Men's Basketball at No. 12 WPI
Saturday, February 4 | 3 p.m.
Harrington Auditorium | Worcester, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 50-37 all-time against WPI in a series that dates back to the 1974-75 campaign.
• The Beavers have dropped five straight and six of their last seven games to the Engineers since 2019.
• Despite suffering two straight losses, the Green and White is 5-3 over its last eight visits to Harrington Auditorium dating back to 2015.

LAST MEETING
• Sophomore Aidan Callahan finished with 13 points, four assists and two steals and classmate Brett Marelli scored 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting to lead WPI to a 61-49 win over the Beavers on January 11 in Babson Park.
• Junior Donovan Sevilla added 11 points for the Engineers, who built a 20-point second-half lead and outscored the Green and White 26-12 in the paint.
• Senior Andrew Kirkpatrick scored a game-high 18 points and junior John Gorgol contributed 12 points and six rebounds for Babson, which finished just 4-of-21 (19 percent) from three-point range.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (13-7, 6-3 NEWMAC) extended its winning streak to five by defeating Wheaton, 61-55, on the road on Wednesday night.
• Sophomore Nate Amado, who hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 60 seconds to go, led all players with 17 points and 13 rebounds and graduate student Ryan Cibull added 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting for the Beavers, who closed the game with a 19-7 run.
• Amado (18.9 pts, 7.2 reb) ranks second in the NEWMAC in scoring and fifth in rebounding, Kirkpatrick (14.4 pts, 3.0 ast) has scored in double figures 16 times in 20 games this winter, and Cibull (9.9 pts, 3.0 ast) is averaging 14.5 points on 50 percent shooting in league play.
• The Green and White ranks second in NEWMAC play in both scoring defense (60.7 points) and defensive efficiency allowing just 0.88 points per possession.

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
• No. 12 WPI (16-3, 8-1 NEWMAC) had its eight-game winning streak snapped in a 71-66 loss at Emerson on Wednesday night.
• Donovan Sevilla scored 21 points and John Lowther finished with 20 points and six rebounds for the Engineers, who committed a season-low four turnovers but shot just 36.8 percent in the loss.
• Lowther (14.0 pts, 6.3 reb, 2.5 ast) is averaging 16.6 points over the last five contests, junior John Adams (12.3 pts, 8.8 pts) is shooting 48 percent and has scored in double figures in six straight outings, and sophomore Aidan Callahan (12.1 pts, 3.9 ast, 2.2 steals) leads the conference in steals and is tied for fourth in assists.
• WPI ranks third nationally in scoring defense allowing just 55.7 points and is 18th in Division III in field goal percentage defense (38.5).

CLIMBING THE LADDER
• After starting 1-3 in league play, the Beavers have won five consecutive games to move into third place at 6-3.
• Babson is two games behind conference leader WPI and just a game behind second-place Emerson (7-2) in the league standings.
• The top five teams qualify for the conference tournament in late February with the top three seeds advancing to 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 seven of Babson's first nine NEWMAC games and is averaging 10.1 points on 48.1 percent shooting to go along with 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals. He is also shooting 46.7 percent from beyond the arc in league play.

CLAMPING DOWN ON DEFENSE
• Since suffering a 79-70 loss at Emerson in its NEWMAC opener back on January 4, Babson has held eight consecutive opponents to 64 points or less.
• The Beavers are giving up just 58.4 points per game and allowing 0.85 points per possession while forcing 16.6 turnovers during this stretch.
• Overall, the Green and White ranks 38th in Division III in adjusted defense giving up 70.5 points per 100 possessions according to Matt Snyder's efficiency rankings.

DOING THE LITTLE THINGS
• First-year Timmy O'Toole leads all players in conference play with 20 steals and is tied for third with 25 offensive rebounds.
• The only player to start all 20 games this winter for the Beavers, O'Toole had four steals in Wednesday's victory at Wheaton and has grabbed at least one offensive board in every game this season.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers have won four consecutive NEWMAC road games, which includes two by six points or less and another in OT.
• Babson is 7-0 this season and has won its last 17 contests when holding its opponents below 60 points.
• The Beavers are 8-1 this winter and have gone 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 return home to face Springfield inside Staake Gymnasium next Wednesday at 7 p.m.