from the Chace Center can be heard on WOON 1240 AM (Jon Wallach) and watched live on NECFrontRow.com.

THE SERIES
Saturday marks the 27th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Blue Devils, with the all-time series being knotted up at 13-13. Bryant enters the weekend showdown riding a six-game win streak against CCSU, sweeping the season series over the last three campaigns. The Bulldogs hold a 7-6 all-time record at the Chace Athletic Center, 4-3 at the Division I level.  

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS
CCSU is led by freshman guard Austin Nehls, who averages a team-best 12.3 points per game on a .395 clip from 3-point land to rank him fifth in the NEC , while also shooting 88.5 percent from the fowl line to lead the league. Junior guard Khalen Cumberlander follows with 12.0 points per outing, while senior forward Brandon Peel nets 9.7 point per contest along with a team-best 7.4 rebounding average (ranks fifth in the NEC). As a team, the Blue Devils shoot 38 percent from the floor and 29 percent from long range, numbers that rank second to last and last in the league, respectively, though the 4.2 blocks per game rank CCSU second in the conference.

CURRENT BULLDOGS vs. CCSU
Eight current Bulldogs have squared off against the Blue Devils in their careers, with six seeing action more than once. Junior forward Dan Garvin and sophomore guard Hunter Ware have had tremendous success against CCSU. Garvin averages 12.3 points per game in four career outings against the Blue Devils, converting over 68 percent of his shots (22-32) while snaring 8.5 rebounds per game. Garvin posted a double-double (16.0 ppg/12.5 rpg) in two tries against CCSU last season. Ware also shot over 68 percent from the field (13-19) against the Blue Devils in 2014-15, averaging 18.0 points per contest with a .545 clip from long range. Senior captians Shane McLaughlin  (4.7 ppg/3.8 apg) and Curtis Oakley Jr. have battled the Blue Devils six and five times, respectively. Current Bulldogs are shooting a lifetime .516 (48-93) from the field, and .300 (10-30) from beyond the arc against the Blue Devils.

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE  
The Bulldogs begin 2015-16 Northeast Conference play with a 43-62 record (.409) against current NEC members since joining the Division I ranks. All-time against current conference institutions, the Bulldog basketball program is 57-79 (.419). Bryant finished 2014-15 NEC play with a 12-6 league record, earning the No. 3 seed in the 2015 NEC Tournament, and won its first post-season game at the DI level by defeating Sacred Heart, 91-85, in the Quartefinals.

LAST TIME OUT
A back-and-forth battle that featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes came down to the final seconds, with the Bulldogs leading by two points, Dartmouth's Malik Gill hoisted up the game-winning three with five seconds remaining. The shot bounced off the back iron, and Bryant was able to grab the rebound  survive with a 62-60 victory on New Year's Eve to end their nine-game slide. Senior captain Shane McLaughlin had a career day, posting a career-high 26 points on a career-best 10 made shots from the floor (10-14), also sinking all four of his 3-point attempts to go along with six boards and a contest-best five assists. Freshman Nisre Zouzoua added 13 points on a 3-for-5 effort from long range, while junior forward Andrew Scocca grabbed a season- and team-high eight rebounds. Evan Boudreaux led the Big Green and all players with 13 boards, while Miles Wright, along with Boudreaux, netted 16 points each on identical percentages from the field (7-15). The Black and Gold shot 45 percent (23-51) from the floor and a season-best 55.6 percent from 3-point land (10-18). The Big Green finished the game shooting roughly 45 percent from the floor (26-57), but just 25 percent from distance (5-20).     

QUICK HITS  
» I Really Like CCS-You: Junior forward Dan Garvin's 16.0 ppg and 12.5 rpg in the Bulldogs' two games against the Blue Devils in 2014-15 makes the junior forward just the second player in Bryant's Division I era to average a double-double against CCSU for the duration of a season. The only other player to do so is Alex Francis ('14) who averaged a season-long double-double against the Blue Devils three times (2010-11, 2012-13, 2013-14).
   
» Blocked Out: After registering just one blocked shot at Michigan last Wednesday for the first time since Feb. 28 of last season. the Black and Gold did not record a single rejection in Thursday's 62-60 win at Dartmouth, something that has only happened twice over the last two years.      

» Saturdaze: The Bulldogs are currently 0-5 on Saturdays this season, marking the first time they have begun a campaign dropping five-consecutive Saturday tilts since 2009-10.   

» Block Party: 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.

OPENING DAY
Bryant is 3-3 in Northeast Conference openers since playing its first-official league slate during the 2009-10 campaign and have won the past three league debuts after falling in the program's first three NEC openers. The Bulldogs took a 67-63 win at LIU Brooklyn last season in the Jan. 3, 2015 opener and topped St. Francis U. at home, 77-67, in the 2013-14 NEC opener on Jan. 9, 2014. Bryant has debuted against the Blue Devils once before, falling to CCSU, 83-51, on Dec. 1, 2011. The Bulldogs are 1-1 when beginning their conference stretch in front of the home crowd.

