Bryant, Sacred Heart clash Thursday on CBS Sports Network
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Bryant University men's basketball team looks for its third straight win Thursday in a key Northeast Conference contest at Sacred Heart on CBS Sports Network.
The Bulldogs look to gain ground in a crowded NEC race, where six teams are separated by two games. Bryant enters Thursday two games in the loss column back of Sacred Heart for the No. 3 seed in March's NEC tournament.
The Particulars
Opponent: Sacred Heart
Location: Pitt Center (Fairfield, Conn.)
Date and Time: Thursday, Feb. 13 – 5 p.m.
Watch: CBS Sports Network (Dave Popkin, Tim Capstraw, John Schmeelk)
Live Stats: Presto Stats
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #12Seven4 | #NECMBB
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Sacred Heart is 14-11 on the year and 7-5 in the NEC after dropping home contests to Robert Morris and Saint Francis U by a combined five points last weekend.
EJ Anosike (15.5 ppg) and Koreem Ozier (15.1) rank sixth and seventh in the NEC in scoring, while Anosike leads the league in rebounding at 10.9 per game.
The Bulldogs and Pioneers are the top two teams in the NEC in rebounds per game and field goal percentage defense.
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs and Pioneers are meeting for the 40th time and 24th in Bryant's Division I era. Sacred Heart holds a 17-6 advantage in the D1 series.
Sacred Heart swept the season series in 2018-19 with a lopsided January win in Fairfield and a 105-104 February victory over Bryant in Smithfield. The Bulldogs shot a program-record 69.2% in the February clash.
LAST TIME OUT: BRYANT 64, CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 60
Bryant overcame a 34% showing from the field with a 50-rebound effort to hold off Central Connecticut Saturday at the Chace. Freshman Benson Lin (New Taipei City, Taiwan) scored a team-high 13 points in the win.
RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF PROGRESS
Bryant won its 12th game of the year Saturday, matching the 2016-17 team for the fourth-highest win total in the program's Division I era. The Bulldogs' 12-12 record through 24 games matches the 2014-15 team for the program's best over the last six seasons.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Senior Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) knocked down a pair of three-pointers in Saturday's win to break Dyami Starks' Division I career record of 281. Grant's 282 threes are tied with Chris Burns - who was an assistant coach in Grant's freshman season - for third on Bryant's all-time list and 41 back of John Williams' career mark of 323.
Grant passed Dyami Starks Jan. 30 for second on Bryant's Division I career scoring list. Grant now stands at 1,722 points for his career, besting Starks' 1,691 in his three seasons in Black & Gold (2012-15).
TURN IT ON AGAIN
After a start to the season slowed by injury, senior Juan Cardenas (Apartado, Colombia) has found the same rhythm the forward had for the stretch run a year ago. Cardenas is averaging 12.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game over his last eight contests with four games of 15-plus points. The senior has shot 43.3% from three during that stretch.
Cardenas has risen to fourth on Bryant's D1 career blocks list with 60 rejections, three back of Papa Lo for second.
HARD HAT HARDING
The 13 rebounds from sophomore Patrick Harding (Fairfield, Conn.) Saturday moved him to 381 for his Bulldog career and sixth in Bryant's Division I era. Thursday's effort against St. Francis Brooklyn marked the fourth performance of 15+ rebounds for Harding this season, matching the total by all other players in Bryant's 12-year Division I history.
Harding is averaging 9.3 rebounds per game in 2019-20 and ranks third in the NEC. He has collected 31.3% of potential defensive rebounds while on the floor this season, good for fifth nationally.
SO FRESH(MEN), SO CLEAN
Bryant's rookie trio of Charles Pride (Syracuse, N.Y.), Lin and Michael Green III (Bronx, N.Y.) rank second, third and fourth on the team in scoring and have combined for 30 games of 10+ points and six NEC Rookies of the Week, matching the highest total in program history. Lin (Jan. 20) and Pride (Jan. 27) have won two of the last four awards.
HEART OF GLASS
Bryant had zero games of 50 or more rebounds through the Bulldogs' first 340 Division I contests, never reaching more than 46 after 11 seasons and three games.
The Bulldogs have rewritten that column of the record book this year, with the six highest single-game rebounding totals of the program's D1 era, including 50 in Saturday's victory. Bryant has hauled in its two highest rebounding numbers against NEC opponents over its last two games.
Bryant's 19 offensive rebounds Saturday were the third-highest total in the program's Division I history against a D1 opponent.
LIN AND WE'RE IN
Bryant is 9-2 this season when Lin scores 10 points or more. Lin tallied a team-high 13 points in Saturday's victory over Central Connecticut.
THREE D
Bryant has held its opponents to 30.1% from three this season - the best mark in the NEC and 47th nationally. The perimeter defense has helped the Bulldogs to a 46.0% effective field goal defense against D1 opponents, which leads the league and ranks 40th in the nation.
UP NEXT: CENTRAL CONNECTICUT
Bryant faces Central Connecticut for the second consecutive Saturday and looks for a season sweep of the Blue Devils at 3:30 p.m. in New Britain.
Tickets are Bryant's two remaining regular season home games – Feb. 18 vs. Merrimack and Feb. 23 vs. Sacred Heart – are available by clicking HERE.
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