Bulldogs travel to New Britain, Conn. to take on CCSU, Thursday at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team heads back on the road as it travels to Central Connecticut State University. The 7:00 p.m. tipoff on Thursday can be heard on WOON 1240 AM (Jon Wallach).

THE SERIES
Thursday marks the 28th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Blue Devils, with Bryant holding a 14-13 series edge. The Black and Gold enter the contest riding a seven-game win streak against CCSU, sweeping the season series over the last three campaigns. The Bulldogs won the first meeting of this season, 88-72, on Jan. 2 in Smithfield, but trail the all-time series in New Britain, 7-6.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS
CCSU is paced by their backcourt that consists of freshman Austin Nehls and junior Khalen Cumberlander. Nehls leads all NEC rookies with 12.2 points per game, ranking him 12th overall, while sitting fourth overall in minutes per night (35.32). Cumberlander posts 11.3 points per effort and he leads the squad in assists per game (3.06). Senior Brandon Peel nets 9.2 points per game and heads the Blue Devils with 6.5 boards and 1.05 blocks per contest. Freshman Jahlil Nails provides just 6.7 points per game, but he leads all league performers in 3-point field goal accuracy over the first eight conference games with a .559 clip (19-34). The Blue Devils score 63.8 points per game on a .393 clip from the floor, and they currentlty sit third in the league in blocked shots per game (3.79) and second in 3-point FG percentage since conference play began (.382 as a unit).  
    
TOP DAWGS WHO REALLY LIKE CCSU
Sophomore guard Hunter Ware and junior forward Dan Garvin really enjoy playing the Blue Devils, netting 17.3 and 12.8 points per game, respectively, in their careers. Garvin averaged a double-double of 16.0 points and 12.5 rebounds per game against CCSU last season, and he charted a double-double of 15 points and 12 caroms in the Bulldogs' meeting with the Blue Devils on Jan. 2 of this season. Garvin shoots nearly 66 percent from the floor (29-44) in five career matchups with CCSU. Ware has played the Blue Devils three times in his career, and shoots over 66 percent from the floor (20-30) and 57 percent from deep (8-14). He scored 16 points in the Jan. 2 contest. Freshmen Marcel Pettway and Nisre Zouzoua found success in their first encounters with CCSU, scoring 26 and 11 points, respectively    
 
BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE  
The Bulldogs are 4-4 against Northeast Conference competition in 2015-16 with an overall record of 47-66 (.415) against current NEC members since joining the Division I ranks. Prior to the 2012-13 campaign, Bryant held a 9-44 record against conference opponents, but has recorded a 38-22 record (.633) over the last three seasons. The Black and Gold are 22-11 at home versus the NEC and 19-13 on the road since 2012-13. All-time against current conference institutions, the Bulldog basketball program is 61-83 (.423). 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 postseason game at the DI level by defeating Sacred Heart, 91-85, in the Quartefinals.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulldogs struggled offensively on Saturday and trailed for nearly the full 40 minutes, as they fell to Robert Morris and aits stingy zone defense, 65-54, at home. Freshman forward Marcel Pettway charted his sixth double-double and his third in four games with a contest-best 21 points to go along with 10 caroms. Sophomore Hunter Ware drained five triples for all 15 of his points, and junior Dan Garvin snared 10 boards in the loss. Kavon Stewart paced the Colonials with 18 points, shooting 50 percent from both long range and the floor. Elijah Minnie scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 12 richochets, while Rodney Pryor added 10 points in the win. The Bulldogs shot 40 percent from the field (22-55) and 31.6 percent from beyond the arc (6-19). Robert Morris shot similar percentages, pouring in 41.5 percent of its shots from the floor (22-53) and 34.8 percent of its shot from 3-point land (8-23).
 
