The BU Zoo Blog

The Bearcats finished up the season yesterday with a 79-68 loss to Vermont.  Binghamton is still locked into the 5th seed which means that we will play Boston (4 seed) for the right to play the Stony Brook v. Play-in-game winner.  I would have selfishly loved Stony Brook on the other side of the bracket for a Binghamton-Stony Brook final  (that I could attend at Stony Brook!)

• Press & Sun Bulletin: “Binghamton University’s men concluded their America East Conference basketball season with a 78-69 loss to Vermont on Sunday.  The Catamounts’ Marqus Blakely, two-time conference Player of the Year, contributed 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots on Senior Day in what may have been his final game in Patrick Gym.  Binghamton (13-18, 8-8 America East) was within four of Vermont with 3:24 remaining before committing three turnovers in a 36-second span, leading to seven consecutive Catamounts points and a 74-63 lead.  The Bearcats drew no closer than eight through the conclusion.  Fifth-seeded Binghamton will oppose fourth-seeded Boston University in an America East Conference Tournament quarterfinal, scheduled for a 2:45 p.m. tip-off Saturday in Hartford.  Freshman Dylan Talley had a game-high 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting and added a team-high four assists in 29 minutes. Junior forward Moussa Camara added 17 points, the 11th straight game he’s reached double figures. Sophomore center Kyrie Sutton chipped in 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting.”
• Burlington Free Press: “‘Greer Wright is one of the best offensive players in the league: He’s 6-7, he can shoot, and Garvey took him out of his game,’ UVM coach Mike Lonergan said. ‘That was a big key to the game.’  Binghamton erased a 10-point halftime deficit and took a 49-48 lead on Moussa Camara’s long 3-pointer with just less than 13 minutes remaining in regulation, Vermont rattled off the next seven points to regain control.  ‘They got a lot of offensive rebounds on us today; the last few days that hasn’t been happening,’ Binghamton coach Mark Macon said. ‘They have a lot of size in there; their big guys were getting the ball in there and laying it up.’”

It’s (not) senior day with Binghamton taking on Hartford in the home finale.  Binghamton is jockeying with Hartford and UNH for the 5th (likely to play Boston), 6th(Maine), and 7th (Vermont) seed.   I don’t really like Bing matched up against either of those three teams but I would take Boston, Maine, and Vermont over Stony Brook everyday of the week.

• Press & Sun Bulletin: “BU (12-17, 7-7 America East) is currently in fifth place in the America East and can clinch the fifth seed in next week’s conference tournament with a victory over the Hawks.  With a loss, there is the possibility of BU falling all the way to the seventh seed. Conference seeding, however, matters little to  Macon right now.  ‘I just want us to get better each game,’ Macon said. ‘This has nothing to do with the conference tournament. We not going into the conference tournament until it starts. I don’t want to jump the gun.’  The positives that BU displayed in its decisive victory over UMBC — good ball movement, rebounding proficiency — were severely lacking during its four-game losing streak, which occurred exclusively on the road and included losses by 42 points at Boston University and by 20 points at Stony Brook.”
• WICZ (Video): “If Binghamton University’s Student Association has their way, Basketball Coach Kevin Broadus will no longer coach at BU.  The association’s president says after reading about Broadus’ coaching conduct in Judge Kaye’s report, students no longer want him working at the university.  Therefore, the S.A. is formally calling for his immediate resignation as head coach.”

Yesterday, I left NYC for Long Island to celebrate Papa Phyr’s 60th birthday.  Today, we are prepping for tonight’s Binghamton-Stony Brook game .  We’ve been very fortunate that the game has been usually scheduled for a weekend.  I can jet out from the city and take the train right to Stony Brook.  This game has special meaning for me because I grew up around Stony Brook in the neighboring town Setauket (along with the Town of Rich People Old Field make up the Three Villages).

My dad told me yesterday that he will be wearing his Stony Brook shirt tonight.  I can’t blame him.

