Tonight’s date with Penn presents an opportunity Binghamton has not had since Jan. 2011 — string together three consecutive wins.
The Quakers are 1-5, with a win over America East member UMBC and losses to top mid-majors Delaware, Drexel and Lehigh. Given Penn’s inexperience — Zack Rosen, Tyler Bernardini and Rob Belcore graduated — the defeats are not surprising. But the Quakers took the Dragons to the wire before sticking with preseason AP All-America C.J. McCollum and the Mountainhawks.
“A lot of the times when you’re young, when you’re playing against a really hard schedule, it’s hard to find wins early,” Binghamton head coach Tommy Dempsey said at Monday night’s practice.
Miles Cartwright, a junior, is the one Quaker who played more than 20 minutes per game for last year’s squad. After averaging 10.8 points per game as a sophomore, the guard holds a 15.7 point average through six games, though his shooting percentages are considerably lower early on.
Binghamton’s zone defense occasionally affords the opposition good looks from beyond the arc, so keeping track of Cartwright, who shot 34.8 percent from deep last year, will be key.
Fran Dougherty, Cartwright’s classmate, leads Penn in scoring (19.8 ppg) and rebounding (9.2 rpg) in the early going.
Because Penn doesn’t have any other established threats, Dempsey said the gameplan is to contain Cartwright and Dougherty. Doing so could be challenging, given the scoring versatility of each player. Cartwright can score off the dribble and from deep, and with 7.2 fouls drawn per 40 minutes, he ranks No. 46 nationally. Dougherty, on the other hand, is 6-foot-8 and can score from the paint, mid-range and even three-point territory.
The anticipated returns of Taylor Johnston and Roland Brown, who have each missed time with sprained ankles, will aid Binghamton. Both players worked out on Sunday and participated in practice for the first time on Monday, and Dempsey said, barring a setback, they would play today.
Tip is set for 7 p.m. at the Palestra.