American East College Basketball Review

Conference Overall    W L W L UMBC 8 2 16 7 Vermont 7 3 12 10 Albany, N.Y. 6 4 11 11 Hartford 6 4 12 13 Binghamton 6 4 10 12 Boston U. 4 5 7 14 New Hampshire 4 6 7 15 Maine 2 7 6 16 Stony Brook 1 9 4 18

Around the American East

ALBANY NY

Coach Will Brown didn't think his team was playing with the pride the Great Danes have demonstrated in the past. So after losses to Maine and UMBC, he prohibited his players from wearing their practice uniforms. The two-time defending conference champions responded with a convincing win over Stony Brook. Albany improved to 10-11, 5-4 in the America East.

To contend for the regular-season crown, Albany must sweep the two games before its Feb. 11 trip to Vermont.

BINGHAMTON

Binghamton blew a chance to impress a record home crowd in its Feb. 2 loss to Hartford.

But that shouldn't overshadow the fact that first-year coach Kevin Broadus has elevated the program in a short time. Binghamton won five straight before the loss to Hartford and entered the week at 10-11, 6-3 in the America East. Sophomore forward Lazar Trifunovic has become almost impossible to defend; he's posted seven double-doubles and ranks among the conference leaders in scoring (16.0 points per game) and rebounding (7.9 per game). Senior point guard Mike Gordon scored in double figures in nine straight games until the loss to Hartford.

With junior forward Reggie Fuller and senior guard Richard Forbes stepping up; this is a team no one wants to face in the conference tournament.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

With sophomore guard Corey Lowe back in the lineup, the Terriers are suddenly dangerous. Boston University won two straight to climb to 7-14, 4-5 in the America East. In the 67-52 victory at New Hampshire, Lowe buried five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 23 points. He had missed three games with a knee injury. The Terriers have been plagued by injuries all season, which is a big reason why they rank last in the conference in scoring (59.9 points per game). But the Terriers were picked first in preseason polls for good reason. They play tenacious defense.

If the team can stay healthy, it could salvage what once looked like a lost season but will primarily be playing the role of spoiler. 

HARTFORD

Offense is usually not an issue for the Hawks, who have tremendous weapons in Joe Zeglinski, Jaret Von Rosenberg, Michael Turner and Morgan Sabia, among others.The Hawks can beat anyone when they commit to defense. In their first 11 wins, Hartford held opponents to 30 percent shooting from behind the arc. In their first 13 losses, the Hawks allowed opponents to shoot 51 percent on 3-pointers. The pattern held in Hartford's Feb. 2 win at Binghamton. The Bearcats hit just four of 19 from long range.Hartford coach Dan Leibovitz said it was the first time his team had played a full 40 minutes of solid defense.

Hartford at 6 – 4 is one of the log jam teams that remain just two games out of first. If the Hawks can shore up their defensive efforts, they'll stay in the upper echelon of the America East and make a run at the top dogs.

MAINE

The Black Bears are scuffling on offense because they are too perimeter-oriented. Senior center Brian Andre is the only consistent threat in the paint. When Andre got in foul trouble in the Jan. 30 loss to Boston University, Maine got few open looks. It didn't help that junior forward Philippe Tchekane Bofia sat out with a shoulder problem. With the Black Bears lacking a strong front line, defenses are clamping down on sophomore guards Mark Socoby (13.6 points per game) and Junior Bernal (11.7). Socoby is shooting 37 percent, Bernal 43 percent.

Coach Ted Woodward has the youngest team in the conference so look for him to give more minutes to players such as Sean McNally, an emerging freshman forward. They have to develop for next season. 

MARYLAND-BALTIMORE COUNTY

The Retrievers, who began the week atop the America East, are no fluke. They led the conference in scoring (75.6 points per game), assists (15.0), 3-point shooting percentage (40.0) and fewest turnovers (9.6). Back-to-back wins over Albany, the two-time defending conference champion, and Vermont, last year's regular-season champion, confirmed that UMBC is the team to beat. Coach Randy Monroe's top seven are the most talented in the league.

UMBC has a short player rotation and with 9 conference games left on the schedule we will be watching closely to see if they start faltering down the stretch and open the door as Vermont sits just one game back. Having swept the series with Vermont they control their own destiny. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE

The Wildcats can be confounding, even to their coach. After two consecutive wins, New Hampshire came out flat in a Feb. 2 home loss to Boston University, disappointing the largest home crowd of the season. New Hampshire missed its first 11 shots. In the first half, the Wildcats committed 10 turnovers, shot 29 percent and were out rebounded 21-14.

We are not expecting much from this team the remaining part of the season and the it is highly unlikely they make a run in the conference tourney.

STONY BROOK

When Stony Brook officials extended coach Steve Pikiell's contract through 2010-11, they couldn't have expected this. The Seawolves went 4-24 in Pikiell's first season, then improved to 9-20 last year. Stony Brook also won twice as many conference games, four, as they had the previous year. But this season is fast becoming a disaster. The Seawolves had lost seven straight entering the week to fall to 4-17, 1-8 in the America East. Pikiell is an enthusiastic coach who succeeded as an assistant at George Washington. He's tinkering with the Seawolves lineup, starting freshmen Chris Martin and Jermol Paul lately, but at 1 – 9 in conference play, it's not working.

VERMONT

The Catamounts had won five straight until they ran into UMBC again. And the result was the same as in the first meeting: a Vermont loss. Vermont boasts the top two scorers in the conference in sophomore forward Marqus Blakely and junior guard Mike Trimboli. But UMBC, which leads the league, has proven to be to difficult of a match-up. The visiting Retrievers edged Vermont 75-73 on Feb. 2 because the Catamounts could not defend UMBC guards Jay Green and Ray Barbosa. Despite the setback, Vermont has established itself as a threat to reach its third straight America East Championship game.

The Catamounts might yet get another shot at UMBC and at that point all bets are off.