Men's Basketball at the New England Big 4 Challenge
Friday, December 3 | at Brandeis | 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 4 | vs. Salem State or Tufts | 1 or 3 p.m.
Red Auerbach Arena | Waltham, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• The 12th edition of the New England Big 4 Challenge will take place at Brandeis on Friday and Saturday.
• The defending champion Beavers face the host Judges and Salem State takes on Tufts in the opening round on Friday night with the consolation and championship games set for Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Brandeis
• Babson is 21-23 all-time against the Judges in a series that dates back to the 1974-75 campaign.
• The Beavers have split six matchups with Brandeis in the Big 4 Challenge, which includes opening round victories over the Judges in 2014 and 2016.

vs. Salem State
• The Beavers are 8-13 all-time against the Vikings in a series that dates back to 1988.
• Babson is 4-4 versus Salem State in the Big 4 Challenge, which includes an 81-75 win in the first round of the 2019 tournament.

vs. Tufts
• The Beavers are 16-27 all-time versus Tufts in a series that dates back to the 1975-76 season.
• Babson is 4-4 in eight Big 4 Challenge meetings after posting a 99-85 victory over the Jumbos in the 2019 championship game.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (5-3) is coming off a 78-54 win over Bowdoin on Sunday afternoon.
• Senior Colin Bradanese scored a season-high 26 points and sophomore Kieran Dorney added a career-high 18 for the Beavers, who shot a season-best 48.3 percent against the Polar Bears.
• Bradanese (17.3 pts, 8.3 reb) is shooting 58 percent over the last four games, first-year Nate Amado is averaging 13.0 points and 7.8 rebounds in five starts, and graduate student Spencer Cline (10.1 pts, 3.6 reb) has scored in double figures in his last three contests.
• The Green and White is holding opponents to 41.4 percent shooting overall and just 28.9 percent from three-point range.

SCOUTING THE JUDGES
• Brandeis (3-2) had its modest two-game winning streak snapped in a 79-60 loss to WPI on Tuesday night.
• Graduate student Colin Sawyer finished with 17 points and senior Nolan Hagerty added 12 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Judges, who were held to a season-low 23 first-half points.
• Graduate student Tommy Eastman is averaging team highs of 16.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists, Sawyer (14.8 pts, 4.6 reb) is shooting 44.4 percent from beyond the arc and Hagerty (13.4 pts, 7.6 reb) has scored in double figures four times in five starts.
• Brandeis is grabbing better than 13 offensive rebounds per game and owns a +6.6 rebounding margin.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
• Salem State (4-3) has dropped its last three games after suffering an 80-64 loss to MIT on Wednesday night.
• Senior Conner Byrne posted a double-double with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 15 rebounds for the Vikings, who shot just 32.4 percent from the floor.
• Graduate student Sean Bryan (19.6 pts, 5.3 reb, 4.6 ast) leads the squad in scoring and assists, Byrne is averaging 11.7 points on 52.5 percent shooting to go along with a team-high 8.3 rebounds, and sophomore Josiah Green has contributed 10.7 points in seven starts.
• Salem State is attempting 24.7 free throws per game and forcing 17.7 turnovers.

SCOUTING THE JUMBOS
• Tufts (1-5), which was ranked 11th in the D3hoops.com preseason poll, suffered a 75-72 loss to Emerson in its home opener last Saturday.
• Junior Carson Cohen scored 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting and Bobby Stewart added 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting for the Jumbos, who are off to their worst start since 2009-10.
• Sophomore Jay Dieterle is averaging 14.2 points on 55.6 percent shooting, junior Tyler Aronson (10.6 pts, 4.8 reb, 2.8 ast) has scored in double figures four times in five starts, and Cohen is contributing 10.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and a team-high 3.5 assists.
• Tufts is making 7.7 three-pointers per game but shooting just 28.4 percent from beyond the arc.

BIG 4 BY THE NUMBERS
• After going 0-8 over the first four years of the event, the Beavers are 11-3 since 2013 and have advanced to the championship game in seven consecutive editions of the tournament.
• Babson's four championships (2013, 2014, 2016, 2019) are tied for the most in tournament history with Brandeis which won the first three titles (2009-11) in addition to defeating the Beavers in 2018.
• The Judges in 2012 and the Beavers in 2014 are the only schools to claim the tournament championship on their home floor.

KIRSCH EARNS CONFERENCE HONOR
• Graduate student Mitchell Kirsch was selected as the NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 12.5 points, 7.0 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and one block in games against Colby and Bowdoin.
• He nearly recorded a triple-double with 20 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the OT loss at Colby and followed it up with five points, five dimes, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks in the blowout win over Bowdoin.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers shot 54.3 percent on two-point field goal attempts last week against Colby and Bowdoin.
• Babson is 29-1 going back to the start of the 2018-19 season when holding its opponents below 70 points.
• The Beavers are 4-1 this winter when leading at halftime.
• Babson is 4-1 on the year and 18-4 going back to the 2019-20 campaign when forcing at least 16 turnovers.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers wrap up the first semester with an exhibition game at Division I Harvard in Cambridge on Monday at 7 p.m.