Danes start with home doubleheader vs. UMBC
Ualbany set to play first game after delays for coronavirus pauses
As Ernie Banks famously said, let’s play two.
To mitigate the potential of COVID -19 spread, the America East is playing its 2020-21 schedule almost exclusively on weekends. Teams will play back-to-back games against the same opponent at the same site, and, for now, with no spectators.
The University at Albany, eager for any type of outside competition after a preseason interrupted twice by COVID pauses, gets its first experience at the new format Saturday and Sunday, when Maryland-balti
more County arrives for a pair of games at SEFCU Arena.
“It’s actually a weird thing,” Ualbany junior guard CJ Kelly said. “I’ve never seen back-to-back games against the same team, not even in AAU. That’s new. It should be fun.”
The Great Danes, getting their first chance to put last season’s 14-18 record behind them, will get tested early. After the weekend games, they will play host to Niagara in a nonconference game Tuesday at home.
UMBC, picked second in the preseason America East coaches poll behind Vermont, has played five times already (4-1). Ualbany, which lost 26 practice days when the program was suspended twice for positive COVID tests, has had four nonconference games canceled.
“It’s a little bit of a challenge when we’ve had the offseason that we’ve had, playing a team coming in with a couple games under their belt,” sophomore forward Trey Hutcheson said, “but it’s going to be a good challenge for us, and we’ll be prepared. We’ll be ready to go by Saturday.”
The Retrievers, whose lone loss came in their opener at Georgetown, graduated just two players, including leading scorer K.J. Jackson, from last season’s 16-17 squad. Six of the top seven players in minutes played are back, and coach Ryan Odom may have the deepest team in his five-year tenure.
That can be a factor playing 80 minutes, or more, in a single weekend. Without nonconference games to establish a rotation, coach Will Brown isn’t sure how deep he can go on his bench.
“Game 1, I have to figure out quickly how long certain guys can stay on the court before they get winded,” Brown said. “We might have to focus on certain guys playing in short spurts. We have to take it slow. We have not had any scrimmages. I have to find the happy medium between evaluating our personnel when the lights are on, giving guys an opportunity, but also winning.”
Brown will leave his starting lineup a mystery until the 4 p.m. tip-off Saturday. It is safe to assume that junior guard Cameron Healy, a preseason all-conference selection, will be on the court at the beginning of the game. Hutcheson (25 starts last season), Brent Hank (24) and Antonio Rizzuto (17) also are back, as is Adam Lulka, who started all 32 games as a freshman before injuries disrupted his sophomore year.
The Danes have six new scholarship players, including three graduate transfers, so this will be the first opportunity for them to play against outside competition.
Most college teams occasionally play on consecutive nights, usually in a tournament, but seeing the same opponent consecutively provides unique challenges. For instance, in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, with a scheduling format similar to that of the America East, three of the four back-to-back series played so far have resulted in splits.
“It’s important that we focus on Game 1, to try to find a way to win Game 1,” Brown said. “Per NCAA rules, after Game 1 we’re only allowed one hour with our team, and that’s to break down film. We’re not allowed to go back on the court later in the evening and walk-through, correct and adjust.
“We’ll play Game 1, figure out what we did well, what we didn’t do well and make the necessary adjustments. Then, also, we have to figure out what we expect our opponents to do, what adjustments they might make. It becomes a chess match.”