This Saturday night, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team will be back on its home court at Island Federal Credit Union Arena for a 7 p.m. tip-off with the visiting Vermont Catamounts.
The Seawolves currently sit at 6-3 in conference play and are looking to rebound after a disappointing performance on the road against New Hampshire last Saturday. The loss to the Wildcats came despite a dominant 20 point, 15 rebound game by Jameel Warney.
The supporting cast for Stony Brook struggled in the game. Carson Puriefoy, Rayshaun McGrew and Roland Nyama combined to shoot just 18.2 percent from the floor, combining for nine points.
Bryan Sekunda was one of the few exceptions. He had a strong game off the bench for the Seawolves, knocking down three three-pointers for nine points.
Vermont sports an 8-2 America East record, with one of those wins coming against Stony Brook four weeks ago up in Burlington, Vt.. The Catamounts won that matchup 71-57 behind a balanced scoring effort—all five of their starting players tallied at least nine points.
Stony Brook’s shortcomings in that game resembled the aforementioned recent loss to New Hampshire. Warney played a strong game, scoring 26 points and grabbing ten boards, but Puriefoy, McGrew and Nyama combined to shoot 20 percent.
So far in conference play, Stony Brook is 0-3 in games where Puriefoy scores fewer than eight points and 6-0 when he meets that threshold.
Defensively, Stony Brook will look to eliminate the three-pointer. The deep ball has been an Achilles’ heel for SBU this season; they are 48th in the country in two-point defense and 232nd in three-point defense.
Vermont made six threes in the teams’ meeting last month, sparking roars from the crowd and from which Stony Brook could not overcome.
Warney is averaging 15.7 points per game and 11.2 rebounds per game this season, and is tied for the nation’s lead with 15 double-doubles on the year.
Leading the Catamounts is Ethan O’Day, a junior forward who is averaging 10.8 points per game this season.
Stony Brook is just 8-22 all-time against Vermont, but has fared better recently, particularly at home. The Seawolves have won three straight regular season home games against UVM, including a 67-64 victory last season.
