ALBANY — As the wins pile up for Stony Brook yet again this season, the same question haunts them as it has for five agonizing years, beginning when the Seawolves first reached the cusp of the N.C.A.A. tournament: can they finally win when it counts?
Of all the story lines circulating the mid-major conferences this season, this one seems undeniably compelling, no matter how many times Coach Steve Pikiell and his players insist that one year has little impact on the next, or the next, or the next. With Stony Brook having won 18 games in a row, Division I’s longest active streak, certainly there was a sense entering Wednesday’s game that this might be the year the Seawolves’ torturous March record would end.