The NCAA did not change their stance regarding Siena freshmen Lionel Gomis and Imoh Silas.

Both Silas and Gomis will sit out this year and will be eligible for the 2012-13 season.

This is difficult news for the Saints and coach Mitch Buonguro who are thin up front, already with the loss of Davis Martens for the season.

It's the second MAAC-related NCAA decision in the past two days.

On Thrusday, the NCAA granted Lamont "MoMo" Jones a hardship wavier, allowing the Arizona transfer to play this season for Iona.

If you remember, University at Albany forward Will Harris received this type of wavier, when he transferred in from Virginia.

ALBANY - University at Albany senior Will Harris is dressed to impress, but not wearing his Great Danes uniform, so it looks like the forward will miss his third straight game.

UAlbany is in desperate for a win tonight in their America East Conference game against Hartford.

Boston University knocked down a school-record 16 3-pointers and cruised to a 79-58 victory over UAlbany on Tuesday night.

While the loss is to the preseason pick to win the league, it leaves the Great Danes (1-4, 6-14) tied for seventh in the league standings and we're almost one-third of the way through with the conference schedule.

Another negative is that senior Will Harris, who came into the game with an Achilles injury, injured his left knee and missed the game's final 16 minutes.

Coach Will Brown said he thought Harris would be unlikely to play when the Great Danes host Maine on Thursday at SEFCU Arena.

ALBANY - University at Albany senior Will Harris made no bones about saying how important Saturday's game is to get off the America East schneid.

"We need to win every single game that we have left," said Harris, the Great Danes leading scorer. "We're o-fer right now and we're trying to bump that up one tomorrow night."

UAlbany (0-3, 5-13) has had an uncharacteristically bad start to conference play, losing their first three games - two of which were at home - and shooting less than 37 percent in all three.

"It's kind of frustrating knowing that we have talent and we have a lot of good things going for us," Harris said. "We just have to put it all together at once."

The Retrievers (0-3, 1-15) are off to an even worse start.

After winning the conference in 2008 and then losing to Binghamton in the championship final last season, UMBC isn't used to this kind of start recently either.

The Retreivers are being led by a player familiar to the Capital District, Siena transfer Chris De La Rosa.

De La Rosa is tied for second in the conference in assists (4.8 per game) and is now averaging 10.4 points per game.

UAlbany is too busy looking for answers of their own to worry about what is ailing other teams.

"We're not good enough right now to get down 12, 13 points every game, fight back and sit there and say if we had another minute or two we'd be okay," said UAlbany coach Will Brown. "We have to get off to a better start. We have to sustain it and we have to make some shots."

The other thing the Great Danes will have to do is rebound.

UMBC is the worst rebounding team in the conference, while UAlbany is the toughest team in the league to rebound against.

"We have to exploit them, that's the biggest thing," said senior center Brett Gifford. "We have to hit the offensive boards hard, get easy baskets."

While Coach Brown has said he hasn't stressed any game as being "must-win," they can't allow themselves to lose too many league games out of the gate.

"The biggest thing we can control is our effort," Gifford said. "I feel like if we bring that the entire game, we'll be fine."

Despite the fact that this UMBC team is the one that ended UAlbany's season last year at SEFCU Arena, Brown said his guys would and should be already motivated enough.

"I think the fact that we're 0-3 in league is all the motivation that these guys need," he said.

ALBANY - University at Albany coach Will Brown does like to play up each of his opponents and after Tuesday's practice was no different.

“They’re a top three, top four, worst case scenario,” Brown said. “Any time you go on the road and win at Providence, beat Creighton and lose, I believe in overtime to Florida State, you’re pretty darn good.”

The only thing different is this Iona team might actually be as good as Brown is portraying.

Kevin Willard is in his third season as head coach and he has a pretty good, albeit young team this season.

Willard came over from Louisville and Brown said the pressure his Gaels use is nearly a clone of pressure from Louisville days, while also having some similarities to the Holy Cross teams his father Ralph coached.

The Great Danes are coming off of an overtime loss at Central Connecticut, but it seems like the team is over that game.

“I think that the Central game is pretty much out of our system,” said senior forward Will Harris. “It wasn’t for lack of effort and if we’re going to lose than we want to get beat.”

*****

Through 11 games, UAlbany is shooting 43 percent from the field and 31 percent from 3-point range.

With the struggles last year's team had shooting the ball, I asked Brown is he thought his team shooting the ball better this season.

