QU Men's Basketball Heads To Siena For Thursday Night Battle On ESPN3

Thursday, January 12

Loudonville, NY

8:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Siena College

QU Men's Basketball Heads To Siena For Thursday Night Battle On ESPN3

1/11/2017 10:06:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac University Bobcats (6-10, 3-3 MAAC) at
Siena Saints (5-11, 2-3 MAAC)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017 (8 p.m.)
Location: Times Union Center | Albany, N.Y.
All-Time Series vs. Siena: Siena leads 6-2
Current Streak: Siena 3 straight
Follow the Bobcats:

Live Video (ESPN3)
Live Audio Link (WQUN) (Bill Schweizer, play-by-play; Bill Mecca, Bob Tipson, color)
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Quinnipiac Game Notes
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DIXON WINS SECOND MAAC ROOKIE OF WEEK
Freshman guard Mikey Dixon earned the MAAC Rookie of the Week Award for the second time on Monday, following a week in which he averaged 20.7 points and 5.0 assists over three games. He matched his personal high of 23 points twice, including a road win over Niagara, when he made two go-ahead baskets in the final minute, including the eventual game-winner with 22.4 seconds left. Dixon earlier won the award on Dec. 5 after averaging 16.0 points over two games, one week after teammate Peter Kiss earned the honor after the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, where he averaged 16.0 points over three contests.

LAST GAME RECAP (SAINT PETER'S 58, QUINNIPIAC 54)
Junior guard Reggie Oliver scored all 12 of his points in the final eight minutes to nearly lead Quinnipiac to a comeback win, but Saint Peter's was able to fight off the challenge and earn a 58-54 home win on Monday. Trailing 47-41 with 7:30 to play, Oliver hit a three-pointer and conventional three-point play to pull the Bobcats within 49-47, then hit a floater with 3:58 left to give Quinnipiac a 51-49 lead. Saint Peter's went back in front with 2:23 left on a three-pointer from Nick Griffin, and the Bobcats had two chances to tie in the final two minutes, but were unable to connect. Oliver's basket with 36 seconds left cur the Peacocks lead to 56-54, but Saint Peter's earned an offensive rebound and made two foul shots to seal it. Oliver's 12 points led the Bobcats.

Inside the Box Score vs. Saint Peter's
• Mikey Dixon had all eight of his points in the first half, ending a streak of 11 straight games in double figures (all with 14 or more).
• Mikey Dixon was 2-2 at the foul line, extending his streak of consecutive made foul shots to 32, dating back to a miss against Holy Cross on Dec. 11.
• Quinnipiac committed 15 turnovers in the first half, and only three in the second half.
• The 54 points were a season low for Quinnipiac, which has scored 70 or more points 12 times in 16 games this year. 61 points at Brown was the previous low.
• Reggie Oliver was 0-3 from the floor in the first half, and 5-5 in the second half, all of which came in the last eight minutes..
• Quinnipiac was +12 in the rebounding department (40-28), led by nine in 23 minutes from Abdulai Bundu

PROMISING FUTURE FOR BOBCATS
Freshman guards Mikey Dixon (15.3) and Peter Kiss (11.7) are the top two scorers for the Bobcats and the top two freshman scorers in the MAAC, with Stevie Jordan (Rider) just behind Kiss at 11.6. In league games only, Dixon ranks 10th in scoring (17.0 ppg) and Kiss is 14th (15.2 ppg).

MAAC - Freshman Scoring Leaders (thru 1/10)
1. Mikey Dixon, Quinnipiac 15.3 ppg
2. Peter Kiss, Quinnipiac 11.7 ppg
3. Stevie Jordan, Rider 11.6 ppg
4. E.J. Crawford, Iona  9.0 ppg
5. Aaron Walker Jr., Manhattan  8.9 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 six schools nationally that have two freshman guards averaging at least 10 ppg entering through Tuesday's games:

Teams with Two Freshman Guards at 10+ PPG (thru 1/10)
Quinnipiac: Mikey Dixon (15.3), Peter Kiss (11.7)
Kentucky: Malik Monk (21.7), De'Aron Fox (16.7)
Saint John's: Marcus LoVett (17.6), Shamorie Ponds (17.5)
Arizona: Rawle Alkins (12.3), Kobi Simmons (11.7)
Citadel: Preston Parks (14.6), Kaelon Harris (11.1)
Auburn: Mustapha Heron (16.2), Jared Harper (13.5)

MILESTONE SEASONS 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), including 23 years at the Division I level (13 as a UConn assistant, 10 at Quinnipiac). As a head coach, he has earned 234 wins (158 at Quinnipiac and 76 in five years at Division III Worcester State). As an assistant coach, he was a part of 365 wins (340 at UConn, 25 in two years at DIII).