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR
Wednesday's triumph over Dartmouth breaks the Bulldogs' New Year's Eve losing streak, as they are now 1-3 on the year's final day at the Division I level. The Black and Gold are currently 4-3 at the Division I level in the first game to begin a new calender  year, and hold a 6-4 overall record in the first game after New Years since the 2005-06 season.

THE MAN FROM OLD TAPPAN
Senior captain Shane McLaughlin's career day at Dartmouth was not just historic on a personal level, it was also one of the best performances in program history. McLaughlin finished with career highs of 26 points, 10 made field goals, and four made threes, while also dishing out five assists and coralling six boards. To put the the 26-point, 5-assist, 6-rebound stat-line into perspective, the Old Tappan, N.J., native became the first Bryant player to hit those marks in the program's Division I era (2008-09-present). He is the first Bulldog to hit/eclipse the 25-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist mark since Jon Williams ('06) did so back in 2004 (29p, 5r, 5a at Holy Family, Dec. 20, 2004).
 
In Bryant's DI history, only one other player has hit 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a single game, with Corey Maynard ('14) doing so twice in 2013-14 (22p, 6r, 5a vs. Navy, 12/14/13 and 21p, 5r, 5a vs. Central Connecticut, 2/22/14).

McLaughlin's 10-for-14 effort from the floor also makes him the first Bulldog to shoot better than 70 percent since Maynard went 12-for-15 at Fairleigh Dickinson on Jan. 18, 2014. The senior guard is just five points away from 500 career points in a Bulldog uniform.

HIGH FIVE
Wednesday's two-point victory is the first game the Bulldogs have played that has been decided by five points or fewer this season. Prior to the 62-60 win at Dartmouth, the last game Bryant played that was decided by five points or less was on Feb. 19 of last season at Wagner (66-65 W). The last time Bryant opened up a campaign playing in at least 13-straight games decided by five points or more was in the program's first Division I season (2008-09).

BOARDING PASS
Bryant hauled in less than 25 rebounds (22) at Michigan, marking the first time it has corralled 25 or fewer boards since Nov. 26, 2014 at Vermont. The Bulldogs have failed to exceed 25 rebounds 23 times in the program's Division I history, and the 22 caroms against the Wolverines ties the second-fewest total in Bryant's DI tenure (18r at Iowa, 12/05/08).

DOING THE HONORS
For the third time this season, bigman Marcel Pettway has been named the NEC Rookie of the Week, just a week after he tacked on the first ECAC Rookie of the Week accolade in the program's Division I history. Last week, the frosh forward earned his fifth collegiate start, tying his career-high with 15 points (6-for-7 from the floor) in the Bulldogs' 96-60 loss at Michigan. The North Providence, R.I., native is averaging 7.9 ppg to lead all NEC freshman and ranks 10th in the league with 6.1 rpg. He is also sixth in the conference with a .552 clip from the field and heads the Bulldogs with 1.3 spg.

ON THE REBOUND
The Bulldogs outrebounded the Big Green on Thursday, 38-30, marking the first time they have won the battle on the glass in the 2015-16 campaign. This was the first time in the program's Division I history the team had opened a campaign on the short side on the glass in 12-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 12 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 321st in Division I in rebounding margin (-6.5) and 305th in rebounds per game (33.46).

FREE THROW WOES
The Bulldogs have struggled from the charity stripe throughout the 2015-16 season so far, finishing under 60 percent in seven of the team's 13 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 six times this season (.462 vs. Prairie View A&M, .462 at Yale, .500 at Michigan, .500 at Providence, .500 at Duke) and currently ranks third to last in Division I with a 58.1 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 scored in double-digits in four of the last five games, averaging 13.4 points per contest 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.  

WARE, OH WARE
Sophomore guard Hunter Ware has emerged as an offensive weapon to be reckoned with in the 2015-16 season. The Georgia native averages a team-high 13.8 points per game, ranking 10th in the NEC while shooting better than 42 percent from the field (64-151) and over 35 percent (26-74) 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. He reset his season-best with 26 points at Michigan last Wednesday while matching a career-best six triples.

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 12 of the season's first 13 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 36.85 minutes per outing (16th nationally). As a starter (58 games), McLaughlin has played 37 minutes or more 30 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.

LINEUP DANCING
Just 13 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 three outings. The cast of senior Shane McLaughlin, sophomore Hunter Ware, freshman Nisre Zouzoua, freshman Marcel Pettway and junior Dan Garvin have earned four-consecutive starting nods from Dec. 8 - Dec. 23. The Bulldogs have not seen eight or more editions of a starting lineup since the 2011-12 season.

THAT 70s SHOW
The Bulldogs have conceded 70 or more points in all 10 of their losses this season but have held opponents to less than 70 points in their only three 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 two of the three wins this year.

TICKET TO RIDE
Single-game and partial 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 University 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 2015-16 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 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
Bryant won't get too comfortable playing at home, as it heads south for a three-game road trip spanning six days. The first of the three games will be in Teaneck, N.J., as the Bulldogs play Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday at 7:30 p.m.