GAME NOTES
SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team travels to West Point, N.Y., in search of its first road win of the season, taking on Army Tuesday night. The 7:00 p.m. tipoff can be heard live on WOON 1240AM or at bryantbulldogs.com.
THE SERIES
Army owns a 5-1 lead in the all-time series, but it is Bryant that has prevailed most recently, winning the last matchup between the sides, 70-59, at home back on Dec. 1, 2012. The Bulldogs are, however, winless in three tries at Christl Arena and will be looking for their first road win of the series and of the season Tuesday night.
SCOUTING THE BLACK KNIGHTS
Army has suffered only a single loss in the 2014-15 season, a 93-73 defeat at the hands of Duke back on Nov. 30. The team got back on track with a win over Delaware last time out (73-69 on Dec. 3) and has already beaten NEC favorite St. Francis Brooklyn, 74-71, earlier this season. Kyle Wilson paces the Black Knights with 22.4 points per game and is one of three double-digit scorers for Army. Tanner Plomb follows with 14.4 ppg and a .456 shooting percentage, while Kennedy Edwards picked up 13 in his only appearance of the season. Tanner Omlid is the side's top rebounder at 5.8 boards per contest, while Kevin Ferguson is strong on both sides of the ball, averaging 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game with 10 blocks and a .675 shooting clip. Army averages nearly 79 points per game on the young season.
CURRENT BULLDOGS vs. ARMY
Only three current Bulldogs — junior Shane McLaughlin and seniors Dyami Starks and Joe O'Shea — have faced off against the Black Knights in the past, with all three seeing time against Army at home back in 2012. Starks dropped 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting (3-5 from distance) last time the teams shared a court, while O'Shea scored 12 (4-6) with six boards, three assists and two steals.
BRYANT vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
Tuesday's contest is the only one of the season for the Black and Gold against a member of the Patriot League, and Bryant enters the matchup 4-9 against current Patriot League members in its short Division I history. Six of Bryant's 13 all-time tilts against Patriot League constituents have come against the Black Knights (1-5), with four more coming against Lehigh (2-2), two against Navy (1-1) and one against Bucknell (0-1).
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will take 11 days off before returning to the court on Dec. 21 to take on first-time opponent the University of Denver. The 1:00 p.m. Mountain Time tip (3:00 ET) against the Pioneers will be the last before the holiday break and can be seen live at denverpioneers.com.
ROAD RAGE
Bryant is still on the hunt for its first road win of the 2014-15 season. The Bulldogs are one of three NEC programs still in search of victory away from home (Wagner, LIU Brooklyn).
BLOCKHEADS
Sophomore forward Dan Garvin set a new career high with five blocks Saturday night at intrastate rival Brown and became the first Bulldog to hit the mark since Ben Altit did so against Robert Morris during the 2011-12 season (Feb. 16, 2012). Sophomore forward Andrew Scocca added two more for a season-high seven as a team on the night. Scocca's two stuffs were the first blocks of his career.
THREES A CROWD
The Bulldogs have not taken less than 21 three-point attempts in a game yet this season. In the first six tilts of the year, Bryant has fired off 25 or more triples on four occasions, with a season-high 29 attempts coming at Brown last time out. On the year, 44 percent of the Bulldogs' total shots have come from beyond the arc, with 43 percent of the team's scoring coming from the 3-point ball.
THE STATS ON STARKS
The leading scorer in the NEC and the team's leading scorer in each of the first six games, senior guard Dyami Starks enters Tuesday's contest ranked 35th in the nation with 19.0 points per game. A big part of his scoring prowess comes from his deadliness beyond the arc, from which the senior captain accounts for more than 63 percent (72) of his 114 points this season. In fact, Starks currently sits fifth in the national rankings for threes per game, draining 4.0 each time out. As a team, the Black and Gold rank 30th in the country in trifectas per game (8.7).
HOLD ON TIGHT
As a team, the Bulldogs current rank seventh in the nation in fewest turnovers, giving the ball away 66 times. They rank 27th in the country and tops in the NEC with an 11.0 per game average and have boasted single-digit turnovers twice in the last three games.
BENCH BULLETS
After seeing just 25 percent of scoring come off the bench through the first five games of the season, Bulldogs outside the starting five upped their game Saturday against Brown. Non-starters scored 26 of the team's 62 total points against the Bears, with 22 alone coming from rookies Gus Riley and Hunter Ware, who each contributed a career-high 11 points.
STARKS DRAINS 200TH TRIPLE
Bryant senior guard Dyami Starks landed on some round numbers last week when he became the 50th player in NEC history to reach 200 career 3-pointers. He hit the mark in a seven-point setback to Yale on Wednesday, making 5-of-6 from beyond the arc to finish with a game-high 23 points. He added three more on Saturday at Brown and currently leads the NEC with 4.0 trifectas per contest, a figure that also ranks him fifth in the nation. With 207 trifectas over the course of his career at Bryant, Starks ranks 49th all-time in the conference. To reach the top-20 by year's end, the Minnesota native would need to hit just 32 more treys. Already, Starks is the program's Division I leader in threes and ranks sixth on the all-time list. He boasts 226 in total on his collegiate career.
BRYANT HOOPS ON WOON RADIO
For the seventh season, all Bryant University basketball home games and select road contests can be heard LIVE on WOON 1240 AM. Veteran sportscaster Jon Wallach of 98.5 FM The Sports Hub Boston returns to call the action as the voice of the Bulldogs, alongside color analyst Tristan Hobbes.
