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Big recap of eight excellent games this week.
The NJIT Highlanders are in first place. I never thought I’d see the day.
Thursday, January 15
Vermont 67, Maine 62
Mekhi Gray surprisingly returned to the roster this weekend, although I can’t speak to his usage moving forward. I’m still waiting to hear about the MRI results for TJ Long. Noah Barnett’s rehab is taking a bit longer than expected. It looks like Vermont will roll with Ben Johnson and Ben Michaels in the starting lineup for now.
Maine is typically a tough matchup for Vermont, because the Black Bears extend their defense so far out and mess with the Catamounts’ motion sets on the perimeter — that includes Chris Markwood’s patented 2-3 zone. That said, I thought they found some decent avenues to offense. It’s nice to have Johnson’s shot-making with Long out, and Blake played some hero-ball off the dribble, earning much-deserved KenPom MVP honors — three turnovers against a Markwood team is pretty good, especially when you score 17 points and add six assists.
Where Vermont struggled was, surprisingly, down low, as Keelan Steele did an excellent job in one-on-one post coverage against Gus Yalden, who shot 1-for-7 inside the arc and 1-for-4 on post-up possessions. The Bears brought a few doubles, but they didn’t have to sell out to stop the Gus Bus.
As a result, Vermont found itself trailing late once again, by 12 in the second half. And once again, Momo Nkugwa helped spark a second-half run. He scored only one bucket, but he grabbed three rebounds and posted a team-high +16. His lineups with Blake, Johnson and Lucas Mari flipped the game script. For what it’s worth, I thought Mari also played decently in this game, and he might be stepping up his game in step with Momo. Iron sharpens iron, as they say.
Maine finished the game with just two turnovers. Wow.
But, Maine lost another game, and it was because the Bears couldn’t get the ball to TJ Biel enough down the stretch. Vermont brought a bunch of help against Biel, but when he dished the ball inside-out, his teammates responded by settling for too many poor jumpers, like here:
Biel gets the ball against Yalden in a clear mismatch, but Michaels and TJ Hurley shift over, essentially in a 3-on-1 scenario. Biel rips a beautiful cross-court pass to Yanis Bamba, who air-balls the triple. The Black Bears have a severe lack of shot-making, and Ryan Mabrey wasn’t exactly helping the spacing for Biel sitting in the lane like that.
Bryant 79, UMBC 74 (OT)
This was the first coherent offensive gameplan from the Bulldogs this season. As I thought they should, the Bulldogs dumped the ball to their big guys down low and let them get to the rim. They attacked the Retrievers’ biggest defensive weakness with posts, cuts and rolls, ultimately scoring 40 points at the rim. The Bulldogs’ massive wing quartet of Aaron Davis III, Ashley Sims II, Keegan Harvey and Timofei Rudovskii combined for 67 points on 57% 2-point shooting.
I’m unsure why Riley Jacobs didn’t play, but Jose Roberto Tanchyn got the starting spot, forming my dream starting five from the preseason (Ace Valentine, DJ Armstrong, Jah’likai King, Josh Odunowo and Tanchyn). I assume Jim Ferry went with JRT in an attempt to counter Bryant’s size, but the Bulldogs dumped the ball to Harvey early, late and often, and he won that matchup.
Harvey had his best game of the season in a crucial moment. He went toe-to-toe with Tanchyn in overtime and won the game. I wonder if Jacobs would’ve provided more resistance.
Sims was the KenPom MVP. He was great in transition, rebounded well and made a bunch of good passes. But Rudovskii was unbelievable, continuing to pad his rookie of the year case. He was fantastic off the bounce, excellent at getting to the rim and flashed his elite shot-making repertoire.
At times, I think the Bulldogs running their perimeter-oriented motion actions sucks because they can’t leverage their massive size into offensive rebounds and second-chance points.
Ty Tabales is on an all-time cooler from 3. I think he’s taking decent shots, but he has the yips or something. He’s 2-for-30 from deep in conference play, which makes his box score look ugly even when he’s playing fine. His decision-making was excellent in this overtime win, hence why he finished with seven assists to one turnover.
On the UMBC side, I worry that this game script could be unavoidable down the stretch — i.e., teams hunting the Retrievers at the rim. But we’ll see. Armstrong was great again as a sure-fire shot-maker, and I love the two-man game that King and Valentine can play — that duo can create a ton of space and generate a ton of shots in drive-and-kick actions.
