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Stony Brook Seawolves – Albany Great Danes Preview – 02.17.2016

The Albany Great Danes (21-7) will have a tough time extending their 12-game home winning streak in a matchup against the Stony Brook Seawolves (22-4), who are on a nine-game road winning streak. Action begins at 7:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Feb. 17 and can be seen on ES3.

The Great Danes enter this game hoping for similar success after blowing out Maine 108-64 on Sunday. Ray Sanders was the team’s leading scorer with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting. The Seawolves, meanwhile, are coming off a 59-58 win against New Hampshire on Sunday. Jameel Warney was the team’s top scorer, registering 16 points on 7-for-15 shooting.

Sanders has taken his game to another level over the last five games for the Great Danes. During that stretch, he has averaged 17.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.4 three-pointers.

Half-court execution will be of utmost importance when two of the nation’s slowest-paced teams square off. Albany ranks 278th in possessions per game (67.2), while Stony Brook is 277th (67.2). Moreover, foul-shooting opportunities could prove to be quite rare for the Seawolves. They are 337th in the nation in FTA rate (28.9), while the Great Danes are among the nation’s least foul-prone teams (allowing a rate of just 27.4, ranking 19th in the country).

This is the second game of the season between these two teams, with the Seawolves winning the first matchup 69-63. Warney had a standout performance in the victory, putting up 17 points, five rebounds, two assists, and three blocks.

Notes

Albany won its last game by a 44-point margin. In games decided by a margin of 18 points or more, Stony Brook is 11-1. Albany is 7-0 in blowouts this season.

Ranked sixth, the Stony Brook Seawolves have one of the top defenses in the country, giving up just 91.6 points per 100 possessions. The Albany Great Danes rank 62nd in offense, scoring 111.7 points in the same number of possessions.

With 67.2 possessions and 1.117 points per possession, the Albany Great Danes perform worse on both metrics than the Stony Brook Seawolves. Stony Brook averages 67.2 possessions and 1.147 points per possession.

Albany has an average effective field goal percentage of 51.1%. Stony Brook is 3-2 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.

The Albany Great Danes average 17.0 three point attempts per game, and the Stony Brook Seawolves attempt 18.0 per game. When going for at least 20 three pointers in a game this season, both teams have winning records; Albany is 6-3 and Stony Brook is 6-1.

The 20th-ranked team in the category, Stony Brook has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.46 this season. Albany ranks lower at 215th with an A/TO of .99.

Stony Brook, the 31st-ranked team in rebounding, registers an average of 40.3 rebounds per game. Albany does worse, ranked 118th with 37.5.

The Stony Brook Seawolves rank 58th in offensive rebounds. The Albany Great Danes rank 115th in the nation in defensive rebounds.

Opponents have had an average turnover percentage of 20.1% when playing Albany this season. Stony Brook is undefeated (6-0) when its TO% is 20.1% or higher.

Written by GMS Previews

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