GAME 21 | HARTFORD HAWKS (10-10, 3-2 AE) at UALBANY GREAT DANES (11-9, 4-1 AE)
 
DATE | TIME: Saturday, Jan. 25 | 3 p.m. 
LOCATION: SEFCU Arena (Albany, N.Y.)
COVERAGE: Live Stats | ESPN3
TWITTER: @HartfordMBB | #CapitalCityTeam | #AEHoops
GAME NOTES:Hartford | UAlbany
 
ALBANY, N.Y. – The Hartford men's basketball team looks to bounce back on Saturday when it battles UAlbany inside SEFCU Arena. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. on ESPN3.
 
SCOUTING UALBANY

• UAlbany (11-9 overall) enters the weekend in a two-way tie with Vermont for second place in the league standings with a 4-1 record
• The Great Danes are 6-2 at home this season, including 3-0 in conference play
• Cameron Healy went off for a school-record 41 points on UMass Lowell to lead UAlbany to a convincing 101-75 win in the Empire State on Wednesday
• Healy leads the squad with 16.8 points per game, while Ahmad Clark adds 16.4

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Hartford and UAlbany meet for the 40th time in both teams' Division I histories on Saturday
• The Great Danes lead the all-time series, 25-14, after the two teams split a pair of regular-season games last season
• Each team won on their respective home court, with Hartford taking the most recent meeting in overtime, 82-80

 
LAST TIME THEY MET
HARTFORD 82, UALBANY 80 ot (3/2/19)

• Trailing by 22 points, Hartford stormed back to take down visiting UAlbany in overtime, 82-80, and earn the split of the regular-season series last year on March 2
• Former senior George Blagojevic scored 22 points to pace the Hawks, who scored eight of the first 10 points in overtime to seal the win on Senior Day

 
LAST TIME OUT 
UMBC 69, HARTFORD 60 (1/22/20)

• The Hawks fell to UMBC, 69-60, at home on Wednesday
• Hartford led by 17 midway through the first half, but was held to just four points during an 18-minute span that stretched into the opening part of the second half
• Freshman Moses Flowers paced the offense with 17 points

 
CONTRACT EXTENDED

• Hartford head coach John Gallagher signed a multi-year contract extension on Thursday that will keep him with the Hawks through the 2022-23 season
• Serving as Hartford's head coach since 2010, Gallagher is the winningest coach in program history (134 victories)

 
BOARDING SCHOOL

• Since grad transfer Malik Ellison joined the lineup for the Sacred Heart game (Dec. 8), the Hawks have seen a huge improvement on the boards
• In the 10 games without Ellison, Hartford averaged 32.9 boards per game
• With Ellison on the court (10 games), the Hawks have bumped that number to 35.1 per game 
• He has pulled down double-digit totals in rebounds in half of his 10 appearances, including 14 (the most for a Hawk this season) on three occasions
• He currently leads the league and is No. 18 in the nation with 10.3 boards per contest, which marks the third-best average in program history behind Kenny Adeleke's 13.1 per game (2005-06)

 
DOUBLE DOWN

• Ellison has been on a tear since making his debut last month against Sacred Heart (Dec. 8)
• He is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double on the season with team-best numbers in scoring (15.6 ppg) and rebounding (10.3 rpg)
• Dropping a team-high 18 points in his first game, he has scored in double figures in eight of nine appearances
• Ellison has compiled a team-high four double-doubles, the most for a Hawk this season, including two in league play 

 
NO THREE FOR YOU

• Hartford has been solid in defending the three-point line this season
• The Hawks are holding opponents to 28.8 percent shooting from long range, which is the 25th-best mark in the nation
• Hartford has been even tougher in conference play, holding America East opponents to a .248 clip from long range

 
SWIPE SPECIALISTS 

• The Hawks have been active on the defensive end, leading the America East with 7.3 steals per game
• Graduate student Traci Carter ranks No. 22 in the nation with 42 total swipes

 
STOP AND SMELL THE FLOWERS

• Scoring in double figures nine times, Flowers has had the two biggest offensive games to date for the Hawks this season
• Scoring 28 points against St. Francis Brooklyn (Dec. 5) — the most for a Hawk this season — he matched his career-best point total against New Hampshire (Jan. 4) earlier this month
• The 28 points are the most scored by a Hartford rookie in more than 17 years
• The last freshman to score that many points in a game was Charles Ford, a 2006 graduate who dropped 30 points on Vermont on Jan. 20, 2002

 
FRESHMEN PHENOMS 

• Much different from last year, which saw the senior class account for 92 percent of the team's scoring, the Hawks' rookie class has been the storyline of the 2019-20 campaign
• The freshmen trio of Flowers, Henry, and Stafl has provided 38 percent of the Hawks' scoring so far this season, averaging 25.6 ppg
• Two of the three rookies (Flowers & Stafl) currently own scoring averages that rank among the top rookies in program history

 
NEXT ON TAP

• The Hawks return home to host Binghamton on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
• Hartford rides a five-game winning streak against the Bearcats into the tilt, which will air on ESPN+

---

For more information on the Hartford men's basketball team, stay with HartfordHawks.com for updates and follow the team on social media (Twitter | Instagram).