Men's Basketball at MIT
Wednesday, January 31 | 7 p.m.
Rockwell Cage | Cambridge, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 61-25 all-time against MIT in a series that dates back to the 1978-79 campaign.
•    The Beavers have won six consecutive games against the Engineers going back to 2020.
•    Ten of the last 14 games between Babson and MIT have been decided by seven points or less or in overtime, which includes four straight OT games inside Rockwell Cage. 

LAST MEETING
•    Junior Nate Amado scored a game-high 23 points and the Beavers closed the game with an 11-3 run to edge MIT, 64-57, on January 6 in Babson Park. 
•    Junior Aidan Horan finished with 13 points and six rebounds and first-year Jared Flaks added nine points for the Beavers, who got a go-ahead three-pointer from Amado with 2:24 remaining to take the lead for good. 
•    Merlin Gogolin scored 14 points and Tim Minicozzi added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Engineers, who outscored the Green and White 28-22 in the paint in the loss. 
 
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Babson (9-11, 5-6 NEWMAC) snapped a two-game skid and picked up its first conference road win by defeating Clark, 71-68, on Saturday in Worcester. 
•    Graduate student Steph Baxter scored 22 points, sophomore Jeremiah Paul added a career-high 14 points and Horan matched his season high with 13 points for the Beavers, who built a 16-point second-half lead and got a late free throw from sophomore Tyler Lauder to help seal the win.
•    Amado (20.0 pts, 6.8 reb, 1.2 blk) ranks first in the league in scoring, fourth in blocks and sixth in rebounding, Baxter (18.5 pts, 3.8 reb, 3.2 ast) is second in the NEWMAC in scoring and sixth in assists and sophomore Timmy O'Toole (7.0 pts, 8.2 reb) grabbed 12 offensive rebounds in two games in his return to the lineup last week. 
•    The Green and White has scored at least 70 points while shooting better than 40 percent in four of its last six contests. 

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
•    MIT (4-16, 3-8 NEWMAC) has now won two straight games on the heels of a nine-game losing streak after picking up an 86-81 road victory at Salve Regina on Saturday. 
•    Will Bland poured in 25 points and Minicozzi added 21 points to lead five players in double figures for the Engineers, who knocked down 11 three-pointers and shot 58.3 percent in the second half and 52.8 percent for the game. 
•    Isaac Dobie (13.2 pts, 3.9 reb) has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games, Gogolin (11.4 pts, 5.7 reb, 2.3 ast) is shooting 47.5 percent from the floor and Spencer Lin (10.0 pts, 7.0 reb, 3.7 ast) ranks fourth in the conference in both rebounds and assists. 
•    MIT ranks second in the league in scoring offense averaging 72.5 points and is shooting 36.2 percent from beyond the arc, which is good for second in the conference. 

SECOND-CHANCE OPPORTUNITIES
•    The Beavers, who ranked second in the NEWMAC in offensive rebounds at 12.0 per contest, pulled down 39 offensive boards and scored 37 second-chance points in games against WPI and Clark last week. 
•    Babson rebounded 42.9 percent of its missed shots versus the Engineers and Cougars, surpassing its rate of 29 percent through 20 games. 
•    The Green and White scored 18 second-chance points against WPI and 19 against Clark, which was its most since putting up a season-high 20 second-chance points in the season opener versus Lasell back on November 8.

SUCCESS AGAINST THE ENGINEERS
•    Lauder is averaging 9.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals in three career games versus MIT, and dished out a season-high five assists in the January meeting between the teams in Babson Park. 
•    Over his last two games against MIT, Horan is averaging 13.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals while shooting 64.7 percent (11-of-17) from the field. 

BEAVER BITES
•    Baxter has scored at least 15 points in 14 of his last 15 outings and is averaging 4.3 assists over the last three contests. 
•    O'Toole is averaging 3.5 offensive rebounds per game, while Lauder is pulling down 2.5 per game and has grabbed 12 over the last three contests. 
•    Horan averaged 11.5 points on 45 percent shooting in games against WPI and Clark after scoring just 18 total points over his previous four outings.
•    In addition to scoring a career-high 14 points at Clark, Paul also finished with season highs of five rebounds and two blocked shots in 30 minutes. 

JAM-PACKED NEWMAC STANDINGS
•    Entering the final three weeks of the regular season, WPI (10-1) and Clark (9-2) have a hold on the top two spots in standings while the other seven teams are separated by just two games. 
•    Babson (5-6) is currently tied for fourth with Wheaton (5-6) just a half-game behind third-place Emerson (5-5), while Coast Guard (4-6), Salve Regina (4-7), Springfield (3-7) and MIT (3-8) all remain in playoff contention. 
•    The top six teams will qualify for the conference tournament, which begins on February 20.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 8-3 on the year when shooting at least 40 percent from the floor. 
•    Babson is 5-0 this season and 23-2 over the last three years when holding its opponents below 40 percent shooting.
•    The Green and White is 8-2 this winter when outrebounding its foes. 
•    Babson is 6-3 this winter when pulling down at least 13 offensive rebounds.

UP NEXT
•    The Beavers are back at home to take on Springfield inside Staake Gymnasium on Saturday at 1 p.m.