Men's Basketball at Wheaton
Wednesday, February 1 | 7 p.m.
Emerson Gymnasium | Norton, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 40-15 all-time against Wheaton in a series that dates back to the 1989-90 campaign.
• The Beavers have won 21 of their last 24 games against the Lyons but had a six-game winning streak snapped just over three weeks ago in Babson Park.
• The Green and White is 12-1 in its last 13 visits to Emerson Gymnasium going back to February 2009.

LAST MEETING
• Seniors Aaron Williams and Alex Carlisle combined for 47 points on 14-of-22 shooting to help Wheaton defeat the Beavers, 64-56, on January 11 in Babson Park.
• Williams finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds and Carlisle added 19 points for the Lyons, who overcame 19 turnovers by shooting 52.5 percent.
• Junior John Gorgol scored 12 points, senior Andrew Kirkpatrick finished with 11 and junior Stephen Watson and first-year Timmy O'Toole both chipped in with 10 points for the Beavers, who shot a season-low 31.3 percent.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (12-7, 5-3 NEWMAC) extended its winning streak to four games with a 60-56 victory over Emerson on Saturday afternoon.
• Senior Aaron Gao matched his career high with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and Kirkpatrick added 13 points for the Beavers, who built a 16-point first-half lead and held the Lions to just 1-of-9 shooting from three-point range.
• Sophomore Nate Amado (19.1 pts, 6.7 reb) has scored in double figures in 11 of 12 starts this season, Kirkpatrick (14.8 pts, 2.9 ast) is shooting 47.4 percent over the last six games and graduate student Ryan Cibull (9.5 pts, 3.0 ast) is averaging 14.2 points in conference play.
• The Green and White ranks second in conference play in both scoring defense (61.4 points) and defensive efficiency allowing just 0.89 points per possession.

SCOUTING THE LYONS
• Wheaton (10-8, 5-3 NEWMAC) has won two straight games and is coming off a 99-60 rout of Coast Guard on Saturday.
• Ty Murphy knocked down five three-pointers and scored 19 points, Carlisle finished with 18 points and five assists and Williams recorded 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Lyons, who buried 16 three-pointers and led 50-25 at the half.
• Williams (20.3 pts, 8.8 reb, 1.6 blocks) leads the league in scoring and ranks second with eight double-doubles, Carlisle (17.7 pts, 4.1 reb, 4.0 ast) is fourth in the NEWMAC in both scoring and assists, and senior Evan Cook (10.7 pts, 3.0 reb) is shooting 40 percent from three-point range.
• Wheaton, which has won five consecutive games at home, ranks first in NEWMAC play in scoring offense (80.6 points), field goal percentage (48.3) and points per possession (1.13).

CLIMBING THE LADDER
• After starting 1-3 in NEWMAC play, the Beavers have won four consecutive games to pull into a tie for third place in the league standings with Wheaton at 5-3.
• Both teams enter Wednesday's contest just a game behind second-place Emerson and two games ahead of fifth-place Clark (3-5).
• The top five teams qualify for the conference tournament and the top three seeds will earn a spot in the semifinals.

GAO NAMED TO D3HOOPS.COM TEAM OF THE WEEK
• After averaging 16.0 points and 4.5 assists while shooting 75 percent from the floor in wins over Clark and Emerson, Gao was one of five players selected to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week on Monday night.
• He was 12-of-16 from the floor over two games and finished 7-of-10 from beyond the arc, which included drilling a career-high four triples against Emerson.
• Gao has started six of eight NEWMAC games and is averaging 10.5 points on 47.9 percent shooting to go along with 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.6 steals.

THREES ARE WILD
• The Beavers have made 38 three-point field goals over the last three games and are shooting 47.5 percent from beyond the arc during this stretch.
• Babson hit a season-high 15 three-pointers at Coast guard on January 21 and buried 14 triples against Clark last Wednesday before hitting nine more in the victory over Emerson.

DOING THE LITTLE THINGS
• O'Toole ranks third in conference play in both offensive rebounds (24) and steals (16) and his 8.3 rebounds per game are good for fifth.
• The only Babson player to start all 19 games this winter, he has at least one offensive rebound and at least one steal in every contest.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Green and White is 10-2 this season when allowing 65 points or fewer and has held seven consecutive opponents below this mark.
• Babson is 10-3 this season when holding its foes below 50 percent shooting.
• The Beavers are 8-1 this winter and 41-3 going back to 2019-20 when outrebounding their opponents.
• Babson is 16-1 going back to the start of last season when making at least nine three-point field goals.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers travel to Worcester to take on No. 12 WPI on Saturday at 3 p.m.