Men’s Basketball Opens Four-Game Road Trip at Rider on Tuesday Night
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Twitter: @UAlbany_MBB
ALBANY, N.Y. – UAlbany men’s basketball (2-3) hits the road for Rider (1-2) this Tuesday at 7 p.m., to begin a four-game stint on the road.
UAlbany lost its third straight game at the hands of Bucknell, 77-64 on Saturday night at SEFCU Arena. The Bison shot the lights out, going 14-for-21 from three for the game and 10-for-14 at the half.
Peter Hooley matched his career high with 21 points, while Sam Rowley recorded his fifth career double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. It was the second straight game the junior forward brought down 10 rebounds.
DJ Evans tallied 13 points in the loss, while David Wiegmann had eight points and six rebounds in his first career start.
UAlbany committed a season-low 12 fouls, and shot three times as many free throws (24) as the Bison (8).
LAST WE MET…
In their nonconference meeting in February of 2012, only seven UAlbany players saw time, and Jacob Iati and Mike Black ran away from the Broncs with 20 and 23 points, respectively. The only two 2013-14 returners that saw time in that contest were John Puk and Sam Rowley. The Great Danes only committed seven turnovers in that game, which remains one of the lowest single-game turnover totals in the Division I ranks for UAlbany.
FOUR THROUGH FIVE
For the first time since the 2004-05 season, four UAlbany players are averaging double-digits in scoring through five games. Peter Hooley leads the Great Danes with 16 points per game, while Sam Rowley is averaging 13.6 ppg and DJ Evans and Gary Johnson are notching 11.0 ppg and 10.0 ppg, respectively. In 2004-05, Lucious Jordan led UAlbany with 20.0 ppg, with Jon Iati (13.2 ppg), Jamar Wilson (14.0 ppg) and Levi Levine (11.0 ppg) also averaging double figures through the first four games.
ROWLEY ROLLING
Through five games and with 40+ field goal attempts, Sam Rowley has the top field goal percentage in the Will Brown era at 61.2% (30-49). The junior forward is averaging 13.6 ppg and 7.8 rpg, nearly doubling his average output from this time last season, when he was averaging 7.4 ppg and 4.6 rpg.
CAREER HIGH FOR HOOLEY
Sophomore shooting guard Peter Hooley matched his career high in points in a 77-64 loss to Bucknell on Saturday night with 21. Hooley became UAlbany’s leading scorer this season after a 21-point effort at Duquesne on Wednesday night. With the new career high, Hooley is now averaging 16.0 points per game behind four double-digit showings this season. Hooley also recorded consecutive games of 20 or more for the first time in his career. The last time a sophomore led the team in scoring overall was during the 2004-05 season when Jamar Wilson led the squad with 16.9 points per game.
After going 11-for-11 from the charity stripe against Bucknell, Hooley also posts the top free throw percentage (min. 30 attempts) in the Will Brown era through five games at 90.6 percent on 29-of-32 from the line. The sophomore is averaging 5.8 made free throws per game, to account for nearly 1/3 of his scoring average.
BE-FOUR YOU WORRY
UAlbany is trying to avoid a four-game losing streak at Rider on Tuesday. The Great Danes haven’t lost four in a row in nonconference play since 2006-07, when they lost to Sacred Heart, UConn, Siena and VCU to start 2-4 to open the season. The 2006-07 squad ended up winning the America East tournament and made its second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament against Virginia.
GIVING IT UP WITHOUT COUGHING IT UP
DJ Evans has the top assist-turnover ratio in the America East at 7.5. The senior point guard has 15 assists for an average of 3.0 per game, and just two turnovers through five games.
SCOUTING RIDER
Rider is the first team UAlbany has faced this season that is shooting better from the free throw line. The Broncs are 79.2% (76-96) on the year.
Starting sophomore guard Zedric Sadlet scored a career-high 21 points and notched a career-high five assists in an 89-73 win at Central Connecticut State on Saturday.
The game against UAlbany is Rider’s first at home this season. The Broncs advanced to the CIT Second Round last season before falling to East Carolina.
Daniel Stewart and Anthony Myles were selected to the All-MAAC Preseason squad, and the Broncs were picked to finish fourth in the league.
UAlbany and Rider have only faced each other twice, with a very wide gap between meetings. The Great Danes won the most recent meeting in 2012 70-61, while Rider won the first meeting in 1958 in the NAIA District 31 Regional 52-42. UAlbany went Division I in 1999, while the Broncs joined the MAAC in 1997.
