Men's Basketball at Hope
Thursday, December 29 | 7 p.m.
DeVos Fieldhouse | Holland, Mich.

Men's Basketball at Chicago
Saturday, December 31 | 2 p.m. EST
Ratner Athletics Center | Chicago, Ill.

WHAT TO KNOW
• The Babson men's basketball team will travel to the midwest for the first time since December 2016 over the final weekend of 2022.
• The Beavers head to Holland, Mich., to face perennial national power Hope on Thursday night before taking on UAA foe Chicago in their final non-conference contest of the regular season on New Year's Eve.

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Hope:
• First meeting

vs. Chicago:
• Babson is 1-1 all-time against the Maroons in a series that dates back to 2007.
• Bradley Jacks '18 led four players in double figures with 23 points as the Beavers defeated Chicago, 82-70, on December 31, 2016.
• The Green and White also suffered a 73-69 loss to the Maroons on December 30, 2007, in Chicago.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (6-3) has won four of its last five games and is coming off an 88-76 at Brandeis back on December 8.
• Senior Andrew Kirkpatrick led four players in double figures with 18 points, sophomore Nate Amado added 16 points and senior Aaron Gao scored a season-high 15 for the Beavers, who shot 58.8 percent and outscored the Judges 54-38 in the second half.
• Amado (21.6 pts, 7.9 reb) ranks 23rd in Division III in scoring, Kirkpatrick (15.0 pts, 3.8 ast, 1.8 steals) is shooting 51.9 percent over his last two outings, and first-year Timmy O'Toole (6.7 pts, 5.6 reb) is tied for the team lead with 16 steals and is second on the squad in rebounding.
• The Green and White ranks 41st in Division III in steals per game (10.1) and are pulling down 12.2 offensive rebounds per contest.

SCOUTING THE FLYING DUTCHMEN
• Hope (6-4) has dropped two straight games after suffering a 74-73 loss to North Central (Ill.) on December 21.
• Senior TJ McKenzie finished with 18 points, first-year Marcus Wourman scored 16 and senior Clayton Dykhouse and junior Trevor Wiegerink added 12 points apiece for the Flying Dutchmen, which cut a 13-point second-half deficit down to just one in the final minute.
• Sophomore Gabe Quillan (14.9 pts, 7.1 reb) is shooting 56.6 percent from the floor, McKenzie (13.6 pts, 5.4 reb) has knocked down a team-high 24 three-pointers and Dykhouse is averaging 13.4 points and a team-high 3.4 assists in 10 starts.
• Hope boasts a +6.8 rebounding margin but has committed 15.2 turnovers per game.

SCOUTING THE MAROONS
• Chicago (6-4) had its three-game winning streak snapped with a 67-63 OT loss to Illinois Wesleyan on December 20.
• Sophomore Thomas Kurowski led four players in double figures with 15 points and first-year Eamonn Kenah came off the bench to score 12 points for the Maroons, who shot just 33.9 percent in the loss.
• Senior Bryce Hopkins (12.3 pts, 6.7 reb) has scored in double figures in all three of his starts since returning to action on December 11, Kurowski is averaging 10.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and a team-high 2.6 assists, and junior Elliot Paschal is contributing 10.1 points and 2.9 assists in eight starts.
• Chicago is allowing just 64.4 points and owns a +5.5 rebounding margin on the year.

GETTING BUCKETS
• Amado has reached double figures in scoring in 13 consecutive games going back to February of last season, which includes scoring 20 or more points seven times through Babson's first nine games this winter.
• He is shooting 46.9 percent from the floor and his 11 three-pointers are just six shy of the 17 he made all of last season.

HOMECOMING FOR KIRKPATRICK
• Kirkpatrick, who grew up just north of Chicago in Winnetka, Ill., will play his first collegiate games in the midwest this week.
• The senior guard has started seven of nine games this winter and is second on the team in scoring (15.0), first in assists (3.8) and tied for first in steals (1.8).
• Over the last five games, Kirkpatrick is averaging 18.4 points on 44.6 percent shooting.

SHARING THE ROCK
• In addition to putting a season-high four players in double figures in the December 8 win over Brandeis, Amado, Kirkpatrick and graduate student Ryan Cibull tied for game-high honors with five assists apiece.

PROVIDING A SCORING PUNCH
• The quintet of Gao, Cibull, O'Toole, junior John Gorgol and sophomore David Cross each knocked down at least one three-pointer and combined to shoot 74.1 percent (20-of-27) in the victory over Brandeis on December 8.
• They finished 7-of-11 from beyond the arc, highlighted by Gao's season-high three triples and shot 81.3 percent on two-point attempts on the way to combining for 48 points.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers, who shot a season-best 54.8 percent at Brandeis, are 4-1 on the year when connecting on at least 40 percent of their shots from the field.
• Babson is 4-0 this season and 25-4 since 2019-20 when forcing 16 turnovers or more.
• The Beavers are 4-0 on the year and have won 37 of their last 39 games when outrebounding their opponents dating back to the start of the 2019-20 campaign.
• Five of Babson's six wins this winter have come by 11 or more points.
• The Green and White is 4-0 this season and 39-2 since 2018-19 when holding its foes below 70 points.

UP NEXT
• Following its trip to the midwest, Babson opens NEWMAC play at Emerson on Wednesday, January 4.