OPENING TIP: The Boston University men's basketball team looks for its first victory of the new year, as the Terriers visit the Stony Brook Seawolves Thursday night.  Game time is 7 p.m., at the Stony Brook Sports Complex, as the Terriers will be looking for their third straight win on the Seawolves' campus.  BU (5-11 overall, 2-3 America East) has lost four straight games - including three in league play - and is looking for its first win since an 80-69 thumping of UC Riverside on Dec. 29.  Stony Brook is 3-12, 1-4, after having lost at #16 George Washington 88-60 on Monday night.  BU played one of the most difficult schedules in the nation in the first part of the year, and as of Dec. 9, USA Today's Sagarin rating had the Terriers' docket as the sixth-toughest in the country. Four of BU's first five opponents (Duke, Michigan, Rhode Island and George Washington) had combined for a 48-10 record as of Jan. 17.

ABOUT STONY BROOK: The Seawolves have lost two straight, however have won three of their last six overall to rebound from an 0-9 start to their season.  Stony Brook's only win in America East play came at home over Vermont, 61-58 on Jan. 5.  SBU has played a difficult nonconference schedule, and in addition to GW, the Seawolves have played at St. John's, as well as a pair of teams ranked in the top-10: Villanova and Connecticut.  Stony Brook is led by guard Mitchell Beauford, who is averaging a team-high 15.4 ppg and 3.4 rpg.  Forward Mike Popoko is scoring at a 10.4 ppg clip, while guard Bobby Santiago is averaging 10.0 ppg while handing out a team-best 2.6 apg.  As a team, Stony Brook is averaging 54.1 ppg and shooting 36.4% from the field, 32.4% from 3-point range.  Opponents are averaging 65.5 ppg and shooting 43.3% from the field, 34.8% from three-point range.

RADIO-TV COVERAGE: The BU-Stony Brook contest will be broadcast on radio on WTTT-1150-AM. Doug Brown and former BU captain Jim Schwartz will provide the call. The radio broadcast can be accessed on the internet at http://www.bu.edu/athletics/fans/tv-radio-schedule.html.

THE COACHES: The Terriers are led by 12th year head coach Dennis Wolff (Connecticut `78). Wolff is 197-144 (.578) in his career at BU, 227-162 (.584) in 14 years overall, including a 30-18 record in two seasons at Connecticut College. Wolff is the all-time leader in victories at BU, having surpassed Mike Jarvis (101) on Jan. 22, 2001. Wolff is a three-time America East Coach of the Year (1997, 2003, 2004) and has twice been named both NABC District I and New England Coach of the Year (1997, 2004).
     Under Wolff, BU has dominated in America East play, sporting a stout 126-70 (.643) mark, including 72-27 (.727) in home league contests. Wolff has led the Terriers to at least a share of four America East regular-season titles (1997, 2002, 2003, and 2004) and two America East Tournament championships (1997, 2002). BU has advanced to a pair of NCAA Tournaments under Wolff and has won 20 or more games on five occasions during his tenure.
     Wolff's assistants are Orlando Vandross (America International `92), Mike Winiecki (Richmond `89) and Mike Costello (BU `00).
     Stony Brook is coached by Steve Pikiell (Connecticut `90), who is 3-11 in his first season overall as a head coach.  Pikiell played for the UConn Elite Eight team of 1990 and spent four years as an assistant at George Washington prior to getting the Seawolves job.
 
COUNTDOWN TO 200: Dennis Wolff is just three wins shy of his 200th win at BU. Wolff is 197-144 in 12 seasons on the Terrier bench and is already the school's all-time leader in victories. Wolff won his first game at BU in his debut, an 80-78 victory over Rider on Nov. 25, 1994. It took Wolff 80 games to reach the 50-win mark, 108 games to go from 50 to 100, and 83 games to go from 100 to 150. BU is 47-23 since Wolff won his 150th game.

BU-STONY BROOK HISTORY:  The Terriers lead the all-time series 7-2, with all nine games having been played since 2001-02, when the Seawolves entered the America East.  BU swept the season series last year, winning 57-50 at home on Feb. 16, 2005, and 65-47 at Stony Brook on Jan. 22, 2005.  The Terriers' last loss at SBU came on Feb. 11, 2003, a 73-67 setback.  BU's only other loss to the Seawolves came in the 2004 America East Tournament, 62-58, spoiling a 17-1 conference season and sending BU to the NIT.