• Press & Sun Bulletin: “Despite findings critical of her role as overseer of the Binghamton University’s athletic department, Lois DeFleur will be allowed to retire as president on her own terms.  SUNY officials said Friday they’ve had no discussions about the possibility of removing DeFleur before her summer retirement date, despite a spate of incidents that included suspensions and a drug arrest in the basketball program, a sexual-harassment lawsuit, the reassignment of the athletics director and the benching, with pay, of the basketball coach.  ‘We have no intention to try to alter her schedule’ to leave July 30, said Carl Hayden, the attorney who chairs the SUNY Board of Trustees.”
• Press & Sun Bulletin:”BU has won six straight games over the Seawolves (17-7, 9-2 AE), including a 64-62 victory on Jan. 12 at the Events Center when Greer Wright nailed the game-winning shot with 1.8 seconds left.  Wright, last week named the America East Player of the Week for the third time this season, is averaging team-best 15.4 points for the Bearcats.  Since losing back-to-back games at BU and Maine, Stony Brook has won five straight games to move atop the America East standings, most recently an 83-64 home victory over then-second place Maine on Wednesday.  In the win over Maine, Muhammad El-Amin scored a game-high 24 points. El-Amin leads Stony Brook in scoring with a 15.5 per game average.  ‘I don’t look at standings, but I know the other coaches and the kids do,’ Macon said. ‘I’m just worried about us getting better, but I know this game is going to be a dogfight.’”
• Wall Street Journal: “Binghamton University’s basketball program is a big deal in the America East Conference, and earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament last season. But while no one would confuse the Bearcats with a big-time athletic machine, the lawlessness and culture of entitlement, malfeasance and favoritism exposed by a recent State University of New York-commissioned report on the controversy-plagued program puts Binghamton up there among college sports’ troubled programs.”
• Deadspin: “In a report from the Department of Obviousness, Binghamton’s attempt to build a competitive basketball team resulted in numerous violations in recruiting, academics, and assorted criminal behaviors. So, mission successful if they wanted to build a real D1 program.”
• Pipe Dream: “In its final pages, the report recommends that BU establish a “more active role” in oversight and control of the athletics program, and that SUNY should consider appointment of an athletic oversight officer.  ‘At times, as this report shows, the intensity of the desire to win may undermine and compromise that primary [academic] mission,’ it reads. ‘The president took no corrective action in her role as the supervisor of the athletic director and the person charged with ultimate responsibility for BU’s intercollegiate athletic program.’ DeFleur, who over winter break announced her plans to retire this July, held a press conference with campus media groups Tuesday. Pipe Dream reporters, who had requested an interview several times, were present at the conference. In total, the reporters were allowed to ask three pre-approved questions before the meeting came to an end.  At the conference, DeFleur said she will have no administrative involvement with the University once she retires, aside from giving her support. She said she believes ‘change is good.’”
• Pipe Dream: “Despite Pipe Dream editors practically begging her for an interview, DeFleur only consented to sit down to pre-approved questions at her recent press conference, in which she gave an impressive speech and answered nothing at all. She was then conveniently out of town when the audit results were released. The hypocrisy is sickening, especially coming from the woman who has continuously touted our claim as the Premier Public University of the Northeast. All the while, she has been privately putting academics second to her NCAA dreams.  And now, after dragging this school through the mud on her quest to D-1 fame, DeFleur is leaving the premises and not looking back, leaving us to deal with the mess.  With all due respect Ms. President, we’ve been taught that it’s honorable to own up to your mistakes, not set up others to take the fall and cover your own ass. Your skeletons are coming out of your airplane hangar, and if you have any respect for the school you’ve claimed to love for the past 20 years, you should show your commitment by sticking around to help us salvage this school and its reputation.”

Not much news on the Binghamton basketball front but some interesting quotes from the aftermath of the victory over Albany.  Mark Macon sings during a press conference and Will Brown thinks Greer Wright should be POY!

On a side note, NYC Binghamton fans note that the Stony Brook-Binghamton game is on Saturday Feb. 13.  You can take the LIRR to Stony Brook.  The train station is within walking distance of both the reception and the game.

• Albany Times Union: “This was a first for me covering college basketball. After Binghamton beat UAlbany 78-73 on Wednesday night, Bearcats interim coach Mark Macon opened his news conference by breaking into a song at the podium. Nobody seemed to recognize the tune, so Macon explained.  ‘You all know that song,” Macon said. ‘It’s about somebody asking somebody to dance who already has a partner. He’s not there with her. He just wants to borrow for a couple of minutes, for a couple of songs. Maybe her partner wouldn’t mind.’ Um, OK. All I can say about Macon as a singer is that he was a fine basketball player. And a pretty fair coach, too, since Binghamton is tied for third after being picked last in the preseason.”   You HAVE to love Mark Macon.
• BU Pipe Dream: “‘I don’t think anyone knew where the heck Jabbi and [Umur] Peten came from,’ Brown said. “And they’re good players; I didn’t know who they were. Jabbi killed us [in Albany] and he killed us here.’  Brown had a lot of praise for the surprising Binghamton team that is tied for third place in the conference standings.  ‘They got guys that can play one on one and get in the lane and make plays,’ Brown said. ‘They’re long and big and good and I think everybody needs to admit it. They’re gonna win a lot more games.’  Brown also praised Wright’s individual talents saying they are a key to the Bearcats’ success.  ‘Greer Wright is a first team all-league player, he’s the leading scorer in the league,’ he said. ‘I think he might be the player in the league right now, though I’m sure Blakely will win it.’”  That has to be the most praise I have ever seen Will Brown give Binghamton.

Tonight, the Bearcats head below the Mason-Dixon line to take on UMBC.  Binghamton’s success this year has definitely been a surprise to everyone.  With a 3-3 record, the Bearcats are only 2 games out of first place in the loss column (Maine 5-1) and 1 game away from a smorgasbord of teams (Boston 6-2, Stony Brook 6-2, Vermont 5-2) . Every win counts right now for the Bearcats.  Most of the teams above the ‘Cats in the standings have played and won more games.

