New England Big 4 Challenge
Saturday, November 19 | at Tufts | 3 p.m.
Sunday, November 20 | vs. Endicott or Salem State | 12 or 2 p.m.
Cousens Gymnasium | Medford, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• The 13th edition of the New England Big 4 Challenge will be hosted by Tufts over two days beginning on Saturday afternoon.
• A new champion will be crowned as Brandeis, which defeated Tufts in a 5OT classic last December, has stepped away from the event.
• Babson will take on the Jumbos in the second of two games on Saturday, while Salem State faces Endicott in the other contest at 1 p.m. The winners will meet in Sunday's 3 p.m. championship game and the losers will meet in the consolation game at 1p.m.

SERIES HISTORY
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.

vs. Endicott
• Babson is 3-2 all-time against the Gulls in a series that dates back to 2003.
• The Beavers suffered home-court losses to Endicott in both 2017 and 2018.

vs. Salem State
• The Beavers are 9-13 all-time against Salem State in a series that dates back to 1988.
• Babson is 5-4 versus Salem State in the Big 4 Challenge, which includes an 82-80 OT victory in last season's consolation game.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (2-1) is coming off a 77-56 loss at No. 13 Saint Joseph (Conn.) on Monday night.
• Sophomore Nate Amado finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds and classmate Parker Mason added a career-high 12 points for the Beavers, who were tied at 52-52 with under 12 minutes to go in the second half.
• Amado (24.7 pts, 10.7 reb) leads the team with two double-doubles, senior Andrew Kirkpatrick is averaging 13.3 points, 4.7 assists and 3.0 steals, and first-year Timmy O'Toole (7.3 pts, 5.7 reb, 3.0 stl) is shooting 45.5 percent from the floor.
• The Green and White is averaging 13.3 offensive rebounds and have knocked down 10 three-pointers in back-to-back outings.

SCOUTING THE JUMBOS
• Tufts (1-0) opened the season with an 80-78 OT win at Emerson last Sunday.
• Senior Dylan Thoerner led four players in double figures with 24 points, sophomore Trumann Gettings added 14 points and senior Tyler Aronson and sophomore Khai Champion both scored 11 for the Jumbos, who trailed 41-25 at halftime.
• Tufts returns four of its top six scorers from a team that finished 13-10 last winter, led by All-NESCAC first-team selection Thoerner who averaged 15.5 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 51.6 percent.
• Aaronson contributed 10.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and a team-high 2.5 assists, while junior Jay Dieterle came off the bench to score 7.1 points on 47.3 percent shooting.

SCOUTING THE GULLS
• Endicott (1-0) opened the season with a 75-69 victory over MIT on Tuesday night.
• Senior Jalen Echevarria poured in 29 points and graduate student Matt Garry added 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Gulls, who outscored the Engineers 34-18 in the paint.
• Echevarria (19.4 pts, 3.5 reb, 2.8 ast) shot 36.1 percent from beyond the arc for Endicott, which must replace four of its top five scorers from a squad that finished 13-11 last winter.
• Graduate student Stephen Fama averaged 6.0 points in 23 starts, while junior Mark Barrett (3.8 pts, 3.7 reb) and sophomore Parker McLaren (3.5 pts, 3.5 reb) are the team's top returners in the frontcourt.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
• Salem State (1-2) is coming off an 82-56 rout of Curry for its first wi on Tuesday night.
• Senior Conner Byrne had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds, classmate Chris MacDonald scored 15 points and fellow senior Jarret Byrne added 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting for the Vikings, who shot a blistering 64.5 percent in the second half.
• Junior Josiah Green is averaging 14.0 points and 4.3 assists, Conner Byrne (11.3 pts, 7.3 reb) is shooting 55.6 percent and MacDonald is contributing 8.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in three starts.
• Salem State, which went 15-10 last year, is shooting 45.4 percent from the field through its first three outings.

BIG 4 HISTORY
• After going 0-8 over the first four seasons of the event (2009-12), the Beavers are 12-4 since 2013 and have advanced to the championship game in seven of the last eight seasons.
• Babson's four Big 4 championships (2013, 2014, 2016, 2019) rank second behind only Brandeis, which won the first three titles (2009-11) and then claimed trophies in 2018 and 2021.
• The Judges (2012, 2021) and Beavers (2014) are the only schools to win the tournament championship on their home floor.

AMADO, KIRKPATRICK SWEEP NEWMAC WEEKLY AWARDS
• Amado was selected as the NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Week and Kirkpatrick collected conference defensive player of the week honors on Monday.
• Amado averaged 27.0 points on 45.8 percent shooting and 11.0 rebounds in season-opening wins over Lasell and Salve Regina.
• Kirkpatrick matched his career high with four steals apiece in each of the Beavers' first two games.

HEATING UP FROM DEEP 
• Mason knocked down a career-high four three-pointers in Monday's loss at Saint Joseph and is 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) from beyond the arc over the last two games.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 18-4 since 2020-21 when shooting at least 40 percent from the floor.
• Babson is 24-1 dating back to the start of the 2018-19 campaign when holding its opponents below 70 points.
• Over the last four seasons, the Green and White is 24-3 when making 10 or more three-pointers.
• The Beavers are 14-1 since the start of last year when outrebounding their opponents.

UP NEXT
• Babson hosts Amherst in a Thanksgiving-eve matinee on Wednesday at 1 p.m.