Men’s Basketball Heads to Hartford on Saturday With Six Games Left in the Regular Season
COVERAGE: AmericaEast.tv
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Twitter: @UAlbany_MBB
ALBANY, N.Y. – University at Albany men’s basketball (12-11, 6-4 AE) travels to West Hartford on Saturday to face the Hartford Hawks (10-14, 4-5 AE) at 7:00 p.m.
Peter Hooley led UAlbany with 21 points, including six made threes to down UMass Lowell at home on Wednesday night, 73-56. Hooley had 15 first-half points to build a 24-point lead for the Great Danes at halftime.
John Puk led the Purple & Gold on the boards with nine. Sam Rowley nearly tallied a double-double with 10 points and seven rebounds, and Gary Johnson recorded his seventh consecutive game with 10 points or more, scoring 12 against UMass Lowell.
Four Great Danes were in double figures, including Hooley (21), Johnson (12), Rowley (10) and DJ Evans (10). UAlbany recorded its highest first-half point total of the season with 46 points at the break. UAlbany is now 10-0 on the season when scoring 70 points or more. By contrast, the Great Danes are 0-6 when they score 59 points or less.
LAST WE MET
When the teams met in the America East opener on Jan. 4 at SEFCU Arena, UAlbany knocked down a single-game program-high 16 three-pointers to take the commanding 81-56 win. The Great Danes went 16-for-23 (.696) from three, with DJ Evans and Peter Hooley pouring in six threes apiece. Evans went 6-for-6 from the three-point arc in the second half. Hooley scored a game-high 25 points, and John Puk tallied nine rebounds to lead UAlbany on the boards. The Purple & Gold also recorded a season-high 18 assists in the win over the Hawks.
GOOD THINGS COME IN TWOS
For the second time this season, UAlbany won when four players scored 10 points or more in a 73-56 win over UMass Lowell on Feb. 5. In addition, the Great Danes downed the River Hawks despite attempting less free throws. The victory on Wednesday night marks just the second time all season Will Brown’s squad has won without shooting more free throws than its opponent.
Dallas Ennema and Gary Johnson both kept their respective scoring streaks going against UMass Lowell. Johnson had his seventh straight game with 10 points or more, and Ennema extended his streak of making at least one three-pointer to five games.
On his 22nd birthday, Peter Hooley scored 21 points to mark the sixth time this season he has scored 20 points or more.
ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE
Senior point guard DJ Evans has had at least one assist in all but two games this season, and is currently averaging 3.1 assists per game in league play. Evans has dished out at least two assists in 18 games so far this season, including a career-high six at UMass Lowell on Jan. 15.
CENTURY-MARK FOR PUK
Senior center John Puk is four blocks away from tallying 100 for his career. Puk recorded a career-high five rejections against UMBC at home earlier this season.
SCOUTING HARTFORD
• In their 27th meeting since becoming America East foes, UAlbany leads the series 16-10 and has won the last six meetings against the Hawks.
• Hartford has lost its last three games after winning three straight in America East play. The Hawks lost those three games by an average of four points, including a four-point loss to Stony Brook on Feb. 1, a seven-point loss to Vermont on Jan. 29, and a two-point loss to UMBC on Jan. 25.
• John Gallagher’s squad has seen a streak of injuries since the teams first met on Jan. 4 in the America East opener. 2013-14 Preseason All-Conference selection Mark Nwakamma missed Hartford’s most recent match-up against Stony Brook, a 56-52 loss; and the loss against Vermont.
• After UAlbany made a school-record 16 threes to down Hartford in their first game this season, the Hawks broke out with a single-game three-point effort of their own against UMass Lowell on Jan. 20. Wes Cole went 10-for-20 from behind the arc for 30 points and a 69-51 win over the River Hawks.
