Men’s Basketball Faces Overall No. 1 Seed Florida in NCAA Second Round
COVERGE: TBS
Fox Sports 980
Twitter: @UAlbany_MBB
ORLANDO, FLA. – University at Albany men’s basketball (19-14) enters Amway Arena in Orlando on Thursday to face No. 1 seed Florida (31-2) at 4:10 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on TBS.
UAlbany won its first NCAA Division I tournament game against Mount St. Mary’s 71-64 on Tuesday, March 18. The Great Danes took an early 21-2 lead in the first half, and fought off a three-point shooting rally from the Mountaineers to take a 35-31 lead into halftime.
Peter Hooley exploded for 14 second-half points in addition to 22 points and nine rebounds from DJ Evans propelled UAlbany to the win. Gary Johnson had 13 points and seven boards. Sam Rowley had 13 rebounds to lead the Purple & Gold on the glass.
The Great Danes shot better than 50% from the field in both halves of the game for the fourth time this season. UAlbany shot 14-24 (.583) in the first half and 13-23 (.565) in the second half.
HISTORY MADE
UAlbany men’s basketball earned its first Division I program win in the NCAA Tournament with a 71-64 win against Mount St. Mary’s in the First Four. The Great Danes are now 1-3 in NCAA Division I Tournament play and 11-16 all-time at NCAA’s. It was the first NCAA win for the Purple & Gold since a Division III win in 1995 under Doc Sauers.
THE ROARING 20′S
The Great Danes saw two players score 20 points or more for the first time in a win since beating Hartford at home 81-56 on Jan. 4, and it was the same two players, DJ Evans and Peter Hooley. Evans scored 22 against Mount St. Mary’s in the First Four, and he had 20 against the Hawks in the first conference game of the season. Hooley had 25 against Hartford and 20 against the Mount.
MOUNT ST. MARY’S LEFTOVERS
- Will Brown’s squad shot 57.4% from the field against Mount St. Mary’s the second-highest single-game team total this season.
- The Mountaineers took a UAlbany opponent-high 37 three pointers, accounting for more than half of their total field goal attempts (60).
RECORD IN THE CITRUS STATE
Will Brown has faced Florida teams three times in his career. The Great Danes are 0-3 against the state of Florida with losses to UCF (76-72, Nov. 28, 2009), Florida Atlantic (81-65, Nov. 30, 2009) and against Florida 83-64 in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer on Nov. 10, 2005 in Gainesville.
DANES ON A ROLL
- UAlbany is on a four-game winning streak, its longest of the season.
- The Great Danes have won four straight games in the postseason for the first time in program history.
- The Purple & Gold has won seven of its last eight games.
- DJ Evans is averaging 13.8 points per game over the last eight games.
- Peter Hooley is averaging 19.2 points per game over the last nine games
- The Great Danes have shot 40% or better from the field in each of the last nine games
- The Purple & Gold is 13-0 when scoring 70 points or more
