BINGHAMTON
Record: 6-17 (2-6 America East)
Last 10: 2-8
Last Game: Albany 64, Binghamton 50 on 2/2/19
Last Game with SBU: Stony Brook 59, Binghamton 46 on 2/6/18; SBU 15-0 run after being tied at 31; Bingo held to 29 percent shooting
Checkmate Unofficial Line: Stony Brook -9
Net Ranking: Stony Brook 154, Binghamton 336
KenPom RPI: Stony Brook 169, Binghamton 337
KenPom Prediction: Stony Brook 70, Binghamton 61
Yeboah Point Watch: 1,161
Division I: Currently 7th. Next up: Dave Coley (2010-14) 1,222
All-time: Currently 14th. Next up: Ricky Wardally (1989-93) 1,175
Listen/Watch:
Notables:
6-0/190 fr G Sam Sessoms 17.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.1 spg, .350 3-pt FG%
6-9/200 sr F Caleb Stewart 10.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, .371 3-pt FG%
6-3/205 gs G JC Show 10.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.1 spg, .857 FT%
6-4/200 gs G Chancellor Barnard 8.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.6 bpg, .670 FG%
We're halfway home in the conference season, and hey, I'm not going to lie, I'd take another 6-2 spell here, wouldn't you?
The back-to-back losses and relative struggles against the AE underlings left us with a great deal of uncertainty heading into last weekend, but you can't deny that we responded the way that we needed to. Our leaders responded like they needed to – Olaniyi with the career high 29, Yeboah with a monster double double. We'd be shoveling dirt on ourselves if we'd laid another egg in that spot.
This should be an interesting final month. Is UA on the rise? Is Maine? Who gets that fourth home game in the tournament – Hartford, Lowell or one of the aforementioned two? Can anyone hand Vermont a second defeat?
Those are all good questions. There are some certainties too, including the fact that Binghamton isn't going anywhere ... again. It's been another long season for Tommy Dempsey, the sixth of six he's had since leaving that BU (Boston) to coach this BU. The task wasn't easy for him – he took over for Mark Macon, who steered the Bearcats to a 2-29 season before being shown the door. But still, Dempsey's club has been miserable since he took the bench, reaching a high water mark of 12 wins two seasons ago. This group, despite its seniority, has had a difficult go of it, as BU has been beaten by double digits by each of the league's top four teams.
Olaniyi did a terrific job on Sessoms here at the Fed, and if he can duplicate that effort, this result doesn't seem to be much in doubt. Sessoms has put up some impressive scoring numbers as a freshman, including a 32-point night against Lowell a couple weeks ago, but I just think we're too good on the perimeter and with Jeff in the key. On a side note, I wonder if Sessoms is related in some way to ODU legend Petey Sessoms.
Speaking of Jeff, let's look for another big night from him. The last time against BU, he posted a season-high seven blocks, and he altered plenty of other shots too. Sessoms wanted no part of it. If he can stay on the floor, man, what a difference maker he is. He's played at least 20 minutes in eight of the last 12 games, as opposed to three of the first 11. Unfortunately, he seems to be foul prone whether he has the ball, he doesn't, or is defending in the post, but I'll take whatever rim protection he can give us. I think Boals has done a nice job managing his minutes.
I'm not sure what the story is with Bingo's Barnard. He had been a minutes hog all season long, and then he played just seven in BU's loss to Albany over the weekend, all coming during a spell in which the Bearcats fell behind 19-0. A BU beat writer said that he didn't appear to be injured, but rather it was an opportunity for an impressive freshman, Calistus Anyichie, to make his mark. He did, playing a season-high 29 minutes, posting 10 points and seven boards to go with three steals. According to 247Sports, Anyichie made an unofficial visit to SBU back in October 2016. He didn't make an impression in our first tussle but I'm interested to see what kind of future he has in green. With Sessoms, Show, Barnard, Rose, Davis and possibly Bruce all moving on after this year, it ought to be him and Sessoms who form the nucleus going forward.
This is a big stretch for us. We should handle our business against Binghamton and New Hampshire, but Lowell, Albany and Maine all feel like games that are up in the air right now. We will have to play well to stay near the front of the pack.