BU vs. AMERICA EAST:  BU is in its 27th season of competition in the America East Conference.  The Terriers were a charter member of the league formed in 1979-80 and known formerly as the ECAC North, the North Atlantic Conference and the America East, which has been the league's surname since the 1996-97 season.  Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire are the only other schools to have remained in the league since its birth.  BU has won or shared the league title on eight occasions: 1980, 1983, 1990, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2004.  The Terriers have represented the America East in the NCAA Tournament five times: 1983, 1988, 1990, 1997 and 2002.
     BU is 241-126 (.657) all-time against current league members.  Coming into 2005-06, the Terriers had a 237-140 (.630) record in their 27 years of membership in the league, easily the best among the current teams.  Vermont is second at 185-192 (.490).
     Dennis Wolff is 97-36 (.729) all-time against current America East foes.  A look at BU's all-time record against current members of the America East.  Wolff's record followed in parentheses.
Albany 8-1 (8-1)
Binghamton 7-2 (7-2)
Hartford 32-15 (18-6)
Maine 48-37 (20-8)
UMBC 7-2 (5-2)
New Hampshire 84-34 (22-2)
Stony Brook 7-2 (7-2)
Vermont  48-33 (10-13)

BINGHAMTON RECAP:  Binghamton guard Andre Heard scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, as the Bearcats upended BU 48-47 Sunday afternoon at Case Gymnasium.  With BU trailing by one and 5.4 seconds remaining in the game, the Bearcats Sebastian Hermenier (an 83% free throw shooter) missed the front-end of a one-and-one.  Ben Coblyn grabbed the rebound for BU, handed the ball off to Brian Macon, who found Tony Gaffney on the right side for a three-pointer.  However, Gaffney did not get his shot off on time, and the Terriers were sent to their fourth straight defeat.
     BU fell behind by eight early in the second half, after buckets by Heard and Hermenier gave the Bearcats a 29-21 advantage.  The Terriers exploded on a 13-2 run over the next four minutes to take their biggest lead of the game, 34-31 with 13:34 remaining.  Corey Hassan and Shaun Wynn each drilled 3-pointers to conclude the skein, and BU's offense finally seemed to exhibit some rhythm.
     Binghamton responded quickly, however, as Heard scored seven straight points to key a 9-0 Bearcat run and give them a 40-34 lead they would not surrender.  Another Heard hoop put Binghamton ahead 46-40 with 4:40 remaining, but the Terriers trimmed the deficit to one, 46-45, as Wynn hit a lay-up and Coblyn scored a conventional three-point play with a dunk and a free throw with 1:51 remaining.  Heard calmly sank both ends of a one-and-one to give Binghamton a 48-45 lead, and Coblyn had another dunk to bring the Terriers to within one, with 6.4 seconds remaining, setting up the final sequence.
     Wynn led BU with 13 points on 5-8 shooting from the field.  He also had six assists and no turnovers to go along with a team-high six rebounds.  Hassan had 10 points, but was just 1-4 from three-point range against a smothering Bearcat defense.  BU was not at full strength, as Ibrahim Konate played just 10 minutes due to an injured right foot and leading scorer Kevin Gardner was held to just two points in 24 minutes, playing on an injured hamstring.  The Terriers shot 41% from the field and 50% (5-10) from beyond the arc, but were just 10-19 from the free throw line.  BU hurt itself with a long drought in the middle of the first half, going nearly 10 minutes between baskets, as the Bearcats jumped out to a 23-13 lead.
    Heard was 9-19 from the field and 3-4 from the line to lead all scorers.  Duane James, a junior college teammate of Brian Macon at Miami Dade last season, had six points and a game-high seven rebounds.  Binghamton shot 37% from the field.

GARDNER ON A ROLL:  Senior forward Kevin Gardner is enjoying the best season of his career, and recently had a span of six games which were the best of his career, statistically.  From Dec. 22 - Jan. 12, Gardner averaged 16.7 ppg and shot 41-76 (53.9%) from the field.  He is leading the team in scoring at 12.0 ppg and he is also tops on BU at 7.0 rpg, good for third in the America East.  Coming into 2005-06, Gardner's career numbers were 4.4 ppg and 4.1 rpg.  He has already recorded three point-rebound double-doubles this season: 12 points, 11 rebounds against Michigan (11/22), 20 points, 11 rebounds at Canisius (12/22) and 24 points, 11 rebounds at UMBC (1/5).  He now has four double-doubles for his career.

THE WALKING WOUNDED: BU players have missed a total of 38 games this season due to injuries and suspensions.  In addition, senior forward Kevin Gardner played with a tweaked hamstring on Sunday against Binghamton and freshman forward Ibrahim Konate, has been hobbled by an injured right foot for the last two games, missing the Albany contest (1/12).  Freshman forward Ben Coblyn has already missed five games this season due to ankle injuries, and sophomore forward Tony Gaffney missed six games in the first semester after being suspended for violating team policy.  Additionally, two players are out for the season: sophomore guard Matt Wolff tore ligaments in his knee after playing in just four games; and freshman Tyler Morris tore ligaments in his ankle and developed bone chips during preseason practice.

SIZZLIN' MACON:  BU point guard Brian Macon had an auspicious beginning to his Terrier career.  He committed 24 turnovers and had just 17 assists in his first five games - including seven turnovers in the season-opener at Duke.  However, as he has adjusted to the BU offense, Macon has become a very steady hand at the point and has 46 assists and just 20 turnovers in his last 11 games.  He is second on the team lead in dishes with 63, and he ranks fifth in the America East at 3.9 apg.

