Game time is set for 8:30 p.m. tomorrow, but even now, nobody knows which Bearcat team will show up against Boston tomorrow.

Through much of the conference season, Binghamton wallowed in last place, spurring persistent discussions of what they ‘could be’ and, as loss after loss piled up, what ‘could’ve been.’

But the Bearcats won three of four to close out the year, clawing their way up to the six seed.

And with a win tomorrow at the Agganis Arena against No. 3 Boston University, the Bearcats could establish a positive identity that has eluded them all season long.

‘When you actually win, that’s when your confidence gets high,’ said Mike Gordon, the Bearcats’ junior point guard. ‘We know what we can do.’

Standing in their way is Boston University, the tournament’s host institution. The Terriers clinched the No. 3 seed on Feb. 22 with a two-point loss to Vermont, the second in a three-game losing streak to end the regular season.

‘For the most part, I’ve been encouraged by what’s going on,’ said BU head coach Dennis Wolff. ‘We had chances to win the Vermont game right up to the last 20 seconds, we had a four-point lead with 10 minutes to go at Albany ‘ you wouldn’t want to go in on a losing streak, [but] I’m not discouraged about where we’re at.’

The Terriers finished the regular season 8-8, with two wins coming against the Bearcats. But Binghamton head coach Al Walker stressed the importance of finishing strong.

‘If I’m Boston, I’m very, very concerned,’ Walker said of the Terriers’ recent losing skid. ‘There’s a lot of pressure on them.’

In the first game at Binghamton on Jan. 11, BU center Omari Peterkin picked up 12 rebounds, six offensive, as the Terriers cruised 61-49. In the rematch, with Peterkin out with a sprained ankle, freshman Carlos Strong earned Rookie of the Week honors with a career-high 30-point performance, hitting 8-of-10 from downtown in another 12-point Terrier win.

‘Carlos had one of those nights you kind of dream about,’ Wolff said. ‘Seemingly every shot he took went in.’

But at least one Bearcat saw Strong’s performance as fluky.

‘That second time, y’know, Carlos got ‘Strong,’ joked junior guard Richie Forbes. ‘He hit a lot of big shots; his night just happened to happen right when we were getting hot ‘ they got lucky. Now, they might come out overconfident.’

Bearcat senior Troy Hailey said Binghamton must defend better to win.

‘Both times, we didn’t defend well,’ he said. ‘We have to take care of the guards.’

Wolff said he doesn’t think this game will necessarily resemble either of the first two contests.

‘They’re aware they could’ve easily lost both games to Binghamton,’ Wolff said of his players. ‘I don’t mean to be evasive with my answer, but this is a whole new season.’

Do the coaches think it’s tougher to beat the same team three times in one year?

‘No ‘ that’s just an old adage,’ Walker said, shrugging off the notion. ‘That’s some myth that rolls around in sports.’

Wolff disagreed.

‘Yes ‘ that’s an old adage,’ he said, mentioning that in his senior year of high school in Queens, a team he’d beaten twice during the year got its revenge in the state championship game. ‘If we do this, this and this, the team that’s won thinks, ‘Well, we beat them twice’ ‘ [but] we’re certainly not overconfident.’

Boston hasn’t won a playoff game since 2003, when they lost in the championship game as the top seed to UVM. In 2004, again as the top seed, they were shocked by eighth-ranked Stony Brook.

In each of the last two years, at the Events Center, Boston was the No. 3 seed ‘ and lost. Last March, the Terriers fell to No. 6 Vermont ‘ a team they’d beaten twice in the regular season. So does hosting this tournament put any extra pressure on the Terriers?

‘No,’ Wolff said. ‘It’s not like we have any tremendous advantage. The city down here isn’t like it is up there, [but] it is nice to have the tournament where you don’t have to travel.’

The Bearcats certainly don’t seem intimidated by the ‘Dog Pound,’ Boston’s version of the Zoo.

‘They don’t have home crowd like we do,’ freshman forward Lazar Trifunovic joked. ‘There were like 10 people there last time, with one Serbian guy looking at me, so that’s nine.’

Gordon said the Bearcats play their best under pressure.

‘We play good when the stakes are high,’ he said. ‘I don’t wanna be sitting here on Sunday night saying, ‘Damn, we could’ve had that game.’ Nah, I wanna be playing Sunday.’

Upsets aren’t uncommon ‘ the top four seeds haven’t advanced to the semifinals since 1999. Wolff hopes his team can finally pull out a victory.

‘The only thing I hope is that I have one more point than they have,’ Wolff said.

The winner will advance to take on the winner of Vermont vs. the play-in game winner at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. The conference championship game will be played next Saturday.

‘We definitely wanna see Vermont again,’ Forbes said. ‘We get to beat the top two teams in the conference ‘ perfect.’

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Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Agannis Arena in Boston. Live video of the game will be streamed free on www.americaeast.com, or you can listen to the voice of Roger Neel on WNBF on www.bubearcats.com. Pipe Dream’s Chris Strub will update his blog with game results and observations throughout the weekend at www.bupipedream.com.