DOUBLING UP
Quinnipiac has had seven double-doubles this season from four different players. Chaise Daniels has 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 and then had his second with 12 points and 10 rebounds at Maine on Dec. 18. Donovan Smith picked up his first one of the year against Hartford on Dec. 7 with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and then added his second against Niagara with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman guard Peter Kiss joined the double-double club on Saturday vs. Manhattan with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

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)
Jan. 2: Donovan Smith vs. Niagara (13 pts, 13 rebs)
Jan. 7: Peter Kiss vs. Manhattan (20 pts, 10 rebs)

THREE-FOR-ALL
Senior guard Daniel Harris (pictured) 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 has had two games of 4-4 this season (Seton Hall, Manhattan), which ties him for fifth place.

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   6 times (including Peter Kiss twice)

SMITH LEADS BLOCK PARTY
Donovan Smith had a big game on defense in Quinnipiac's 81-72 win over Manhattan on Saturday, finishing with seven blocked shots. Not only was that a personal best, breaking his old mark of four, it tied Quinnipiac's school record for most blocks in a Division I game, matching the standard set four times by Ousmane Drame ('15). Quinnipiac's high total for blocked shots as a team this season was just seven heading into the game (at Niagara on Jan. 2) and Smith matched that total by himself. The 11 blocks Quinnipiac had as a team against Manhattan was the most since tallying 13 against Albany on Dec. 1, 2015.

SMITH THIRD ON QU SINGLE-SEASON 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.

INCREASED SCORING
Quinnipiac has had a much improved offense so far this season, averaging 74.2 points per game, up almost 10 points from a year ago (65.6 ppg). The Bobcats have also reached 70 points 12 times in 16 games this year, which is already more times than they reached that plateau during all of last year (10 times in 30 games).

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.

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS
With Tom Moore at the helm, Quinnipiac has outrebounded its opponent in 255 of 297 games (85.9 percent). In 112 of those 297 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 88-24 (.786) 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 112 times in the last 10 years, and suffered a -10 margin or worse only five times in that same span. Quinnipiac is now 122-13-4 in the rebounding department in the 139 games since the 2012-13 season, including two entire years 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 2,533 (12,457-9,924). To put that total in perspective, if all of the Bobcats vacated the floor against Siena and the Saints 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 an even zero until 2:47 was left in overtime.

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 490, who has a chance to reach 1,000 as a senior at his 10.6 ppg pace. Freshmen Mikey Dixon (15.3 ppg) and Peter Kiss (11.7 ppg) are on an early pace to reach that milestone as juniors.

QU Career Scoring Leaders
   Player   Total
   Chaise Daniels   490
   Daniel Harris   433
   Donovan Smith   326
   Abdulai Bundu   312
   Mikey Dixon   255
   Peter Kiss   187
   Reggie Oliver   142
   Andrew Robinson   90
   Alain Chigha   64
   Phil Winston    45
   Greg Tarca   4
   Aaron Robinson   3
   Ja'Kwan Jones   1
       Total   2,332

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.

BOBCATS OVERSEAS
Under Head Coach Tom Moore, Quinnipiac has had great success sending its players on to professional careers overseas. A total of 13 players have played professionally in Europe since Moore took over the job in 2007-08, including four from the Class of 2015. Ousmane Drame (Turkey) and Zaid Hearst (Spain) are starters on their teams in 2016-17, while James Feldeine (Greece) helped his team to a 25-1 record in 2015-16. Justin Rutty (Uruguay) is also back playing again after a strong season in France last year.

NEXT UP
Quinnipiac has a quick turnaround as it heads home to face Iona on Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest, which will be shown on ESPN3 as part of the MAAC Game of the Week package. For ticket information, contact the TD Bank Sports Center Box Office at (203) 582-3905 or visit us online at QuinnipiacBobcats.com.