NJIT 73, Lowell 64
This edition of the AmEast Recap column will feature a ton of gushing over the Highlanders. You’ve been warned.
This game played out exactly how I expected. NJIT’s interior shell overwhelmed Lowell’s half-court offense in the first half, forcing endless deflections and nine turnovers while allowing only 17 points. It was a lot of this:
Dribble drive, dribble denial with the stunt, hand in the lane, and turnover. I can see why Grant Billmeier was fired up.
On the other end, NJIT created off the dribble well. Sebastian Robinson continues to have a career year. There are several bad dribble defenses in the AmEast, including Lowell’s, and SebRob is ripping them all to shreds, which is why he’s running a 121 ORtg in conference play. In this game, we saw eight interior buckets, none more impressive than these two blow-by and-ones:
The River Hawks were able to get the offense going in the second half. They got to the line more. They’re still an elite transition attack, and Angel Montas Jr. has a legit case for player of the year (which, in turn, has limited JJ Massaquoi’s minutes). Still, against defenses like NJIT’s, you’d like to be able to create more catch-and-shoot opportunities — if only Jared Frey could get on the court and hit a shot.
Still, NJIT took the second-half punch and punched right back. This team is different. The Highlanders boast a borderline-elite defense and several offensive creators who all get buckets in different ways. SebRob is fantastic off the bounce. David Bolden is a wicked shot maker. Ebonkoli is a bruising second-chance point big man, while Ari Fulton and Jordan Rogers are threats off the wing (mostly Fulton, who put up a whopping 24 in this game, but Rogers is a downright good defender).
Albany 69, Binghamton 53
This was the most complete effort we had seen from Danes to date. They created well off the bounce, made their off-ball jumpers, and dominated the boards.
Jaden Kempson may be hurt. But Amir Lindsey is the AmEast’s Iron Man, leading the AmEast in minutes (37 MPG) and scoring (17 PPG). At the same time, Zach Matulu continues to be My Guy on this squad, and Tarique Foster had his breakout game against Binghamton, proving himself as a legit shot-making option. I still have questions about the team’s shot diet, but it’s working for now.
Okechukwu Okeke continues to fly under the radar. He had 12 points (5-for-7 shooting), six rebounds, two blocks, a steal, and this wild put-back and-one layup:
Binghamton really struggled to create against Albany’s amoeba zone. Jeremiah Quigley just couldn’t get downhill off the dribble or around screens.
Speaking of zone, why is there so much zone in the AmEast this year? I fear we’re turning into the NEC. Levell Sanders went zone for 16 possessions in this game with OK success (allowed 13 points).
Monday, January 19
Albany 75, Vermont 68
I’ll get the Vermont excuses out of the way early. The Catamounts need Long and Barnett back. Those two are too important for what they do on both ends of the court. I also thought Albany shot well while Vermont didn’t, potentially skewing the score a bit, especially in the first half before the Cats made their classic late-game run.
However, Albany ran some exquisite offense in this game, and every shot was a worthwhile one. These three motion sets stick out:
That inside-out pass on the horns flex action was made by none other than Abdoulaye Fall, the tantalizing JUCO transfer who finally had his breakout performance. Pair him alongside Matulu, Abidde and Foster, and the Danes have an deep, elite wing corps.
That wing corps terrorized Yalden in this game. The group continually drew Yalden out and forced him to defend in space, and the results were disastrous:
The Catamounts were also dropping Yalden against the Lindsey ball screens, where he struggled. Okeke took advantage of him a few times in straight post-up sets. Yalden is still an elite offensive player who flashed inside-out offense en route to 21 points, and he had some really nice passes out of post doubles. This one was my favorite:
Regardless, his defense likely cost the team more. Becker tried calling zone, but Albany scored nine points across five possessions in the second half, and that was quickly scrapped.
Ultimately, this game was decided in transition and on the glass. Vermont is typically an elite transition defense and an elite defensive rebounding team, but the Catamounts were neither on Monday. The Danes scored 15 points on 14 transition possessions. They had that ridiculous second-half possession that featured eight chances and took nearly 90 seconds off the clock.
That came right as Vermont was making its second-half comeback, essentially killing the Cats’ momentum. Regardless, if you can’t keep the Danes out of transition and off the boards, you’re cooked. That’s what they do best, and it’s what Vermont is supposed to deny at all costs.