“I anticipated us being a much better shooting team,” Brown, citing injuries to Louis Barraza and somewhat slow starts of Jake Lindfors and Logan Aronholt.

He's like to be higher percentage-wise so that teams can't help more on drives or clog the lanes.

“I think we’re better yeah, but we’re still not good enough right now,” said Brown.

UAlbany's Will Harris missed a 3-pointer as regulation ended and sent their game with Central Connecticut into overtime, tied at 60.

ALBANY - While the Great Danes just had their best performance from their bench, coach Will Brown is looking for more consistent play.

“Whether it’s making open shots like Billy Allen did the other night or Derrek Tartt getting to the basket, just need some consistent production, regardless of who it is from our bench, not one guy in particular I don’t think,” said Brown.

UAlbany got 22 points from their bench in an 18-point victory over Penn on Tuesday and it was a little from everyone as four players scored four points and another, Allen, had six.

“I like how they contributed against Penn, but it would be nice knowing that you’re going to get eight to 10 points from this guy or that guy coming off the bench,” said Brown.

It was a big confidence boost for the team to a nice win, where a lot of players contributed.

“For our guys coming off the bench, I was happy for those guys,” said senior forward Will Harris. “They got in the game and they were aggressive and that’s what we need every night.”

While UAlbany has shown that they have three big guns in Harris, Tim Ambrose and Mike Johnson, Brown doesn't necessarily think that they need a single person to step into that fourth role, but that it does need to be filled consistently by someone.

“It doesn’t have to be the same guy every night, but we can’t have a game like we had against Florida Atlantic, where our bench shot 2-for-30,” Brown said. (The bench actually shot 3-for-15 against the Owls, but I'm sure it felt like 2-30 for Brown.)

*****

Brown said after practice Thursday that he doesn't expect junior Louis Barraza back this season.

Barraza is dealing with a intestinal problem and has only played two games and only nine minutes this season.

Barraza also has torn ligaments in his right (shooting) hand.

Robert Morris made 13 3-pointers to make it very exciting at the end, but UAlbany played well and evened their record to 3-3.

Will Harris led the way with 22 points for the Great Danes.

2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Subregional All Tournament Team

Xavier Keeling, Detroit
Jonathan Boyd, Alcorn State
Mezie Nwigwe, Robert Morris
Will Harris, UAlbany
MVP: Eli Holman, Detroit

Okay, I couldn't resist with the title, but UAlbany freshman Derrek Tartt had clearly his best performance of the year in Friday's 71-55 victory over Alcorn St at SEFCU Arena.

“When he plays hard, he’s very good,” said UAlbany coach Will Brown. “When he’s in chill mode, he’s just okay.”

In fact, he had so many points (13) that senior Will Harris was pointing it out to him in the box score before they both spoke to the media, following the game.

“I was looking at the points, but I wasn’t looking at my points, I was looking at his points,” said Harris, who also chipped in with a team-high 15. “I thought that he was aggressive and making shots and it makes me happy because everyday in practice, I’m in his ear, 'You have to be aggressive' and he came out tonight and he was aggressive, so that makes me happy. It makes me feel like a proud uncle.”

Tartt has a nice lanky frame at 6-foot-3 and 175 pounds and Brown likes him as a perimeter defender and may also consider playing him more at the two or three as opposed to the point guard position.

“I think he’s much more comfortable as a wing and being a secondary ball handler,” Brown said. “When he’s played at the point, he looses his aggressiveness. When he plays on the wing, he’s more in attack mode and he’s more aggressive.”

While Brown was happy with the win, he wasn't totally thrilled that the game got close in the second half.

“The difference between a 15-point win and a 25-point win is executing the scouting report and not helping off (Jonathan) Boyd at all,” Brown said. “We left him a couple of times which is disappointing.”

Brown said that Mike Johnson left Boyd, who hit four 3-pointers, to help on defense, when the report was to stick with him.

"He's trying to be aggressive and trying to be a good team defender, but we needed him to be a smart team defender," said Brown.

Brown also wasn't happy with the team's 21 turnovers.

Alcorn State committed 19 turnovers, which didn't thrill their coach, Larry Smith.

“We have to play mistake-free basketball, for the most part,” said Smith. “We can’t continue to turn the ball over. We're averaging more than 20 turnovers a game and that’s killing us. We have to value the ball more.”

This is the first of three straight games and Brown tried to limit some players minutes so that they would stay fresh throughout the weekend.

Harris said he has his own measures to stay relaxed and refreshed - bubble baths.

