Bulldogs take on Knights in the garden state Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team travels to Fairleigh Dickinson to battle the defending league champs on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. on NECFrontRow.com. 

THE SERIES
Saturday's matchup will be the 14th in the series with Bryant holding a 7-6 edge in the series. The teams split the series last season, as both road teams claimed victory. The Bulldogs hold the advantage in Hackensack, 4-2. 

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
The defending Northeast Conference champions are off to 3-0 start to league play and though it has been a balanced attack with eight players scoring at least 5.0 points per game, three double-digit scorers charge the team. Junior guard Darian Anderson is second in the conference with 18.9 points per game and a .402 clip from three. Classmate guard Stephan Jiggets nets 13.5 points per game, leads the league with 4.9 helpers per contest and is one of just 17 players in the country to record a triple-double this year. Sophomore bigman Mike Holloway sits third on the team with 12.0 points per outing on a team-best 58.6 percent from the field and leads the Knights with 5.0 rebounds per game. FDU leads the NEC with a 75.0 free-throw percentage, has the fewest turnovers in the league and boasts the second-best scoring offense. The Knights do allow the most points per game in the league and sit second-to-last in rebounds per game.

CURRENT DAWGS vs. FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
Seven current Bulldogs have faced the Knights in their careers, six seeing them more than once. Senior forward Dan Garvin has matched up with the Knights five times and is averaging nearly a double-double at 10.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor. He averaged 13.0 points and 10.5 boards per game in two meetings as a sophomore two seasons ago. Sophomore Marcel Pettway netted 16.0 points and corralled 7.5 boards per contest against FDU last year, as he converted 80.0 percent of his shots. Classmate Nisre Zouzoua poured in 19.0 points per game while shooting at least a .500 clip from both the floor and beyond the arc.  

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE  
The Bulldogs hold an overall record of 49-77 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 40-33 record over the last four seasons. The Black and Gold are 23-15 at home versus the NEC and 20-20 on the road since 2012-13. All-time against current conference institutions, the Bulldog basketball program is 63-94.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulldogs trailed by as many as nine in the first half and by four at halftime, but were able to attain their own nine-point lead midway through the second half. But immeidiately after, Mount St. Mary's scored 14-straight points to retake momentum. Both sides went back-and-forth down the stretch, and with the game tied with under 30 seconds to go, senior Dan Garvin had a monster block, got fouled on the other end with five seconds left and hit what ended up being the winner from the free throw line in a 72-71 victory at home Thursday. Junior Bosko Kostur netted a career high 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go along with a team-best four assists. Sophomores Marcel Pettway and Nisre Zouzoua netted 13 and 15 points, respectively. 

NEW YEAR NEW ME
While Bryant has struggled to close out the year since joining the DI ranks (11-49 in December), it has excelled starting the new year. After Thursday's triumph over Mount St. Mary's, the Bulldogs have now won five-straight games in the first contest after the calender turns and Earth becomes a year older, as they are 6-3 at the DI level in the first action of January.  
TRIPLE THE DOUBLE  
The Bulldogs won their first game of the year when just three players score in double-figures. Bryant finished 1-10 last season when three players netted double-digit points, but the Black and Gold went 14-10 in such games from 2013-14 - 2014-15. 

JUST ZOO IT
Nisre Zouzoua is in the midst of superb sophomore campaign with an impressive 21.0 points per game over the first 15 contests to lead the league and sit 23rd nationally, while hitting a conference-best 2.80 triples per game. He has scored 21 points or more in nine outings, including a career high of 31 points at Brown on Nov. 28, his second 30-point game of the year.  

GRANTED PERMISSION
Freshman Adam Grant has played like a seasoned vet through his first 15 collegiate games. He has netted double-digit points in all but three games this season. Grant is second on the team with 14.7 points per game to sit sixth in the NEC, first among league rookies, and he has a .473 field-goal clip to sit fourth in the conference.  

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
The 72-71 win against Mount St. Mary's on Thursday marked the Bulldogs' first victory in a game decided by five points or fewer  this season (1-4), having lost by one, two, three and four points. This is somewhat unusual for the Bulldogs, who had gone 10-2 in games decided by five points or fewer over the last two seasons. 

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 5.9 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.   

ON TAP
The Bulldogs return home for three-straight games, first hosting Wagner College on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.