ESPN Men's Basketball

Before we get to the Blue Ribbon team-by-team previews for the America East, here is Eamonn Brennan's wind sprint through the league:



Blue Ribbon's in-depth previews of all nine America East teams:

Albany
Boston U.
Binghamton
Hartford
Maine
New Hampshire
Stony Brook
UMBC
Vermont

Before we get to the Blue Ribbon team-by-team previews for the America East, here is Eamonn Brennan's one-minute wind sprint through the league:



Blue Ribbon breakdowns of all nine teams in the America East:

Albany
Binghamton
Boston University
Hartford
Maine
New Hampshire
Stony Brook
UMBC
Vermont

More America East content:

• New Faces, New Places: Andy Katz on new coach Joe Jones at Boston University and Dana O'Neil on new coach John Becker at Vermont.
• Adam Finkelstein gives the lowdown on the recruiting picture in the AE.

An inside look at the numbers behind Tuesday's top performances:

1. Jimmer Fredette snatched the national scoring lead away from Kemba Walker, as he poured in 47 points in BYU's 104-79 rout of Utah. It was the second-most points in a game this season, and ironically, the most by a starter. Fredette bypassed 2,000 points for his career, just the fourth player in school history to do so. Not bad for a guy who averaged 7.0 ppg as a freshman. Fredette scored 32 of his 47 in the first half, capped off by a halfcourt buzzer-beater. Looking at it another way, he had more points in the first half than any other Mountain West player has scored in a game this season.

2. All five BYU starters were in double figures, as the unit combined to score 102 points against the Utes. It's the second-most points by a starting lineup this season, behind a St. Bonaventure group that scored 106 back in December. However, the Bonnies needed four overtimes to get there. The last starting lineup to score this much in a regulation game was Kentucky's last season against Sam Houston State. In fact, this is the first time a Mountain West starting lineup has scored 100 points in the last 15 seasons.

3. A month ago, Doron Lamb set the Kentucky freshman scoring record with 32 points, all coming off the bench. On Tuesday against Auburn, teammate Terrence Jones broke that record by scoring 35 points, also as a reserve. It's the second-most points by a freshman this season, behind Jared Sullinger's 40. Though Jones couldn't top Sullinger, he did pass the Buckeye as the nation's leading freshman scorer (18.7 ppg). Among teams in the power-six conferences, the Wildcats have three of the top six freshman scorers. Tuesday's performance marked the second-most points by a D-I player off the bench this season, and the most by an SEC player since Florida's Joakim Noah scored 37 against Georgia in 2006. He came off the bench to give Adrian Moss a start on senior night. Prior to Lamb and Jones, the last UK player to score 30 off the bench was Cameron Mills in 1998.

4. New Hampshire beat Hartford 57-54 despite only taking five more shots than Jimmer Fredette on Tuesday. UNH attempted 33 shots, 17 fewer than the Hawks. It tied the fewest attempts in a win this season (Utah State and William & Mary). The last team to win with fewer was St. Francis (Pa.) with 31 in a game last season, also against Hartford. The Hawks' opponents only average 48.6 shots per game, the ninth-fewest in the nation. Tyrone Conley accounted for almost half of New Hampshire's shots (16) on his way to a career-high 33 points.

5. After losing to Purdue last week, Penn State had lost 10 straight against ranked foes. But after beating Michigan State on Saturday and topping Illinois last night, the Nittany Lions have defeated ranked foes in back-to-back games for the first time since 1954, and just the second time in school history. Penn State won on Tuesday despite shooting just 34.6 percent from the field, the third lowest this season in a win against a ranked team. Of course, this doesn't quite compare to the 38-33 win over the Illini in 2009, in which Penn State shot just 28.3 percent. Since 2008, the Nittany Lions are 5-3 against Illinois and just 19-36 against the rest of the conference.

Eamonn Brennan takes a quick look at the America East:



For in-depth previews of all nine America East teams, check out Blue Ribbon's breakdowns:

Albany
Binghamton
Boston University
Hartford
Maine
New Hampshire
Stony Brook
UMBC
Vermont