BINGHAMTON NOTABLE:
- BU has now lost its last four games - by a combined 10 points (57-55 at Holy Cross, 65-64 (ot) at UMBC, 53-47 vs. Albany and 48-47 vs. Binghamton.
- During the stretch of tight games, the Terriers are just 42-72 (58.3%) from the free-throw line.
- The Terriers last three-game losing streak in America East play came on Jan. 26 - Feb. 3, 2001, when it dropped consecutive games at Drexel and Hofstra and at home to Northeastern.
- BU's last two-game losing streak at The Roof came in the 1999-2000 season, when the Terriers dropped six straight from Jan. 11 - Feb. 17.
- The Terriers shot 50% from 3-point range (5-10), their best performance in four games.  It was the third time this season BU has shot 50% or better from downtown, and the Terriers were led by Shaun Wynn's perfect 3-3 performance.
- Wynn led the team in scoring for the second time this season and the first time in 12 games, since he had 18 at George Washington on Dec. 2.
- Corey Hassan has now hit a 3-pointer in all 16 games this season, the longest streak since Chaz Carr had 20 straight games with a trey last year.
- The Terriers lost to Binghamton for the second straight time - after having won the first seven meetings between the schools.
- Wynn had six assists and no turnovers against Binghamton, his eighth game this year with at least five dishes.  Wynn leads the Terriers with 67 assists and in his last three games he has 17 dishes and just four turnovers.
- Wynn continued his fine play against Binghamton.  In six career games against the Bearcats, Wynn is averaging 8.3 ppg, his second-best average against any team in the league.  Wynn is averaging 8.7 ppg against BU's next opponent, Stony Brook.
- Kevin Gardner scored just two points against Binghamton, his lowest total in 22 games, since he was held scoreless against Stony Brook on Feb. 16, 2004.  Gardner had been averaging 16.7 ppg in his previous six outings.
- Omari Peterkin had a solid week, scoring 19 points (9.5 ppg), averaging 5.5 rpg and shooting 55% from the field and 7-8 from the free throw line. He is averaging 11.0 ppg in his last five games, compared to 3.3 ppg in his previous four efforts.  Peterkin is averaging 11.8 ppg in his last four home games.
- BU is 2-3 in America East play for the first time since 1999-2000, when it finished 5-13 in the league.

A HELPING HAND: Senior Shaun Wynn continues to get his teammates the ball in scoring opportunities. Wynn has handed out 67 assists in 16 games - and has committed just 29 turnovers, a 2.31 assist:turnover ratio, which leads the league. He had a stretch earlier this year where he had 12 assists and just one turnover in three games (Harvard, UNH, Maine), and he has 17 assists and just four turnovers in his last three contests (UMBC, Albany, Binghamton) . He had a game-high six assists at Duke (the same amount as the entire Blue Devil team) and seven against Michigan and UC Riverside. He has led the team in dishes nine times this season. Last season, Wynn was fifth in the America East with 100 assists (3.4 apg) and he now has 279 for his career. Jeff Timberlake `89 holds the school record with 772 dishes, but Wynn could climb into the top-10 with a solid year; Jim Schwartz `97 currently is 10th all-time at BU with 332 assists.

GARDNER HARVESTING THE BOARDS: If there is a missed shot in a game, there is a good chance Terrier senior forward Kevin Gardner will be the one to grab the rebound. Gardner leads the team and is second in the America East with 7.0 rpg, and is on a pace to destroy his career-high on the boards. He passed the 400-rebound mark for his career against UNH (12/8) and now has 463. Gardner came in to 2005-06 with a 4.1 rpg average in his three years, with his best season of 5.7 rpg coming last year. He has already recorded games of 11 boards (Michigan 11/22, Canisius 12/22, UMBC 1/5) and a career-high-tying 12 rebounds (URI 11/29) this season. In 85 previous games, Gardner had just three performances of 10 or more rebounds (@BC in 2003; Binghamton and Northeastern in 2005). Tunji Awojobi was the last Terrier to average double figures in rebounding in a single season, grabbing 10.2 caroms per game in 1996-97.
HASSAN THE ASSASSIN: Sixteen games into the season, true freshman Corey Hassan is rapidly becoming one of the top three-point shooters in the America East. The Merrimack, N.H., product leads the team with 39 three-pointers, and has hit at least one in every game. Hassan has a chance to be one of the great freshman three-point shooters in school history. Paul Seymour made 70 threes as a rookie in 1999-2000, while Chaz Carr hit 45 during his freshman year of 2001-02. Hassan already ranks in the top-10 on that list, checking at no. 3, and is on pace to can 68 treys on the year. Hassan is second on the team in scoring with 11.0 ppg as well. The last freshman to lead BU in scoring was Tunji Awojobi, who averaged 18.9 ppg in 1993-94.
BU TOP-10 FRESHMAN THREE-POINTERS MADE
No.  Name  Total  Year
1.  Paul Seymour  70  1999-2000
2.  Chaz Carr  45  2001-02
3.   COREY HASSAN  39  2005-06
4.  Tremain Byrd  38  1993-94
 Jason Grochowalski  38  2000-01
6. LeVar Folk  35  1995-96
7.  Raja Bell  33  1994-95
8.  Mike Costello  32  1996-97
9.  Mark Daly  22  1988-89
10.  Brian Holden  21  1990-91