QU Men's Basketball Closes Out 2016 At Brown Thursday

Thursday, December 29

Providence, RI

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Brown University

QU Men's Basketball Closes Out 2016 At Brown Thursday

12/27/2016 10:17:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac University Bobcats (4-7) at
Brown University Bears (8-5)
Date: Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016 (7 p.m.)
Location: Pizzitola Sports Center | Providence, R.I.
All-Time Series vs. Brown: Brown leads 6-2
Current Streak: Brown 1 straight
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LAST GAME RECAP (DREXEL 91, QUINNIPIAC 74)
In a battle of freshman guards, Drexel's Kari Jonsson (17 points, eight assists) and Kurk Lee (13 points, nine assists) helped carry Drexel to a 91-74 win over Quinnipiac and Mikey Dixon (25 points). The Bobcats overcame an early 11-point deficit in the first half to take a 29-28 lead, but Drexel closed out the half on a spurt to take a 51-41 lead into the break. Jonsson then hit his first two three-pointers of the second half (making him 5-5 on the day before finishing 5-8) before a back-breaking 9-0 run put the Dragons ahead 72-51. Rodney Williams had a game-high 25 points for Drexel, while Daniel Harris had 13, Chaise Daniels had 12 and Reggie Oliver added 10 for the Bobcats.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE vs DREXEL
• Mikey Dixon (pictured) had 20 points to mark his seventh straight game of 14 or more points (all off the bench). It was also his second game with 20 or more points (along with the 21 he had against Indiana State), a plateau no other QU player has reached the season.
• Drexel had a 42-35 edge on the boards, snapping a streak of six straight games in which Quinnipiac won the rebounding battle.
• Chaise Daniels had a strong overall stat line with 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four blocks. The five assists marked a career high.
• Daniel Harris had 13 points and a season-high nine rebounds. He was also 3-for-5 from three-point territory, giving him at least one three in all 11 games this season.
• Austin Williams had 10 points and 12 rebounds for Drexel, including seven offensive, the most offensive rebounds the Bobcats have surrendered to a player this year.

KISS, DIXON WIN BACK TO BACK MAAC ROOKIE HONORS
Freshman guard Peter Kiss and freshman guard Mikey Dixon won two straight MAAC Rookie of the Week honors. Kiss earned the distinction after a strong showing at the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando from Nov. 24-27, averaging 16.0 points over three games, including 18 against No. 11 Gonzaga and 19 against Seton Hall. Dixon followed suit by averaging 16.0 points in a 1-1 MAAC opening weekend, tallying 18 points against preseason favorite Monmouth and 14 on 6-10 shooting in only 19 minutes in a win over Marist.

PROMISING FUTURE FOR BOBCATS
Freshman guards Mikey Dixon (13.8) and Peter Kiss (10.7) are two of the top three scorers for the Bobcats this season, despite not starting a game as of yet. Dixon currently leads the Bobcats in scoring while Kiss ranks third. Currently Dixon and Kiss are also ranked 1-2 in the MAAC among freshmen in scoring, with Stevie Jordan (Rider) third at 10.4.

MAAC - Freshman Scoring Leaders (thru 12/27)
1. Mikey Dixon, Quinnipiac   13.8 ppg
2. Peter Kiss, Quinnipiac   10.7 ppg
3. Stevie Jordan, Rider   10.4 ppg
4. E.J. Crawford, Iona   9.3 ppg
5. Aaron Walker Jr., Manhattan   9.2 ppg

FRESHMEN BACKCOURTS
There are very few teams in the country with a pair of freshman guards as productive as Peter Kiss and Mikey Dixon. In fact, there are only seven schools in the country that have two freshman guards averaging at least 10 ppg:

Teams with Two Fr. Guards at 10+ PPG (as of 12/27)
Quinnipiac: Mikey Dixon (13.8), Peter Kiss (10.7)
Kentucky: Malik Monk (21.4), De'Aron Fox (16.3)
Saint John's: Shamorie Ponds (17.2), Marcus LoVett (16.7)
Arizona: Rawle Alkins (12.4), Kobi Simmons (12.2)
Citadel: Preston Parks (13.3), Kaelon Harris (11.3)
Auburn: Mustapha Heron (15.9), Jared Harper (12.8)
Drexel: Kurk Lee (15.3), Kari Jonsson (10.4)

DOUBLING UP
Quinnipiac recently had five double-doubles in a seven-game span, coming from three different players. Chaise Daniels had two, tallying 14 points and 11 rebounds against Seton Hall on Nov. 25 and 13 points and 10 rebounds against Monmouth on Dec. 1. Abdulai Bundu had 15 points and 12 rebounds against Indiana State on Nov. 27, while Donovan Smith picked up his first one of the year against Hartford on Dec. 7 with 15 points and 10 rebounds. One exception in the last seven games was a 77-63 win over Marist on Dec. 4, when Peter Kiss had 13 points and nine rebounds -- while losing a tug of war with teammate Daniel Harris for a late rebound that would have been his 10th and given him a double-double as well.

Quinnipiac Double-Doubles
Nov. 25: Chaise Daniels vs. Seton Hall (14 pts, 11 rebs)
Nov. 27: Abdulai Bundu vs. Indiana State (15 pts, 12 rebs)
Dec. 1: Chaise Daniels vs. Monmouth (13 pts, 10 rebs)
Dec. 7: Donovan Smith vs. Hartford (15 pts, 10 rebs)
Dec. 18: Abdulai Bundu vs. Maine (12 pts, 10 rebs)

THREE-FOR-ALL
Senior guard Daniel Harris and freshman guard Peter Kiss are both in the Quinnipiac record books for making all of their three point shots in a DI game (minimum four attempts). Harris was 5-5 at Manhattan last season, tying for the second best single-game effort in school history at the Division I level, while Kiss was 4-4 earlier this season vs. Seton Hall at the AdvoCare Invitational, which ties for fifth.

