ALBANY (14-15, 7-7 America East)Last Game: UMass Lowell 88, Albany 69 on 2/26/20
Last Game with SBU: Stony Brook 70, Albany 62 on 1/18/20; Olaniyi 20, Garcia 20; SBU shot 55% from the field; shot season-low 16 threes
Checkmate Unofficial Line: Stony Brook -3
NET Ranking: Stony Brook 183, Albany 273
KenPom Rating: Stony Brook 178, Albany 283
KenPom Prediction: Stony Brook 68, Albany 65
Listen/Watch:TV:
http://www.espn.com/watch?id=748c704a-7b8a-4f2c-8cc7-6f22c92b8d49Notables:6-1/175 sr G Ahmad Clark 16.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.4 spg, .808 FT%
6-3/190 so G Cameron Healy 14.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, .351 3-pt FG%, .904 FT%
6-3/195 so G Antonio Rizzuto 7.6 ppg, 1.0 spg, .357 3-pt FG%
6-5/195 fr F Trey Hutcheson 7.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, .340 3-pt FG%
6-6/200 so F Malachi de Sousa 6.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg
One of these teams' fanbases is going to be shocked beyond belief that their side prevailed. I mean, wouldn't you be?
We've been really bad, and that we're still sitting in second place at this juncture says nothing about where we are and more to the decline of Albany and Hartford. UA's been awful, losing their last three games by double digits, including a miserable 19-point defeat at the hands of Lowell on Wednesday. Before that, home losses to UNH and UMBC, who as a result have re-entered the discussion for a first-round home game.
We have the toughest finales – Albany going to UVM, us going to UMBC. So that puts extraordinary emphasis on this one.
In short, assuming Hartford beats Maine at home, the following would happen ...
2 wins: 2 seed
1 win: 3 seed
0 wins: 3 or 4 seed
It's my belief that UNH cannot overtake us as we would have all split with UA and UMBC, and our win over UVM would trump their best win. UMBC has the upper hand on us if we end up even, having beaten Vermont and swept the season series from Hartford.
(thanks for the edit on UA, Old; pecking away too quickly)Correct me if I'm wrong.
I was not impressed with Albany when they were here. They just really lacked the toughness that we're accustomed to, and Healy's taken a step back after his terrific freshman year. I have said plenty about how I'm not a fan of Clark's game. He's put 20 or more in four of UA's last five games, but it's taken him 90 shots over that span. Just too erratic for me.
It's been a while since we've encountered an Albany team that lacked physicality like this one. They've nearly been outrebounded in conference and in the season overall, which you never see, and are giving up nearly 70 points a game. It's just an atypical Will Brown team in my opinion. It's easy to forget that it's already been five years since UA's last tournament bid.
Without Elijah, this is a total toss-up. It may come down to whoever's perimeter shots are going down tomorrow night. Based on recent performance, I don't think anyone's terribly confident it'll be their team ... but somebody's gotta win it.
If Albany's getting points, I'd take them personally.