QUICK HITS
» Don't Get Frozen, Don't Let It Go: The Bulldogs held a 17-point halftime edge against the Saint Francis U. on Jan. 21, but let it go and dropped last week's contest, marking the first time they have blown a double-digit halftime lead since Feb. 7, 2015 against Sacred Heart. The Black and Gold have blown double-figure halftime advantages and gone on to lose six times in its Division I tenure, and the 17-point halftime margin that was lost is the largest since the program joined the DI ranks.

» Aided by 80: The Bulldogs are 4-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points, and hold a 22-2 record at the DI level when posting 80 or more points.

» 2:00 Minute Warning: The Bulldogs defeated Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 9 in double-overtime, despite trailing with two minutes to go, making it the first time since Dec. 30, 2013 that they have won a game when behind at the 2:00 mark. Bryant is just 8-71 since joining the Division I ranks when trailing with two minutes remaining in a contest.

AND THESE FRESHMEN AIN'T NEVER DID THIS BEFORE, NO
The Bulldogs have a bright future in rookie bigman Marcel Pettway and first-year guard Nisre Zouzoua, but are well positioned in the present as well. The freshmen are averaging 11.2 and 10.5 points per game, respectively, to rank them second and fourth among NEC rookies, as Pettway nets 16.4 points per contest in conference play, ranking him fourth overall and first among league froshes. The forward-guard combo amasses 21.7 points per effort, ranking them 13th among all newcomer scoring duos at the Division I level (as of Jan. 25).  

LONG RANGE MARKSMEN
Senior captain Shane McLaughlin and sophomore guard Hunter Ware have been red hot from beyond the arc this season. McLaughlin nets 42.0 percent of his triples (21-50) and Ware sinks 41.8 percent (46-110), as the two sit fourth and fifth, respectively, in the NEC in 3-point field goal percentage. The senior and the sophomore have been even hotter from long range against conference opponents, recording clips of .500 and .556, respectively. Only one player has finished a season among the top-five 3-point NEC shooters in Bryant's Division I history, as that long range assasin was sophomore Bosko Kostur last year with a clip of .441.   

MODEL OF ASSISTANCY
Senior captain Shane McLaughlin nearly charted a triple-double by netting 21 points, grabbing a career-high 10 caroms, and dishing out eight assists in the 2OT win over Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 9, making the guard the first player in Bryant's Division I history to record at least 20 points, 10 boards and five assists in a game. McLaughlin has now distributed at least five assists in nine of the last 10 contests. The Old Tappan, N.J. native leads the Northeast Conference in assists per game with 5.33 and 6.88 helpers in conference play.   

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 20 of the season's first 21 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 first as a senior with an average of 37.86 minutes per outing (fourth nationally). As a starter (65w games), McLaughlin has played 37 minutes or more 37 times. He has played the entire game nine times in the span, including all 50 minutes in a double-overtime win against Sacred Heart in last year's NEC Tournament. McLaughlin logged 48 minutes on the floor in the double-overtime win over Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 9.

FREE THROW WOES
The Bulldogs have struggled from the charity stripe throughout the 2015-16 season, finishing under 60 percent in nine of the team's 21 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 13th to last in Division I with a 61.2 percent clip on the year.

ON THE REBOUND
The Bulldogs have been outrebounded in 17 of their 20 games this season, losing the battle on the glass in each of the first 12 games to begin the year. 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.

LINEUP DANCING
Through 20 games in this 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, but has found success in a consistent opening five of late. The cast of senior Shane McLaughlin, sophomore Hunter Ware, freshman Nisre Zouzoua, freshman Marcel Pettway and junior Dan Garvin have earned 12-consecutive starting nods from Dec. 8 - Jan. 23. The Bulldogs have not seen eight or more editions of a starting lineup since the 2011-12 season.

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 remain in Connecticut to take on Sacred Heart for the first time since Bryant's 91-85 OT win over the Pioneers in last years NEC Quarterfinal battle. The Saturday tip at the William H. Pitt Center is set for 3:30 p.m.