Utica, NY – The Utica College men's basketball team is on the road again this weekend for conference meetings with Alfred and Houghton. The team will play Alfred at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Houghton on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers lost its third game in a row last Saturday, 64-58, against Stevens on the road. Shawn Gashi (Central Square, NY/Bishop Grimes) led all scorers in this Empire 8 matchup, finishing with 21 points in the loss. Tyler Jollie (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro) poured in 11 and matched his season-high of seven rebounds. Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) came up shy of a double-double as he tallied seven points and 12 boards. UC's record drops to 6-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
 
Second Half Surges: In four of the last five games, Utica has entered halftime trailing by at least 10 points. However, the team has shown the ability to get back into games with strong second half performances. During this stretch of games when trailing big at the half, the Pioneers are averaging 46.5 points for the second half of play. UC owns a +54 differential against its opponents in the second half of this segment of games. Learning to play from behind and gathering the experiences from competing in close games will pay off for this young team down the line.
 
Game-by-Game Trends: A deeper look into the game-by-game statistics, there are trends apparent that distinguish the wins and losses so far this season. Throughout the six wins for UC the team is only allowing 68.3 points per game, but has given up an average of 83.8 per game in losses. Defense is always a crucial part of winning and the stats back that up. Also, with Utica dropping three straight, there has been a decline in attempts at the foul line. In the majority Utica's wins this season it has gotten to the free throw line more than the opponent, but over this recent losing skid the team has not done that. The Pioneers currently lead the Empire 8 in free throws made and need to get more easy looks at the charity stripe to get back on track.
 
Conference Statistics: The Pioneers are currently third in the conference in scoring, averaging 78.7 points per game so far this season. The team has made 93 3-point shots, second in the E8, and has committed the third fewest turnovers among Empire 8 competitors. Utica is also ranked second in the conference in both blocks (3.09) and steals (8.73) per game.
 
Awaiting Another Explosion: Freshman Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) was selected as the Empire 8 Men's Rookie of the Week on Monday, after going off for 24 points against Sage. This is the second time this season Hopkins has been granted this honor and the second time in his freshman campaign that he has exploded on the offensive end. He shot 8-for-16 from the floor and 3-for-7 from long range to lead UC in scoring and help force overtime after trailing double-digits at halftime. He had a similar performance earlier in the season against Hilbert, going for 28 points on 13-for-19 shooting. Averaging 10.2 points per game, Darius is a dangerous option coming off the bench when he gets it going.
 
Scouting Alfred: The Saxons opened up Empire 8 play on Tuesday with an 85-54 win over Houghton, improving to 8-2 overall and 1-0 in conference. Cole Eells went 5-for-7 from 3-point territory on his way to a game-high 17 points, while teammate Sage Brown tallied 14 points and seven rebounds. Scotty Stopera controlled the tempo and ran the offense, as he made 10 assists in the win. Dom LeMorta is leading Alfred with a scoring average of 16.1 points per game and is making nearly three shots from long range each game.
 
Scouting Houghton: The Highlanders are 1-11 overall and 0-3 inside of E8 play so far this year. The team is on a three game losing skid and are holding a 0-6 record on its home court. Houghton most recently fell to Alfred, with Jordan Holmes and Antonio Deadmon combining for 26 points to lead the team. Dylan Lambert is the team's top scorer, as he leads the Empire 8 with an average of 25.5 points per game so far this year. Lambert is also top 10 in rebounding in the conference, pulling down over seven boards a game.
 
Looking Ahead: Following a double shift of E8 action this weekend, the Pioneers will look towards their matchup with Hartwick on January 15^th. The fifth and final game of the team's road trip will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.