Harris said he has some salts to put in the bath and he will be taking a nice soak tonight, I'm sure while reading the scouting report prepared by assistant Jeremy Friel on Detroit.

“That’s what I’m going to be doing,” said Harris about taking a bath. “I have to take care of these legs.”

ALBANY - The high praise continues for one of the UAlbany players who hasn't even hit the floor yet.

Senior point guard Mike Johnson made a poor choice during the offseason and has had to pay for it, sitting out the Great Danes' two scrimmages and the first two games of the 2009-10 season.

Still, that hasn't stopped coach Will Brown from singing the highest of praise for the Brooklyn native.

"We'll be a different team, just by having Mike Johnson," said Brown, who handed down the two-game suspension back in August. "I've been impressed with him, what he did on the sidelines at Syracuse, the sidelines tonight, how he's practiced, how he's led the team. He takes pressure of (Tim Ambrose) and Will (Harris). He's the most improved player I've had in my nine years here, especially shooting the basketball. He's our best perimeter defender."

Johnson has stepped up as a leader.

Brown pointed to one situation during the Syracuse game when Scotty McRae should have taken the ball to the basket strong and after he came out of the game, Johnson got on him, telling him just that.

"He appreciates the opportunity that he has right now and he appreciates the opportunity that I've given him to continue to be a part of this and I think he's embraced it," said Brown.

Both Harris and Ambrose agreed when asked if Johnson's insertion back into the lineup for Monday's game at American will make that big of a difference.

"It'll be a different team," said Ambrose.

Brown has been preaching about this improvement since media day and we're just days away from seeing it.

"He's not the same player as last year," Brown said. "It's not even close."

UAlbany held their basketball media day today and one of the hottest topics, and rightfully so, was Syracuse's loss to Le Moyne in a scrimmage on Tuesday.

“That’s a prime example of why we play close scrimmages against other Division I team,” said UAlbany coach Will Brown. “That type of game, where you’re playing a non Division I, I think that can go to a team’s psyche.”

That being said, Brown thinks the Orange's loss will make it tougher for them on Monday night in the season opener at the Carrier Dome as coach Jim Boeheim goes for his 800th victory.

“I think their No. 25 ranking is deserved and I think we’ll see a completely different team as Boeheim goes for 800 on Monday,” said Brown.

Brown said he expects to see a lot more of Syracuse's famous zone coverage on Monday. The Orange played mostly man coverage against Le Moyne.

UAlbany senior Will Harris said he knows exactly what the Syracuse players are going through.

Harris played at Virginia before coming to UAlbany and he said his team had some bad losses when he was there.

"When I was there, we took some losses that we shouldn't have," Harris said. "We had some long postgame talks. We had late night suicides, everything like that, so I can understand what those guys are going through right now."

For the other Great Danes players, it showed that anything can happen once you hit the floor.

"It just showed that any team can get beat on any given night," said junior guard Tim Ambrose.

I'll have more from media day in a little bit.

Tim Ambrose led the Purple team with 20 points and Mike Johnson scored 17 to lead the Gold team in the University at Albany's intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday afternoon.

It was interesting for me seeing a lot of new players playing for the first time.

I was impressed with freshmen Gavin Glanton and Derrek Tartt and I think a lot of the others have some promise.

The team will scrimmage tomorrow, but without Johnson who was suspended by coach Will Brown for both scrimmages and the first two games of the season for an incident over the summer.

I was also impressed with junior Louis Barraza, who is finally healthy and made three 3-pointers in the second half.

I was a little shocked with how thin senior Will Harris looked.

Harris was the Great Danes player who was hit with the flu and has lost 10-12 pounds.

Brown says he is leaner and Harris said he feels faster.

"I definitely feel lighter," said Harris, who also sported a headband, after the scrimmage.

Some of the big plays from the final 30 minutes of the scrimmage (I was late coming from a RPI football game).....

• Senior Scotty McRae had a nice dunk over junior college transfer Fran Urli on a pass from Ambrose.
• Harris blocked Barraza on a 3-pointer and went coast-to-coast for a lay-in

The play of the scrimmage was definitely when Johnson lost freshman Mike Black with a killer crossover and then spotted up and canned a jumper.

That brought oooh's from the crowd and a smile from Black.

"I told him I made him dance a little bit," Johnson said. "Just a little friendly fire."

Here are some more comments from Brown after the scrimmage.