If I were to nitpick Albany, I’d mention that I didn’t love the Danes’ dribble defense against Blake and Hurley. But they forced 13 turnovers, fueling their transition attack. Good on the Danes, and shame on the Cats.
Albany just pieced together three complete, all-around impressive performances after that letdown on conference opening night. Dwayne Killings has pieced together a dangerous roster, and he pushed the right buttons in this game. The Danes are contenders.
NJIT 79, Bryant 55
The First Place NJIT Highlanders.
I went into this game wondering if Bryant had turned the corner with its offense, or if NJIT was for real. It was definitely the latter, and undoubtedly not the former.
Bryant was able to dominate the rim against UMBC by leveraging its massive roster into interior buckets. The Bulldogs couldn’t do a thing against NJIT’s interior shell, and they predictably shot terribly over the top. Rudovskii was the only guy who got into the lane, but Ebonkoli played swarming straight-up defense against him — he’s my clubhouse leader for defensive player of the year as he’s been incredible on that end.
Bryant’s defense was mostly good in the gaps and lanes, which is important against NJIT’s dribble creators. But the Highlanders have some legit shot-makers, hitting seven second-half threes as they pulled away. They can create some real decent offense in drive-and-kick actions. The different ways they can score make them so dangerous.
This was awesome:
OH MY JOHN KELLY #UNITY | #RollTechpic.twitter.com/pBQmRae5Qn
— NJIT Men’s Basketball (@NJITHoops) January 19, 2026
I miss Clayville, but I haven’t minded the Rocco Awad minutes. His impact won’t show up in the box score, but he’s a good ball-mover who moves well off the ball, and he does the little things right.
Malachi Arrington made several exceptional defensive plays in this game. Shout out to him.
New Hampshire 65, Maine 48
I really liked how New Hampshire attacked Maine’s zone. It’s a tough zone to navigate, yet the Wildcats deftly moved through it to the tune of 23 points on 21 possessions, my two favorites being these versatile buckets from Giannos Xanthopoulos:
The best way to attack a zone like that is to spread it out with an inside-out big man and move the ball well. The Wildcats did that. I thought they would have to make a few jumpers to score, but they shot just 5-for-18 from deep, instead earning high-quality buckets with cuts (10 points on 10 possessions) and posts (seven on six). They also turned 13 Black Bear turnovers into 13 transition points.
Xanthopoulos was just one of New Hampshire’s frontcourt quartet that did an excellent job handling Biel. Maine’s superstar forward was held to an AmEast season-low eight points. I was scared that the Bears would terrorize the Wildcats in ball-screens with Biel as a roller, but when the dust settled, Maine finished with just 12 points on 23 pick-and-roll actions.
Maine simply has no spacing or shot-making. The Bears shot an unbearable 1-for-14 from deep, including 0-for-12 on catch-and-shoot jumpers. Of course, that allowed the New Hampshire front line to sink deep and dominate the defensive boards (as the Wildcats do), holding Maine to exactly one offensive rebound.
Jack Graham:
Jack Graham baseline turnaround J beats the shot clock
Game Day Centralhttps://t.co/P2r808Ntqf@ESPNPlus
— UNH Men's Basketball (@UNHMBB) January 19, 2026
Tyler Bike is a good player! He’s a 5-foot-10 ball of energy who played hard this game, earning KenPom MVP honors behind 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and no turnovers.
UMBC 78, Binghamton 60
Jacobs returned for this game, and UMBC’s rim defense immediately improved. I refuse to believe that’s a coincidence, even if he only played eight minutes.
The rim-bashing Bearcats shot 15-for-28 at the rim. It was a really encouraging bounce-back performance for the Retriever Truthers (myself included).
Zyier Beverly and Wes Peterson Jr. muscled their way through UMBC’s soft interior to the tune of 36 combined points. But UMBC’s excellent dribble defense showed up on the road, holding Quigley to a season-low four points on 2-for-9 shooting (all from 2-point range).
Binghamton only had eight turnovers, which is an improvement. But the Bearcats’ worthless transition defense allowed the dynamic Retrievers to score 19 points on 13 transition possessions (1.46 PPP!).
The Retriever guards give the team such a high floor in every game — you always know Valentine, King and Armstrong are going to get theirs. They just need some help from the wings and bigs. Caden Diggs chipped in for 14 in this one.
I thought Odunowo was better in this game, but five points in 19 minutes still ain’t much. The Retrievers’ ceiling would be much higher if he could get going.
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