Rise and Grind: Bulldogs host Dartmouth Thursday at 11:00 a.m.

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team plays its final contest before Northeast Conference action begins when it takes on Dartmouth Thursday at 11:00 a.m. The game can be seen on NECFrontRow.com and heard on WOON 1240 AM (Jon Wallach and Tristan Hobbes). 

THE SERIES
Thursday's meeting between the Bulldogs and Big Green will be the sixth straight and the third overall in Smithfield. Bryant has won three of the last four matchups to hold a 3-2 series edge, including a thrilling, 62-60, win in Hanover last season.  

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth began the season 0-9, but has been playing much better of late, as it won its first game on Dec. 17, 82-68, and its last two losses were by a combined nine points. Sophomore forward Evan Boudreaux, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year, is leading the Big Green once again with a team-high 16.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game to sit second and first in the conference, respectively. He also has four double-doubles this season to sit 45th in the country. Classmate guard Guilien Smith is second with 11.4 points per game and junior guard Miles Wright nets 10.7 points per contest to pair with 5.1 rebounds per game. The Big Green has struggled on the defensive end, as it ranks 335th in the country with 1.7 blocks per game and 327th with 4.5 steals.  

CURRENT DAWGS vs. DARTMOUTH
Nine current Bulldogs have played the Big Green in their careers and four have done so more than once. The only Bryant player averaging more than 6.0 points is sophomore Nisre Zouzoua, who netted 13 in his first contest against Dartmouth last year. Classmate Marcel Pettway scored six points and grabbed seven boards in that game. 

BRYANT vs. THE IVY LEAGUE
Thursday's matchup is the third of four contests against members of the Ivy League in 2016-17 and the second of three at home. Bryant is 8-24 against Ivy League schools in its short Division I history, having matched up against Columbia (0-3), Brown (2-7), Cornell (0-2), Harvard (0-5), Yale (3-6) and Dartmouth (3-2) over the last eight seasons. In the all-time history of the program, the Bulldogs are just 8-32 against Ivy League opponents, but they have won two of the last three, most recently a 79-70 win over Yale on Nov. 30.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulldogs had yet another strong first half on Dec. 10 against the University of New Hampshire and took a 35-27 edge into the break. But the Wildcats were lights out from three in the second half, shooting 64.3 percent (9-14) as well as 66.7 percent from the floor (16-24) to outscore the Bulldogs, 59-38. The Wildcats were also 18-of-18 from the foul line and limited Bryant to a .387 clip from the floor in the second stanza to help secure an 86-73 win. Freshman Adam Grant led Bryant in scoring with 19 points, as four other Bulldogs scored in double-figures. Sophomore Marcel Pettway had 16, classmate Nisre Zouzoua and freshman Sabastian Townes had 13 each and junior Bosko Kostur scored 11. 

QUICK HITS
» Big Break: The Bulldogs will have had 10 days in between games when they take the court against Dartmouth. In the program's Division I history, Bryant is 4-10 in games in which it has had at least a full week before playing its next context.  

» Fine Tuning: Just like the last two seasons, Dartmouth will be the final non-conference game before NEC play begins. The Bulldogs are 3-4 at the Division I level in the final contest before playing a conference opponent.   

» Balance Beat: Five players scored in double figures in the loss to UNH on Dec. 10, marking just the third time in Bryant's Division I history that five different performers have scored at least 10 points in defeat. The Bulldogs are 18-3 in such games and the last time they lost was March 20, 2013.   

JUST ZOO IT
After lighting up the Northeast Conference for over 19.0 points per game to finish out the final month of last season, sophomore Nisre Zouzoua was expected to have a better second campaign. But he has exceeded expecations with an impressive 21.2 points per game over the first 11 contests to lead the league and sit 28th nationally, while hitting a conference-best 3.18 triples per game. He has scored 21 points or more in eight of the last 10 outings, including a new career high of 31 points at Brown on Nov. 28, his second 30-point game of the year. 

THIRTY MIND
Zouzoua's 30 points vs. La.-Monroe on Nov. 22 made him the first Bulldog to tally 30 or more since Dyami Starks ('15) did so on Feb. 12, 2015. Zouzoua is just the second Bulldog to score 30 or more points in two games over a three-game span and the second player to average at least 22.0 points over the first 10 games of any season in the program's DI history (Starks did it in 2013-14).

ALL THE NIS-WAY UP
Zouzoua eclipsed 500 career points in the win over La.-Monroe to become the second fasted Bulldog to reach the milestone in the program's Division I history (36 games). Alex Francis ('14) did it in 34 games. The sophomore is also the second-fastest Bulldog to score 200 points in a season, as he did so in the season's 10th game against the Midshipmen. Starks reached the 200-point mark in the ninth game of 2013-14.  

JUST LEAD IT
The Bulldogs have now lost consecutive games in which they led at the half, as they held leads of atleast eight points in each contest. Bryant blew a 25-point halftime lead at Navy on Dec. 6 and an eight-point lead against UNH on Dec. 10. The Bulldogs have lost just seven games when leading by double-digits at the half in the program's Division I tenure, four of which have come since the start of last season.   

GRANTED PERMISSION
Freshman Adam Grant has played like a seasoned vet through his first 11 collegiate games. He has netted double-digit points in all but one game this season and scored no fewer than nine points. Grant is second on the team with 16.5 points per game to sit fifth in the NEC, first among league rookies, and he has a .516 field-goal clip to sit first in the conference. 
 
MR. STEAL YOUR BALL 
The 11 steals against Brown on Nov. 28 were the most for the Bulldogs since the start of the 2014-15 season (69 games). Bryant also theft the Bears 10 times in last season's meeting on Dec. 5, 2015. The team is averaging 6.6 steals per game this year and is on pace to break its previous high for a single season at the Division I level, which was 5.9.   

TICKET TO RIDE
Single-game and season ticket packages are available for the 2016-17 Bryant University men's and women's basketball seasons. Fans can purchase tickets online at bryantbulldogs.com/tickets or by calling the Bryant Athletics Ticket Office at 401-319-TIXX.

NO TICKET, NO PROBLEM
Bryant University Athletics and the Northeast Conference are once again affiliated with the Pack Network and 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 90 Bryant University home contests during the 2016-17 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 DVR functionality. Visit NECFrontRow.com for more information and a complete schedule of events.

BRYANT HOOPS ON WOON RADIO
For the ninth 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.

ON TAP
The Bulldogs have seven days off for Christmas break before opening up conference play at St. Francis Brooklyn on Dec. 29 at 4:00 p.m.