Winning early a huge focus for UAlbany men's basketball as 2026-27 season tips off

University at Albany freshman forward Erwann Bussing, right, hangs from the hoop during the first day of practice on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, at Broadview Center at the University at Albany in Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union) (Will Waldron/Times Union) ALBANY - In his first five years as the University at Albany men's basketball coach, Dwayne Killings was willing to let his team take some lumps against an ambitious nonconference schedule with the hopes that it would get the Great Danes ready for America East play.This season, he's flipping the script on that trend.UAlbany's 2026-27 schedule, which opens Monday night at Broadview Center with a 6:30 p.m. game against Division III Rhode Island College, still has some challenging games on it, but is much more geared toward getting the Great Danes used to winning.For a rebuilt team with only seven players who have Division I game experience, that's crucial."We took a step back and said, ‘Hey, let's just learn how to win,' and put ourselves in a position where when we get going, we can get some momentum," Killings said. "I think our schedule presents opportunities to get off to a really good start. What we've got to do is make sure our guys are locked in already, because these are going to be huge challenges."UAlbany is coming off an 11-21 campaign in 2025-26, and Killings is coaching this season on a one-year extension to the original five-year contract he signed in 2021. Last season, the Great Danes won just four nonconference games, and didn't beat a Division I opponent until Dec. 17. A promising start to America East play was then derailed by injuries and other absences as UAlbany ultimately stumbled to 7-9 in league play before losing to UMass Lowell in the conference quarterfinals."We know what we could have accomplished last year, but we didn't," said redshirt junior guard Zacharie Matulu, one of the team's four returning players. "All that ‘could have, should have, would have' doesn't really matter until we come in here and actually win."This season will also be lighter on travel and significantly heavier on home games.Last season, UAlbany played just three nonconference home games, only one of which - a loss to Cornell - was against a Division I opponent. This season, the Great Danes have six nonconference home games, and all except the opener against Rhode Island College are against Division I teams.UAlbany also faced several long trips last season, with road games against Marquette, Florida Atlantic and South Carolina that all required plane travel. This year, Killings' team won't have to board a plane at all.The Great Danes' two games against power conference opponents - Nov. 25 at Syracuse and Dec. 1 at Penn State - are both within driving distance, and the team will also head to Buffalo the weekend before Thanksgiving to face Western Illinois, Canisius and Mercyhurst in the Queen City Classic."I thought last year the traveling on planes, it wore us down," Killings said. "I think it caused some issues for us. To not have to do that, it's tremendous. Just get on a bus and go play a game."As has become customary in mid-major college basketball, UAlbany has almost entirely turned over its roster from last season's squad. Eleven players, most prominently all-America East guard Amir Lindsey and conference Defensive Player of the Year Okechukwu Okeke, departed either through graduation or the transfer portal.Just three players who saw action - Shaker High grad Matulu, Abdoulaye Fall and Miles Rose - are back with UAlbany this season, as is guard Wilkin Paulino following a redshirt season. UAlbany returns just 19.7% of its minutes played from 2025-26.Killings brought 11 new players into the program through a combination of high school recruits, transfers from Division I and the junior college ranks, and the coach's deepest dive into the international recruiting pool during his UAlbany tenure.The Great Danes feature players from Canada, England, France, Portugal, Senegal, Croatia and Qatar on this season's roster."The game of basketball, it's a worldwide, global game, but everybody sees it a little bit different," Killings said. "I think we've learned a lot from our guys in trying to figure out where we can put them in positions to have success from their experience.""We just keep stacking days," said junior guard Papa Kounta, a junior college transfer originally from Senegal. "Just working hard, getting ready for the games. We know our goal."Of the newcomers, Killings singled out junior point guard Ollie Engen, a second-team U Sports All-Canadian selection last season while playing at Queen's University in Ontario, as someone who has immediately stepped into a leadership role."Ollie understands what goes into winning," Killings said. "He's one of the last guys to leave the gym. I think that's really important. He's driven, he's motivated and he wants to win. When you have that kind of guy - just the person, regardless of where they played - as your point guard, that can be pretty special."With a heavily rebuilt team that's short on Division I experience, Killings said the Great Danes are focusing on simple objectives and attacking games on a possession-by-possession basis.If the Great Danes can put that into practice, Matulu is confident that his decision to return to UAlbany will pay off in a successful season."It's just taking each game for what it is," he said. "We come in, watch the scout, execute whatever (the coaches) give us to the best of our abilities, and then when we go out there and play, we either execute to the best of our abilities, or we lose - and we're not losing."I don't plan on doing that."SubscribeThere’s more to Albany with the Times Union. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Winning early a huge focus for UAlbany men's basketball as 2026-27 season tips off.