AMERICA EAST CHAMPIONS #GREATNESSLIVESHERE 2006 | 2015 @UALBANYMBB AE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS 2006 | 2007 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 @UALBANYMBB NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES /UALBANYMBB 2006 | 2007 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 THE MATCHUP 2020-21 SCHEDULE #5 UALBANY GREAT DANES #8 NJIT HIGHLANDERS 6-8 | 6-6 America East VS 8-12 | 6-8 America East DATE OPPONENT TIME Head Coach: Will Brown Head Coach: Brian Kennedy Dec. 19 UMBC* L, 64-65 Record at UAlbany: 314-294 Record at NJIT: 63-81 Dec. 20 UMBC* L, 60-65 Career Record: 404-304 Career Record: 63-81 Dec. 22 Niagara L, 65-70 GAME 15 | #5 UALBANY vs. #8 NJIT - Feb. 27 | 5:00 pm | Chase Arena, West Hartford, Conn. 0-3 Jan. 2 at Vermont* W, 63-62 Tale of the Tape 68.4 pts/gm 66.1 Jan. 3 at Vermont* L, 66-74 67.9 pts allowed/gm 69.8 Jan. 9 at Saint Joseph’s L, 64-67 30.1 rbs/gm 31.7 Jan. 16 NJIT* W, 83-75 .435 fg% .404 Jan. 17 NJIT* W, 83-71 .328 3fg% .309 .719 ft% .681 Jan. 23 at New Hampshire* L, 64-71 Jan. 24 at New Hampshire* W, 83-64 NEWS AND NOTES 4-3 Feb. 12 UMass Lowell* L, 71-79 Scouting Stony Brook 12th game of the season, defeating UMass Lowell Feb. 13 UMass Lowell* W, 81-69 The Seawolves have lost four-straight games, 81-69 to split the series with the River Hawks. coming off consecutive series against UMBC Kellon Taylor scored a career-high 16 points, one Feb. 20 Stony Brook* L, 43-59 and Vermont. The Retrievers and Catamounts of four Great Danes to score in double-figures. Feb. 21 Stony Brook* W, 67-59 are tied atop the America East standings at 9-3 UMass Lowell, who shot 80.0% from the floor in in-conference. Stony Brook started the season the second half of the first game, shot 60.0% in Feb. 27 vs. #8 NJIT^ 5:00 pm 1-4 before rolling off five-straight victories, includ- the first half of the second, before finally cooling ing starting conference play 4-0. The Seawolves, off in game two’s second half. Though the the two-seed in last season’s America East Tour- River Hawks recorded 14 blocked shots in the * America East Game nament, were picked to finish fifth in the presea- two games against UAlbany, the Great Danes ^ America East Tournament son coaches’ poll, one spot behind UAlbany, after outscored UMass Lowell 17-9 in the second game bringing in eight newcomers to fill in the gaps in transition, and 23-9 off of turnovers. Defensive- All Times Eastern from last season’s roster vacancies. UAlbany has ly, UAlbany set a single-game record against an lost five of the last six to the Seawolves, including America East opponent, recording 14 steals. each of the last three, as well as each of the last three at SEFCU Arena. Around the America East Vermont moved back into a tie with idle UMBC Last Time vs. Stony Brook for first in the America East standings, jumping UAlbany’s 2019-20 season came to an end in the to 9-3 in-conference and extending their winning quarterfinals of the America East Tournament. streak to seven games after sweeping Stony The Great Danes faced off against second-seed Brook. Since sweeping NJIT, UAlbany has split Stony Brook on Long Island, falling to the each of its last two series, at New Hampshire and Seawolves in a 76-73 thriller. Cameron Healy vs. UMass Lowell, with a team pause in between. bounced back from his recent struggles due to Behind Vermont and UMBC, New Hampshire BROADCAST INFO injury to the tune of 28 points on 10-16 shooting, and Hartford are tied at 8-6, followed by UMass including 6-10 from deep to lead four Great Lowell (7-7) and UAlbany (5-5). Stony Brook is TV: ESPN+ Danes in double-figures. Healy scored 19 of his tied for seventh with NJIT at 6-8, with Binghamton Jeff Dooley & Adam Finkelstein 28 points in the second half. Stony Brook with- in ninth at 2-10. Maine, unable to practice since stood Healy’s onslaught, however, by shooting January 17, has opted out of the remainder of the Radio: 104.5 FM nearly 60% from the floor in the second half. season. Rodger Wyland & Charlie Voelker Last Time Out UAlbany secured its eligibility for the 2021 Her- cules Tires America East Men’s Playoffs with its PROBABLE STARTERS JAMEL HORTON ANTONIO RIZZUTO CJ KELLY KELLON TAYLOR JARVIS DOLES 5 Jr. / G / 6-4 / 190 0 Jr. / G / 6-3 / 195 15 