"I thought we did some good things. We have a lot of guys that can put the ball in the basket and do some different things, which is nice to see, but again the real test is tomorrow, when we scrimmage."

"The two guys that have been playing the best out of all of our new guys leading into this afternoon were Derrek Tartt and Fran Urli. Those guys have been playing the best and Blake Metcalf has been rock-solid for us and other guys have shown consistent flashes. Gavin Glanton gets better every time he steps on the floor and he plays so darn hard."

The University at Albany men's basketball team announced on Monday their three captains for the 2009-10 season and it will be seniors Brett Gifford and Will Harris and junior Tim Ambrose.

Gifford started 28 of 31 games last season and averaged 2.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, while blocking a team-high 24 shots.

Harris earned a spot on the All-America East Conference third team in his first seaosn with the UAlbany prgoram last year. The Corona, N.Y., native averaged 12.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

Ambrose is the first junior captain since 2005-06. The 6-foot Brentwood, N.Y., native averaged 14.3 points and was voted to the all-conference third team.

It was definitely interesting covering UAlbany this season. 

They had a lot of ups and downs and were like a different team at home where they were 10-4. 

UAlbany coach Will Brown had a somewhat difficult time taking about his seniors after the game because they won't be suiting up for him again. 

It shows you that when they aren't playing basketball, they are still very close because they are all teammates. 

"I got calls yesterday from Jamar Wilson, who's over in Belgium, Jason Siggers from Switzerland, Brent Wilson drove up today, Brian Lillis sends me a nice text, 'Tell the seniors not to choke today,' because that's the relationship he has with those guys," said Brown following the game. 

With that being said, I'll post a quote here from both Brian Connelly and Jimmie Covington. 

"When I came here I was a kid," Connelly said. "I got to play basketball and that was the only thing going on in my life. Now, that chapter is closed and I've got to move on."

"It hurts," Covington said. "I've been here for four years and this is like my family."

Junior Will Harris was asked what he wants to do next season. 

"I feel like I have to have a better season next year," Harris responded.

Harris was then asked in what way could he get better. 

"In every way, making it to the championship," Harris said. "It's about winning games and winning championships and that's what I look forward to doing next year."

I'm still in downtown Albany, watching game five of six at the MAAC Tournament. 

Siena coach Fran McCaffery and his staff are sitting just off to my right, waiting to see who they will play, Loyola (Md.) or Canisius. 

The Great Danes kick things off tomorrow at SEFCU Arena, in about 15 hours. 

Here's a little bit more about the Great Danes' matchup with the Catamounts. 

UAlbany is 6-5 in their seven seasons in the America East Tournament. 

The Great Danes are 2-1 against the Catamounts, winning the titles in 2006 and 2007 and losing in the 2003 quarterfinals as a seven-seed (the same seeds the teams are for this matchup). 

No. 7 seeds are 0-23 all-time in the tournament against the No. 2. 

"We're not projected to win, but it could go either way," sophomore guard Tim Ambrose said. "It's going to be a great game between us."

UAlbany is clearly the underdog, something that hasn't been the case recently in this tournament. 

"We've beaten the three best teams in our league," senior co-captain Brian Connelly said. "There's no reason why we can't do it again."

As far as Mike Trimboli, Vermont's senior all-conference guard who is questionable with a viral infection, UAlbany is preparing for him to play. 

"I'd be shocked if he's not in uniform and does not start," said UAlbany coach Will Brown. 

While the Great Danes may be the heavy underdog on paper, things like the homecourt even the playing field considerably. 

"We know that we're good enough to compete with them," junior Will Harris said. "If we come out, play tough and do the right things, then we should be able to win the game, especially since it's at home."

Prediction: Vermont 74, UAlbany 65 (This game will be exciting, but I think the Catamounts will be too much) 

The 12th annual Big Purple Growl is today and it couldn't be a better opponent for the University at Albany. 

The last three growls have been sellouts and the Great Danes are 9-2 all-time in Growl games. 

This year, the school is calling for a white-out on gameday. The first 1,000 fans will receive a free white t-shirt. 

Vermont is coming after losing a 25-point second half lead and dropping a game to Binghamton by two in what coach Mike Lonergan called one of the most "disappointing losses of his career."

The Catamounts will certainly be looking for a win, especially after falling to the Great Danes earlier this season. 

The key in my mind will be the health of Anthony Raffa (he scored a team-high 22 points back on Jan. 11 at Patrick Gymnasium), but has been struggling with multiple injuries and the way UAlbany contains Marqus Blakely. 