Quinnipiac Top 5 Single-Game 3-pt Pct. (DI Era)
6-6   Rashaun Banjo vs. St. Francis (Pa.)   2/4/02
5-5   Daniel Harris vs. Manhattan   2/11/16
5-5   Jared Grasso vs. UMBC       2/3/00
5-5   Kason Mims vs. Monmouth   2/7/04
4-4   5 players (incl. Peter Kiss v Seton Hall, 11/25/16)

REBOUNDING DOMINANCE
Quinnipiac has a streak of six straight seasons leading the nation in at least one rebounding category, including offensive rebounds in five of the last six. In 2014-15, Quinnipiac ranked second in offensive rebounds (16.4) to West Virginia, but still led the nation in total rebounds (45.4), defensive rebounds (29.0) and rebounding margin (12.4). In 2013-14, the Bobcats led the nation in all four major rebounding categories (total rebounds, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds and rebounding margin), the only school to do that since Quinnipiac joined the Division I ranks in 1998-99. This year, the Bobcats are 24th in offensive rebounding (13.8 per game).

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS
With Tom Moore at the helm, Quinnipiac has outrebounded its opponent in 251 of 292 games (86.1 percent). In 111 of those 292 games, QU has posted a plus-10 or better rebounding margin, as well as 31 games with plus-20 or better. The Bobcats have an 88-23 (.793) mark when holding a plus-10 edge under Moore, and 23-8 (.741) with plus-20. Remarkably, Quinnipiac has held a +10 margin or better on the boards 111 times in the last 10 years, and suffered a -10 margin or worse only five times in that same span (including Vermont and Gonzaga this season). Quinnipiac is now 118-12-4 in the rebounding department in the 134 games since the start of the 2012-13 campaign, including two entire seasons without being outrebounded once (2012-13, 2014-15).

BOARD SCORES
Over the 10-year Tom Moore Era, Quinnipiac is outrebounding its opponents by a spread of 2,511 (12,244-9,733). To put that total in perspective, if all of the Bobcats vacated the floor against Drexel, and the Dragons did a tip drill on the glass and recorded exactly one rebound per second, Quinnipiac's rebounding margin under Moore would not level off at zero until 3:09 was left in overtime.

MILESTONE YEARS FOR MOORE
Head Coach Tom Moore is in a pair of milestone seasons in his coaching career - his 10th as the head coach at Quinnipiac and his 30th in collegiate coaching (as both an assistant and a head coach). He currently has been a part of 597 wins, three shy of 600, including 496 at the Division I level in 23 years

BALANCED SCORING
Quinnipiac has had a much improved offense so far this season, averaging 75.7 points per game through the first eight contests, up over 10 points from a year ago (65.6 ppg). The Bobcats have also reached 70 points nine times in 11 games this year, falling short only against No. 11 Gonzaga (with 62) and Holy Cross (57) after reaching 70 only 10 times all of last year. They've done it with balance as the top five scorers average between 9.5 and 13.8 points per game.

PLENTY IN RESERVE
Led by freshman reserve guards Mikey Dixon (13.8 ppg) and Peter Kiss (10.7 ppg), Quinnipiac has averaged 34.2 bench points per game so far this year, including a recent stretch of four straight games of 40 or more (41 vs. Indiana State, 44 vs. Monmouth, 40 vs. Marist, 50 vs. Hartford). The bench accounted for over half of QU's points in each of those four contests.

SMITH THIRD ON QU BLOCKS CHART
Senior forward Donovan Smith had 53 blocks in 2015-16 (1.8 per game, ranking him second in the MAAC), which is third on the single-season blocks mark at Quinnipiac during its Division I era (since 1998-99). Ousmane Drame has the top two totals (88 as a senior in 2014-15, 64 as a junior in 2013-14), while C.J. Vick is now fourth with 43 (2002-03). Junior Chaise Daniels finished with 39 blocks last season (fifth place), ranking him fourth in the MAAC.

CAN WE POOL OUR POINTS?
The TD Bank Sports Center has banners with the 1000-point scorers in Quinnipiac basketball history, but nobody on the 2016-17 team is halfway there. The closest is junior forward Chaise Daniels with 459, who has a good chance to reach 1,000 as a senior at his 12.5 ppg pace. Freshmen Mikey Dixon (13.8 ppg) and Peter Kiss (10.7 ppg) are on an early pace to reach that milestone as juniors.

QU Career Scoring Leaders
    Chaise Daniels   459
   Daniel Harris   414
   Abdulai Bundu   291
   Donovan Smith   270
   Mikey Dixon   152
   Peter Kiss   118
   Reggie Oliver   104
   Andrew Robinson   76
   Alain Chigha   55
   Phil Winston    41
   Greg Tarca   4
   Aaron Robinson   3
   Ja'Kwan Jones   1
       Total   1,978

BOBCATS SIGN TWO IN FALL PERIOD
Quinnipiac earned a pair of commitments in the fall signing period, landing 6-3 shooting guard Ezekiel Charles of Barton Community College and 6-9 forward Milos Supica of Freedom Christian Academy in Fayetteville, N.C. Charles played scholastically at prestigious Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, while Supica is originally from Belgrade, Serbia.

NEXT UP
The Bobcats get back to the MAAC next week when they travel to Buffalo for a two-game road trip, taking on Niagara on Monday at 7 p.m. and then Canisius on Wednesday at 7 p.m.