All the metrics point towards a Binghamton victory.  UMBC is in the cellar- the place that everyone thought that we would be at this point in the season.  Just like how everyone looked passed us, we can’t look pass UMBC.  A win is a win no matter who you play.  Playing at home with the disrespect card, should make UMBC a dangerous opponent.   An opponent that has nothing to lose.

• Press & Sun Bulletin: “When the Bearcats meet University of Maryland-Baltimore County in an America East Conference contest at 7 Wednesday at RAC Arena, a key concern will be avoiding taking the Retrievers lightly.  BU (8-13, 3-3 America East) was picked to finish last in the conference’s preseason coaches poll, yet among its victories this season are home victories over Vermont and Stony Brook.  Meanwhile, UMBC is in the midst of a dreadful 1-19 season, which includes an 0-7 mark in conference play that has the Retrievers in last place in the America East.  ‘Of course we’ve talked about not overlooking UMBC; we’re not overlooking any team,’ BU interim coach Mark Macon said. ‘We’re just looking to play with a high level of intensity and just trying to come in not start off slow.  I think UMBC is a good team; I truly do as a coach. We can’t underestimate anybody in our conference.’”

Sometimes you don’t really need words to describe something.  This is exactly the case in last night’s victory over SUNY rival Stony Brook.  Enjoy!

Stony Brook Recaps:

• Press & Sun Bulletin: “In that loss, BU had a chance to win late in regulation, only to have Mahamoud Jabbi rush an ill-advised 3-pointer with four seconds left that missed badly, giving the Black Bears the chance to pull out the victory in overtime.  On Tuesday, BU found itself in the same situation, in a tie game late after the Seawolves’ Bryan Dougher’s nailed a 3-pointer from about 24 feet to knot the score at 62 with eight seconds left.  After taking the inbounds pass, Lukusa dribbled quickly to midcourt before passing to Wright on the right wing. Wright dribbled a few times before lofting a shot — with a pair of Stony Brook defenders on him — that found nothing but net.  Dougher managed to get off a half-court heave that could have won the game, but his shot banked off the rim at the buzzer.”
• Video – WBNG: “Wright, who hit 11-of-19 from the floor, scored nine points in the final 4:11 and the game was in his hands as BU set up its final possession with the score tied 62-62. From the right side, he dribbled between a pair of Stony Brook defenders and swished a 15-foot jumper with 1.8 seconds left.  ‘Our go-to guy made plays tonight,’ Macon said of Wright. ‘He really wore his pants well.’”
• AP: “Greer Wright scored a career-high 27 points and hit a 15-foot jumper with 1.8 seconds left to lift Binghamton to a 64-62 win over Stony Brook on Tuesday night.  Wright split a double-team before making the shot for the Bearcats (7-11, 2-1 America East Conference), who have won three of their past four games and snapped the Seawolves’ four-game winning streak.”
• Video – WICZ: “BU coach Mark Macon, ‘I was going crazy inside. Crazy inside. That’s a great way to end a game for players, never a great way to end a game for a coach.’  Greer Wright wasn’t available for comment, but he was enormous for BU. His 27 points were a season high for the Bearcats. Next up for BU, a Thursday home game against Boston.”
• Video – Postgame Interview with Mark Macon

The fact that the Bearcats have done so well this season is probably the biggest surprise of the America East season so far.  This has to be credited to the job and efforty by Mark Macon and the players to compensate for some severe competitive disadvantages.  You also have to give Kevin Broadus his due for recruiting players (even walk-ons like Jabbi) that could compete in the America East from top to bottom.

What what happens next?  That tidbit of foresight is still in the hands of former judge Judith Kaye.  All the success in the world won’t mean anything until after Kaye’s report.  When will that be?  Nancy Zimpher ain’t telling anyone.

• Ithaca Journal: “SUNY’s top educator Monday vowed ‘full disclosure’ related to spending on the investigation of Binghamton University’s troubled athletics program.  But more than three months into the $520-an-hour probe, it remains anyone’s guess as to when the public will know the cost — or if they’ll wind up footing the bill.  ‘I’m not unpacking the gradual development of this case,’ Chancellor Nancy Zimpher said in a brief interview at SUNY Delhi, where she was attending a strategic planning event.  Zimpher said she’s ‘hopeful and optimistic’ the probe can be completed soon. But asked when that might be, Zimpher said the process will take a long as is needed.”
• Press & Sun Bulletin: “As disappointing as Sunday’s overtime loss to Maine was, at least the Binghamton University men’s basketball team won’t have much time to dwell on it.  The Bearcats return to the court tonight when they host Stony Brook at 7 in an America East Conference game at the Events Center.  It’s the third of four games in eight days for BU (6-11, 1-1 America East), which also hosts Boston University on Thursday.  ‘We have to play better Tuesday,’ BU interim coach Mark Macon said following Sunday’s 66-61 overtime loss to Maine. ‘I know they feel bad, and they should, because I feel bad.’”