Blakely scored just 11 points in the first matchup, thanks in large part to the defense of Brett Gifford. 

At 6-foot-11, Gifford can present a mismatch for the 6-foot-5 Blakely in that he has a tough time going over him. 

Blakely averages 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds, both team-bests. 

"Blakely is a tremenous athlete," said UAlbany coach Will Brown on Friday. "He's a tough matchup. He needs to be near the basket to score and Giff is 6-11 and he leans on him and uses his length. Giff's a big kid, but the thing is we can't allow Blakely to play 1-on-1 with Giff because he's a lot quicker. I think we've done a good job of keeping Blakely off-balance. We have to force him to be a passer."

Brown said Will Harris wouldn't practice on Friday because of tendonitis in his knee, especially because UAlbany has another game on Monday at Binghamton. 

Harris hoisted up a Division I program record 27 shots on Thursday against Boston University and scored a career-high 28 points. 

"I don't know," Harris said when asked if he would look for more shots on Saturday. "It depends on what time of game we've got going."  

Harris scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds last time out against Vermont, but this is his first experience with the Big Purple Growl. 

"The only thing I've heard is it's the most fun game of the year," Harris said. "It's packed, it's loud, it's energetic - just how I like to play."

Senior co-captain Brian Connelly has played before three sellout crowds at the Big Purple Growl and admitted Friday it's a game he's looking forward too. 

"I love coming out there in front of all of our fans," Connelly said. "Plus, I like playing Vermont because it's a great game every time and that's kind of what college basketball is all about really."

The last six meetings, the last four of which have been UAlbany wins, have been decided by a combined 23 points or an average of 3.8 points per contest. 

"I'm expecting a real competitive one tomorrow," Harris said. 

Me too. 

Prediction: UAlbany 76, Vermont 74 (My record is 16-6) 

We found out about the close connection between Siena's Kenny Hasbrouck and UAlbany's Will Harris during the week leading up to the rivalry game. 

Hasbrouck has been at the last three Great Danes home games, so after UAlbany's 59-50 victory over Hartford, Harris was asked again about the relationship. 

"Me and Kenny Hasbrouck built a real good relationship when we were at Maine Central Institute," Harris said. "We hung out all the time, worked out together all the time - we were basically roommates there. Now that we're close to each other (location-wise), we're just good friends."

Hasbrouck has been sitting in the first row at SEFCU Arena, so Harris was then asked if he had gotten Siena's co-captain season tickets. 

"He just shows up," Harris said. "We talk almost everyday, just trying to keep track of each others season's and support each other."

Harris flat out said that his relationship with Hasbrouck is more important than anything between Siena and UAlbany. 

"Our friendship is a little more important than the rivalry," Harris said. 

Harris had another big game, 19 points and 10 rebounds, against an America East opponent. 

Hartford coach Dan Leibovitz spoke very highly of Harris. 

"He's a good leader," Leibovitz said. "He didn't come up here to lose. He's directing guys to where they should be."

In terms of leading, this is what Harris had to say. 

"I'm the oldest of six, so being a leader is what I've grown up doing," Harris said. "It's not really anything different. When I'm in Albany, I have 12 brothers and I happen to be the oldest one here too."

________________

While the Great Danes defeated the Hawks tonight, UAlbany coach Will Brown said. he wants nothing to do with Hartford in the America East Tournament. 

"Hopefully, we're not playing them in the America East Tournament because the matchups aren't great for us," Brown said. 

Look for a Siena preview tomorrow. 

Overview: We're expecting to get a ton of snow over the day Wednesday, but I don't think it will be enough to move this game anywhere, unlike it did earlier this season at Sacred Heart. 

The Great Danes will be out to avenge their loss earlier this season, 64-54 on Jan. 3. 

The Hawks have lost six of seven games since that victory, their only win coming against Maine. 

Still, the way UAlbany has played over the course of their last three games, don't expect them to expect a victory. 

"We just lost to Stony Brook and Maine, so we're not taking anybody for granted," senior guard Jerel Hastings said on Tuesday. 

UAlbany coach Will Brown had this to say about some of his key players health heading into this game. 

"Anthony Raffa has not practiced and will be a game-time decision tomorrow," Brown said. "Will Harris practiced gingerly the past two days and Timmy (Ambrose) just walked through stuff yesterday and participated through about half of practice today. Other than that, practice was good."

All three of those guys have been key to UAlbany's success this season and not having any or all at 100 percent or at all could mean other players really have to step it up. 

