ALBANY — Legendary football coach Bear Bryant said that defense wins championships.
The University at Albany men’s basketball team will look to apply that advice in their next game against a different Bryant.
The Great Danes (6-19, 1-9 America East) host the Bryant Bulldogs (15-8, 6-4) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Hudson Valley Community College.
“Defense is the main thing we have to focus on as a team,” senior forward Gerald Drumgoole Jr. said.
- When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
- Where: McDonough Sports Complex, Hudson Valley Community College, Troy
- Stream: ESPN+; Radio: WTMM 104.5 FM
UAlbany allows 74.8 points per game, the most in the America East. The Great Danes give up 115.8 points per 100 possessions, according to Kenpom.com, 352nd of 362 Division I schools.
“Right now, going into this game, it’s like, who do we want to be? And I think there’s a lot of positive energy, guys are still working, guys are still believing, but we have to find a way to do things at a higher level, starting with our defense,” UAlbany coach Dwayne Killings said.
The Great Danes are coming off a 87-68 loss to Vermont on Saturday, their seventh in a row. The Catamounts shot over 60 percent from the field and 46.4 percent from 3.
“A lot of buckets just come from us having mental lapses,” said fifth-year guard Sarju Patel.
“We have to stop getting beat on straight-line drives. That’s one of our biggest keys,” Drumgoole said. “And I feel like our help-side defense has to be there so if we do get beat somebody can step up and help and then we just have to figure out the rotations after that.”
Defense was also a problem in UAlbany’s last meeting with Bryant. Fifth-year forward Antwan Walker scored a career-high 33 points, and senior guard Charles…
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