Bulldogs look to black out first-place Knights, Thursday at 9 p.m. in Smithfield, live on MSG/FCS

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team returns home for the final four games of the regular season. The first foe is Fairleigh Dickinson, and it will be contested on Thursday at 9:03 p.m. in a matchup that can be seen on MSG/Fox College Sports (Paul Dottino, Terry O'Connor and John Cabral).

THE SERIES
Thursday night's matchup marks the 13th all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and the Knights, with this week's home side holding a 7-5 series lead. Although the Black and Gold have a 4-2 edge over FDU on the road, the two squads are tied, 3-3, in Smithfield. Bryant has defeated Fairleigh Dickinson three-straight times, and has picked up victories in five of the last six encounters.

TOP DAWGS VS. FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
In their first matchup with the Knights on Jan. 4, rookies Marcel Pettway and Nisre Zouzoua scored 26 and 13 points, respectively, as Pettway hauled in 11 boards. Sophomore Hunter Ware netted 19 points in that contest to go along with a career-high seven rebounds. Senior captains Curtis Oakley Jr. and Shane McLaughlin  have each faced the Knights six times, averaging 7.3 and 7.0 points per try, respectively. Oakley Jr. poured in 14 points and five ricochets in the Jan. 4 encounter, and McLaughlin charted 10 points with eight helpers and five boards. Over the last five games against FDU, McLaughlin is statting over five assists per attempt. Current Bulldogs are shooting a lifetime 52.1 percent (60-115) from the field, and 46.1 percent (18-39) from beyond the arc against the Knights. 

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
In a three-way tie for first place in the Northeast Conference, the Knights will be guided on their journey to Smithfield by six underclassmen, four of which score in double-figures. The quartet of sophomores Darian Anderson, Earl Potts Jr., Marques Townes and Stephan Jiggetts lead the squad with 14.5, 13.7, 11.7 and 11.5 points per game, respectively. Anderson leads the NEC in steals per effort (1.87), while heading the squad in assists per night, as Potts Jr. is the Knight's best rebounder with 6.2 caroms per game. FDU features a pair of key freshman in its rotation, being Mike Holloway and Ghassan Nehme. Holloway leads the league in field goal percentage with a .601 clip from the floor, and Nehme leads all conference shooters in 3-point field goal accuracy with a .442 clip. As a unit, the Knights lead the NEC in points per game, field goal percentage and assists per contest, while sitting second in 3-point field goal percentage. FDU struggles defensively, however, allowing the second-most points in the conference and the third-highest opponent percentages from both inside and outside the arc.
 
BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE  
The Bulldogs are 4-8 against Northeast Conference competition in 2015-16 with an overall record of 47-70 (.401) 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 38-26 record (.593) over the last three seasons. The Black and Gold are 22-11 at home versus the NEC and 19-17 on the road since 2012-13. All-time against current conference institutions, the Bulldog basketball program is 61-87 (.412).

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulldogs jumped out to an 11-4 lead just four minutes into Saturday's game at Robert Morris, but were surpassed by a flurry of host runs, as they were outscored by 23 points over the final 35 minutes in an 89-71 loss to the Colonials in Moon Township, Pa. Frosh guard Nisre Zouzoua led the Black and Gold on the stat sheet with 17 points on a 6-for-12 effort from the floor while splashing in three long balls. Senior Curtis Oakley Jr. dropped a season-best 16 points, and freshman bigman Marcel Pettway charted 11 points and five pulldowns in the loss. Billy Giles and Isaiah Still were too much for the Bulldogs to handle on the inside, leading the Colonials with 23 and 22 points, respectively. Giles corralled 10 rebounds, and Rodney Pryor secured 11 misses to pair with 14 points in the vicotry. Bryant shot 46.4 percent from the floor (26-56) and 26.3 percent from 3-point land (5-19). Robert Morris shot at a .550 clip from the field (33-60), and nearly matched the Bulldogs with a 26.7 percent performance from beyond the arc (4-15).
 
QUICK HITS
» 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.

» Hey, Surely, the Opponent is Getting His 20: The 23 and 22 points from the Colonials' Billy Giles and Isaiah Still, respectively, on Feb. 6 marked just the fifth time since the 2012-13 campaign that the Bulldogs have allowed two members of an NEC opponent to score 20 or more points in a game.

» Deceptive Percentages: The Bulldogs lost the Jan. 30 contest to the Red Flash despite holding SFU to a mere 31 percent from the floor and 19 percent from long range. It was the lowest percentage from 3-point land that Bryant had allowed all season and it was the first time the program had restricted an opponent from exceeding 31 and 19 percent from the floor and beyond the arc, respectively, in a game since joining the Division I ranks.
 
» Roller Coaster: After opening conference play winning four of the first five games, the Bulldogs have dropped the last seven NEC matchups. The Black and Gold have not been defeated in seven or more league contests in a row since the 2011-2012 season.

» Dan the Man: Junior forward Dan Garvin netted a career-high 25 points and corralled 14 boards for his fourth double-double of the season and the 13th of his career in the Bulldogs' loss at Sacred Heart on Jan. 30. It makes Garvin just the second player in Bryant's DI tenure to record at least 25 points and 14 rebounds in a game, and just the third Bulldog to chart those numbers since the 2001-2002 campaign.

DON'T DROP THAT HALF-TIME LEAD
The Bulldogs have now lost three-straight games when leading at the half, two of which came at the hands of Saint Francis U., which the Bulldogs held a double-digit halftime edge over in both matchups against this season. After blowing their largest halftime lead in a losing effort against the Red Flash (17 points) on Jan. 21, Bryant fell to SFU on Feb. 4 after they attained a 10-point advantage before the intermission. The Bulldogs have lost just six games in which they held a double-figure halftime edge in their Division I tenure.

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 11.4 and 10.9 points per game, respectively, to rank them fourth and fifth among NEC rookies, as Pettway nets 15.0 points per contest in conference play, ranking him fourth overall and first among league froshes. The forward-guard combo amasses 22.3 points per effort, and rank inside the top 20 among all newcomer scoring duos at the Division I level.  

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 11 of the last 14 contests. The Old Tappan, N.J. native leads the Northeast Conference in assists per game with 5.20 and 6.08 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 23 of the season's first 25 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 37.36 minutes per outing (11th nationally). As a starter (67 games), McLaughlin has played 37 minutes or more 39 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 12 of the team's 25 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 even times this season (.462 vs. Prairie View A&M, .462 at Yale, .500 vs. Robert Morris, .500 at Michigan, .500 at Providence, .500 at Duke) and currently ranks seventh to last in Division I with a 61.0 percent clip on the year.

ON THE REBOUND
The Bulldogs have been outrebounded in 21 of their 25 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. Bryant currently ranks 310th in rebounding margin (-4.8) among all DI teams.

LINEUP DANCING
Through 25 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. The cast of senior Shane McLaughlin, sophomore Hunter Ware, freshman Nisre Zouzoua, freshman Marcel Pettway and junior Dan Garvin have earned 16-consecutive starting nods from Dec. 8 - Feb. 6. The Bulldogs have not seen eight or more editions of a starting lineup since the 2011-12 season.

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.

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.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will look to avenge a 65-56 setback suffered on Jan. 7 to the hands of Wagner College, as the Seahawks will travel to Smithfield for the second tilt of this season's series. The Saturday afternoon tip is scheduled to jump off at 4:00 p.m. at the Chace Athletic Center.