Brown admitted Tuesday that the Hawks provide a tough matchup for his team. 

"I think this game is going to be a tough game for us because of Hartford's style of play," Brown said. "All that matchup zone and they spread the floor and shoot a lot of three's. We've had trouble with them in previous years and earlier this season."

As for the last game, it seems as if the Great Danes players will be trying to draw off of that loss tonight. 

"Last time we played against them, we didn't really do the best job defensively," Harris said. "This time, we focused a little more on changing a couple of things, so that we are in a better position to get a 'W.'" 

Records: UAlbany 4-3, 12-8. Hartford 2-5, 6-15  

Prediction: UAlbany 65, Hartford 60 (Let's see Hartford is 1-11 on the road, UAlbany is 7-1 at home. One could be anomaly, but 20 is a trend. My record is 14-6)

The blog has been quiet over the last few days, but should be picking up as Friday's game between UAlbany and Stony Brook marks a six-game in seven days stretch for both the Great Danes and Siena. 

ALBANY - Freshman Anthony Raffa had one word to describe this week's practices. 

"Tough," the 6-foot University at Albany point guard said on Thursday.   

That was expected though after the Great Danes fell at then last place Maine. 

"I feel like we can't take any more days off," said Raffa, referring to last Saturday's game.

UAlbany (3-2, 11-7) again faces the last place team in Stony Brook (1-4, 9-9) on Friday at SEFCU Arena. 

"I don't look at Stony Brook as being in last place right now," UAlbany coach Will Brown said. "I look at them and what problems do they potentially cause our team and how we can counter that."

The Seawolves are led by two newcomers in junior college transfer Muhammad El-Amin and freshman Bryan Dougher. 

"They're a good team," Raffa said. 

UAlbany has been led since the conference season began by junior Will Harris. 

Harris is averaging 17.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game in the five conference games this season. 

"Will Harris can't be the only individual on this team that has any sense of urgency consistently and that's what we've had since Christmas time," Brown said. "We've had other guys that have showed it in spurts, but we need a sense of urgency from 13 guys every minute of every day and that's when we'll become pretty good."

______________

Something that Brown said on Thursday caught my attention. 

"We've played better against the more talented teams in our league," Brown said. 

In fact, UAlbany has. 

Their three wins have come against opponents with a combined record of 13-6, while their two losses have come against teams with a 5-7 combined record.

______________

As the resident Philadelphia fan, Raffa was asked about the Eagles loss, on Thursday. 

"We should have got a few penalties at the end of the game," Raffa said. "(Roderick) Hood, who was an ex-Eagle took out (Kevin) Curtis' legs and it should have been a penalty, but it wasn't." 

Raffa said he wasn't blaming the officials, but he thought the call should have been made.  

_______________

As if four overtimes weren't enough for Boston U. on Monday, they used two more on Thursday to defeat UMBC. 

With that said, here are the up to date America East standings.  

Binghamton 5-2, 12-7

Vermont 4-2, 13-6

Boston U. 4-2, 9-9

UAlbany 3-2, 11-7

Maine 3-3, 8-11

New Hampshire 2-3, 7-10

UMBC 2-4, 8-10

Hartford 2-4, 6-14

Stony Brook 1-4, 9-9

Overview: The Great Danes embarked today on what coach Will Brown calls an 8-movie trip (four movies up, four movies back) today when they left for Orono, Maine today at 9:30 a.m.

Eleven hours later, they should be resting comfortably in whichever hotel they are staying at and hopefully the heat works (it's supposed to get to -20 tonight in Orono - that's not wind chill).

UAlbany has played against and beaten some of the stiffest competition in the America East (Vermont, Binghamton, Boston U.), but now they must go on the road where they are expected to win and do so.

The Black Bears only conference victory came against Stony Brook, who the Great Danes haven't faced, but will in their next game (at home on Friday, Jan. 23).

Maine has some good players in junior Mark Socoby, who was a third-team all-conference selection last season and freshman Gerald McLemore, who is averaging in double figures in his first collegiate season.

Records: UAlbany 3-1, 11-6. Maine 1-3, 6-11

The Series: The all-time series is tied 7-7, but the Great Danes have won seven of the last eight matchups.

Player to Watch: Will Harris, junior UAlbany. Harris is averaging 17.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in America East play. Bears.....beware.

Prediction: UAlbany 68, Maine 62 (The Great Danes have typically played up or down to their competition. My record is 13-4)