Jr. / G / 6-5 / 190 12 Gr. / F / 6-6 / 215 4 Gr. / F / 6-9 / 215 9.1 PPG / 3.1 RPG / 2.6 APG 13.4 PPG / 1.6 RPG / 0.8 APG 13.5 PPG / 3.7 RPG / 2.2 APG 10.1 PPG / 6.0 RPG / 2.0 APG 8.6 PPG / 4.4 RPG / 0.4 APG 19 PTS vs. UNH (1/23/21) 25 PTS vs. UML (2/12/21) 27 PTS at Vermont (1/2/21) 16 PTS vs. UML (2/13/21) 15 PTS vs. NJIT (1/17/21) game 15 - vs #8 njit Approaching 1,000 Tale of the Tape Junior guard Cameron Healy is set to become the 13th UAlbany men’s basket- ball player to hit the 1,000-point career milestone. Through his first two-plus UAlbany NJIT seasons, Healy has scored 989 points, averaging 13.5 points per game. UAlbany’s 6-8 Overall Record 7-11 last 1,000-point scorer was Healy’s former teammate Ahmad Clark, who eclipsed 6-6 Conference Record 6-10 the mark on February 12, 2020 at Hartford. W1 Streak L3 Schedule Strength 68.4 Points Per Game 66.1 Of the teams remaining at the end of the 2020-21 regular season, UAlbany held 67.9 Points Allowed Per Game 69.8 the second-highest strength of schedule based on in-conference opponents’ +0.5 Scoring Margin -3.7 winning percentages. UAlbany opponents collectively held a winning percentage 30.1 Rebounds Per Game 31.7 of .544, just behind Binghamton’s .548. The Great Danes’ America East schedule 33.9 Opp. Rebounds Per Game 37.4 kicked was tough from the very beginning, with three of their first four series -3.8 Rebounding Margin -5.7 featuring the preseason #1, #2, and #3 selections, each of whom finished in the .435 Field Goal Percentage .404 top three in the conference standings. .447 Opp. Field Goal Percentage .460 All-Conference .328 3-Point Percentage .309 Junior guard Antonio Rizzuto’s breakout season culminated in a pair of All-Con- .349 Opp. 3-Point Percentage .324 ference honors. Rizzuto was named to the America East All-Conference Second .719 Free Throw Percentage .681 Team as well as to the All-Defensive Team. Additionally, junior forward Adam 11.4 Assists Per Game 9.6 Lulka was named All-Academic for the second-straight season, posting a perfect 12.3 Turnovers Per Game 11.1 4.00 undergraduate and graduate GPA, the highest of any other All-Academic 15.1 Opposing Turnovers Per Game 14.4 selection. +2.8 Turnover Margin +3.3 Five Seed 6.9 Steals Per Game 6.8 Splitting their final series of the regular-season against Stony Brook, the Great 1.7 Blocks Per Game 2.1 Danes finished fifth in the regular season standings and would play in Hartford’s four-team pod. UAlbany’s opponent in the playoffs would be eight-seed NJIT, the only team the Great Danes swept during the regular-season. On the other side of the pod bracket, four-seed Hartford will play nine-seed Binghamton. The win- America East Rankings (through 2/21/21) ners of each game face off for a bid into the semifinals on Sunday, February 28. Team Antonio Rizzuto America East Revamps Playoff Format --Points: 9th (13.4) --Scoring Off: 4th (68.4) --Steals: 14th (0.9) The America East Conference reworked the format for the 2021 Hercules Tires --Scoring Def: 7th (67.9) --3FG%: 1st (.364) Men’s and Women’s Basketball Playoffs, accounting for schedule adjustments --Scoring Margin: 6th (+0.5) --3FG/G: 1st (2.6) due to COVID-19 protocols at its member institutions. The regular season would --FG %: 5th (.435) end one week earlier than originally scheduled, and the top two seeds in the --FG % Def: 9th (.437) Kellon Taylor --3FG %: 5th (.328) --Rebounds: t-11th (6.0) women’s standings would get a bye into the semifinals. The remaining seven --3FG % Def: 9th (.349) --Assists: t-15th (2.0) teams would play in two pods, with each pod winner reseeded before playing --3FG Made: 8th (6.4) --Minutes: 9th (32.6) one of the top two seeds in the semifinal round. --FT %: 2nd (.719) --Reb Margin: 8th (-3.8) --Blocks: 10th (1.7) 400 --Assists: 5th (11.4) On January 16, 2021, head coach Will Brown won his 400th career game in his --Steals: 3rd (6.9) head coaching career, in an 83-75 victory over NJIT. After spending three seasons --T/O Margin: 2nd (+2.8) as an assistant coach at Saint Rose, Brown earned his first head coaching position --A/TO Ratio: 3rd (0.9) at Sullivan County Community College ahead of the 1998-99 season. In three Player years at Sullivan, Brown went 90-10 before being named interim head coach at UAlbany in the 2001-02 season.