The exhibition is not televised.
The Saxons will also play an exhibition at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, October 29.
I’d never heard of Alfred University so I looked up some basic information. Alfred University is located in Alfred, New York, population 4,896. It’s about 90 miles south-east of Buffalo.
Founded in 1836, it is a private, liberal arts university offering a variety of programs including engineering, fine arts, and psychology. The undergrad population is around 1,400-1,500 with 89% of students living on campus. Annual tuition, including fees, books, room and board, is approximately $52,000 per year.
Interestingly Alfred Sate, a public institution, shares the town with Alfred University. There are more universities than stop lights so it's quintessential small town America to say the least.
Alfred University (D3) is a member of the Empire 8 Conference.
Alfred was 14-12 overall and 10-6 in conference play last season. They were 9-4 at home, 5-7 on the road, and 0-1 at neutral sites. The Saxons lost to SUNY Poly in the first round of the Empire 8 tournament.
Their website has not posted the 25-26 roster yet so I had to make some assumptions about players leaving due to graduation or returning for another year. The information below may not be 100% accurate. I will update if more is posted on their site.
The Empire 8 Conference has not had a media day or made any preseason predictions yet. Alfred last won the conference title in 2019. Utica has won 3 of the past 5 titles including the past 2 seasons.
Returning Players Averaging 10+ Minutes: Players in bold started most games last season.
6’0” Tyler Hind - 12.4 ppg - Senior
6’4” Amoi Charles - 11.5 ppg & 6.2 reb - Senior
6’9” Franlys Valenzuela (played in just 3 games - started all 3) - 11.3 ppg & 9.3 reb - Senior
6’2” Tyler Curran - 9.4 ppg - Senior
6’0” Zion Bailey - 8.3 ppg & 5.6 reb - Junior
5’10” Robby Hicks - 3.7 ppg - Senior
6’3” Gabe Eldaye - 2.5 ppg - Senior
Team Stats:
Last season the Saxons averaged 67.5 points per game while giving up 66.7.
They shot 41.3% from the floor and 32.5% from 3.
Opponents shot 44.0% from the field and 32.1% from 3.
The Saxons shot 71.0% from the free throw line.
They were out-rebounded by .5 boards per game and averaged 12.4 turnovers per contest.
Thoughts: It’s an exhibition against a very average D3 opponent so I don't know that we'll really learn anything or be able to make any grand predictions. Anything less than a 20-30 point win will be a surprise and disappointment. It will be interesting to see who starts for us and if that carries over to the opener against Wofford.
Discuss.