The Binghamton University men’s basketball team stumbled to the finish line in the 2010-11 campaign despite lofty expectations from recent successes. But this wasn’t just a typical rough year; it was a historically bad statistical output that sunk the Bearcats’ hopes of another strong performance.

For starters, the empirical evidence of the awful season isn’t just measured in wins and losses. But for what it’s worth, the Bearcats did compile the worst record (8-23) in their Division I history, and the worst at the school since the 1981-82 season. They lost more games than ever before, dating back to the school’s inception in 1946. Their conference record was also the worst in over two decades.

So how did this happen? The statistical evidence points towards the fact that players, coaches and fans would easily admit: The Bearcats were a perimeter-shooting team. If that characterizes your team, that’s one thing, but the results suggest that may have held them back. The team hoisted more 3-pointers than it ever has (611), and while the percentage that it made was the best in program history as well (35.4 percent), it still was not as high as its opponents’ 38.1 percent.

The excess of long-range shots, as well as the concordant lack of high-percentage looks, irreparably hurt the undersized Bearcats on the boards. The team’s 959 total rebounds were the fewest in the program’s Division I history. It also doomed the Bearcats offensively; the 60.0 points scored per game and -8.5 point scoring margin were also the worst in program history.

Individual efforts were strong enough to keep the Bearcats competitive in close games. The lack of size often forced senior forward Mahamoud Jabbi to play the big man, which he did exceptionally well. Albany head coach Will Brown has said that it would be an absolute shame if Jabbi wasn’t named first team All-Conference (he ended up being named to the third team). He set the Division I Bearcats record for rebounds in a season (241) and in a game (17) and provided a scoring spark at times, especially in conference play, where he averaged 11.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He also dazzled on defense, leading the team in both blocks and steals and earning All-Defensive Team honors.

But Jabbi’s excellence was overshadowed by weaknesses elsewhere. Jabbi wouldn’t have been playing center most of the season if the Bearcats received consistent enough production from their true big men, including junior Kyrie Sutton. While many expected the 6-foot-9-inch Sutton to step up and be the team’s true center and provide ample rebounding, he finished with a disappointing 4.1 boards per game. Who’d have thought that Jabbi could grab twice as many rebounds as Sutton on a consistent basis while standing two inches shorter and weighing 60 fewer pounds?

For a team that relied so heavily on jump shots, its overall field goal percentages were atrocious. The team shot an abysmal 39.7 percent from the field on the year while allowing its opponents to hit 45 percent of their shots. It’s okay to be a perimeter team when you’re actually good at it, but the Bearcats just weren’t.

Specifically, the shooting of seniors Moussa Camara and Chretien Lukusa was off all season long. Despite a hot game here and there, Camara shot just 36.3 percent from the field on the year, while Lukusa shot 34 percent. Lukusa shot a team-worst 23.2 percent from downtown and saw his role gradually diminish as the season went on.

There were no doubt some bright spots. The team started 3-0 in conference play before its epic fall, losing 12 of its final 13 regular season games. After that horrendous streak, the Bearcats showed exactly what they are capable of at their best. In the tournament play-in game against University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Binghamton laid waste to the Retrievers with a 91-65 win. Camara tied the school record for 3-pointers made in a game (eight) and the team set the all-time tournament record for 3-pointers in a game (17) while shattering the school record for most points ever scored in a tournament game. Both Camara and leading-man senior Greer Wright set career highs in points while the Bearcats shot 60 percent from the field as a team in the first half. 60 percent! Where was that all year?

Another Achilles heel for the team was late-game management. The Bearcats lost a staggering 13 games by 11 or fewer points, including losing seven matches by five or less. While they were competitive in all of those games, the Bearcats seemed to always be undone by the game’s final minutes. Players and coaches repeatedly emphasized working on late-game situations in practice as a result of the losses, but it never yielded positive results.

Two seasons ago Binghamton rode straight to the top of the conference and into the NCAA tournament. Last year, after having their roster gutted of all its stars, the Bearcats stunned the conference and pulled off a fifth-place finish, only to be unjustly yanked out of the conference tournament by the BU administration, arguably prompting avid scorer Dylan Talley to transfer out.

Needless to say, after bringing back nearly all of its players from last year, big things were expected. But all the team got was a big disappointment. Binghamton was picked to finish seventh in the Coaches’ Preseason Poll, and for the first time in its Division I history, it finished lower than projected — dead last (ninth), also a first for the team.

Additionally, Mark Macon is admittedly still coming into his own as a young coach. He was given a contract by Binghamton this year, finally shedding the “interim” label with an extension set to keep him at BU through at least the 2012-13 season. For the first time, the team was officially his. He is not only trying to establish his own style but also still working primarily with players he did not recruit.

But the lack of an interior presence ultimately sunk Macon’s ship. The Bearcats tried to get big down low early on but seemed to give up on it later in the year, running with small lineups to try to outshoot their opponents instead, which they were rarely able to do. While the team showed flashes of what it was capable of throughout the year, its on-court performances were highly inconsistent and didn’t translate into wins. Its overly streaky play and late-game shutdowns, among other things, caused the Bearcats to lose game after game after game.

These devoted players worked valiantly and the fans still adored them for it. But when all is said and done, the 2010-11 Bearcats must be seen for what they were — one of the worst teams that the school has ever seen. The only silver lining, I suppose, is that it can only get better from here.