ALBANY - I think it's clear to see that this team is much improved from last year's squad.

Heck, it only took me a couple of minutes to figure that out as the Great Danes led for most of the first half.

Some other points.

Mike Black is likely out for the American game on Monday. If it's a high ankle sprain, he might not travel to Atlanta for Wednesday's game with Georgia Tech.

UAlbany shot the ball much better - 52 percent for the game (25-48). They were 10-for-18 (55%) with Black in there.

John Puk was every where early. Coach Brown said it was his fault for not continuing to go in to the big fella. I saw Puk after the game and he told Coach Brown that his Achilles was sore, but what can you expect after playing 22 minutes. He should be a force in the conference schedule.

Also, a great positive was the play of Luke Devlin, who scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Some negatives. The late game situation wasn't the best.

Brown said he wanted to get the ball in Iati's hands following the missed free throw. It didn't and Ambrose drove into the lane and shot a two, when the team needed three.

Also, 16 turnovers isn't great, but Brown said it wasn't too, too bad for the first night.

As Logan Aronhalt said, "Most of the mistakes can be corrected."

UAlbany doesn't have much time before American comes calling on Monday.

I'll have more up, with video from Coach Brown and women's coach Abrahamson-Henderson after the women's team defeated Brown 64-54.