Bulldogs and Pioneers clash in Smithfield Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team welcomes Sacred Heart for the second of a three-game homestand on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. on NECFrontRow.com and WOON 1240 AM (Jon Wallach and Tristan Hobbes). 

THE SERIES
Having matched up with the Pioneers more than any other NEC school, the Bulldogs will face SHU for a 34th time on Saturday. This weekend's visitors hold a 20-13 edge in the overall series, but the rivalry is tied, 10-10 in Smithfield. 

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Locked in a five-way tie for fifth place in the NEC along with Bryant, Sacred Heart enters this week's contest led by sophomore guard and the league's second-best scorer Quincy McKnight (18.6 ppg). Junior forward Joseph Lopez is averaging 12.9 points per game on an NEC-leading 57.7 percent from the floor to go along with a team-high 8.8 caroms per game. He also has six double-doubles this season which are third-most in the conference. McKnight and Lopez are the only two players averaging double figures, as senior forward Matej Buovac nets 8.9, junior forward De'veon Barnett tallies 7.4 and sophomore guard Sean Hoehn scores 7.3 points per effort. As a unit, the Pioneers lead the NEC with 14.8 assists per game, 26.9 defensive rebounds per game and 256 made free throws. But they struggle holding onto the ball, committing the most turnovers in the league at 15.7 per game.   

CURRENT DAWGS vs. SACRED HEART
All nine returners from last year's team have faced the Pioneers in their careers, eight doing so more than once. Senior forward Dan Garvin has owned Sacred Heart in five meetings, averaging 15.2 points on a .536 clip from the floor, 10.6 boards and just under two blocks. The Pioneers are one of just two teams in the NEC theat Garvin has averaged a double-double against with at least four meetings, as he scored a career high of 25 points and grabbed 14 boards in the lone encounter last season. He's averaging 19.8 points and 13.1 boards over the last four meetings. Junior Bosko Kostur scored 11 points and corralled seven boards in his lone matchup with SHU last year and is averaging 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds over four career games. Junior guard Hunter Ware netted 11.5 points in two matchups last season and sophomore forward Marcel Pettway averaged 9.5 points and 6.5 caroms. 

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE  
The Bulldogs hold an overall record of 49-78 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 41-34 record over the last four seasons. The Black and Gold are 24-15 at home versus the NEC and 20-21 on the road since 2012-13. All-time against current conference institutions, the Bulldog basketball program is 64-95.

LAST TIME OUT
Despite neither side leading by more than four points over the first 30 minutes, the Bulldogs were able to grab control of Thursday's back-and-forth battle against Wagner midway through the second half. Senior Dan Garvin had a huge block with less than 15 minutes to go, got fouled on the other end and hit a pair of free throws to give his team back the lead; the final edge swing of the night. It was a momentum lifter and gave Bryant confidence, as they went on to lead by as many as 14 and for the final 14:38 in a 77-66 win. Sophomore Nisre Zouzoua scored a game-high 24 points and had seven rebounds, junior Bosko Kostur had 15 points with a team-best eight rebounds, sophomore Marcel Pettway netted 14 points and freshman Adam Grant added 10 points. 


QUICK HITS

» Defend The Ball: Bryant is 3-0 this season when holding an opponent to under 70 points. It has proven that it finds success when surrendering fewer than 70 points over the past few years, as it is 41-14 since the start of the 2013-14 season. 

» Saturday's Aren't For The Dogs: The Bulldogs are 0-5 on Saturday's this season. It is the longest stretch since the 2009-10 campaign that Bryant has gone to start a year without obtaining a victory on Saturday.   

» A Lethal Weapon, Coming Back Like I'm Cleveland Winning Game 7: In addition to Thursday's win over Wagner, the Bulldogs have overcome three halftime deficits this season and come back to win. Bryant nearly erased a 22-point halftime deficit on Jan. 7 against FDU (87-84 loss) which would have been the largest halftime deficit overcome in program history. The Bulldogs have won 24 games at the DI level when they have trailed at the intermission.  
 
JUST ZOO IT
Sophomore Nisre Zouzoua is in the midst of superb sophomore campaign with an impressive 21.2 points per game to lead the league and sit 20th nationally, while hitting 2.76 triples per game. He has scored 21 points or more in 11 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 17 collegiate games. He has netted double-digit points in all but four games this season. Grant is second on the team with 14.0 points per game to sit ninth in the NEC, second among league rookies.

BK ALL DAY
Junior forward Bosko Kostur has provided the Bulldogs with an additional threat over the last three games and reemerged as a consistent contributor. After scoring no more than four points and playing no more than eight minutes over the first six games of the year, he has played 20+ minutes in seven of the last 11 games, has started three-straight contests and scored in double-figures seven times. He is averaging 18.6 points on a .538 clip from the floor over the last three games, the highest scoring three-game stretch of his career.  CRAZY ABOUT 80With the 87-84 loss to the Knights on Jan. 7, Bryant is now 1-2 this season when scoring 80 or more points. The Bulldogs have never lost more than one game in any season at the Division I level when scoring 80+ points and hold a 31-4 record at the DI ranks when doing so. 

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
The 72-71 win against Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 5 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. 

EFFECTIVE AND DECEPTIVE
Bryant shot 50% from the floor in the loss to the Terriers (28-56), marking the second time it has lost a game when hitting shots at a .500 clip since this year. The team also did so against Navy on Dec. 6, marking the first time it lost a game when hitting at least half its shots since 2014-15. Since joining the Division I ranks in 2008, the Bulldogs are 35-14 when they hit at least 50% of their shots.  

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 6.1 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

ON TAP
The Bulldogs battle their final non-conference opponent of the season and their final Ivy League foe of the year when they host Harvard on Monday at 7:00 p.m.