QU Men's Basketball Heads to Siena New Year's Day Hoping for 2-0 MAAC Start

Monday, January 1

Albany, NY

1:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Siena College

QU Men's Basketball Heads to Siena New Year's Day Hoping for 2-0 MAAC Start

12/30/2017 9:45:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: QU Athletic Communications

Monday, Jan. 1, 2018 | 1:00 PM | Times Union Center, Albany, N.Y. | ESPN3
QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY BOBCATS at SIENA COLLEGE SAINTS
Watch It Live: ESPN3
Follow Live Stats: SienaSaints.com
Listen Live: AM 1220 WQUN
Updates: @QU_MBB

Game Notes: Quinnipiac

All-Time Series vs. Siena: Siena leads 8-2
Current Streak: Siena - 4 straight
Last Meeting: Siena 84-75 (1-30-17 at Quinnipiac)

HAMDEN, Conn. - The Quinnipiac men's basketball team, fresh off a dramatic 78-76 home win over Monmouth in its conference opener on Thursday night, will try to improve to 2-0 in the MAAC when it travels to take on Siena for a New Year's Day contest on Monday afternoon at 1 p.m.

LAST GAME (QUINNIPIAC 78, MONMOUTH 76)
Cameron Young had 20 points and Jacob Rigoni had 18 on six three-pointers (five in the second half) to lead Quinnipiac to a 78-76 win over Monmouth in its MAAC opener on Thursday. It marked the first time that the Bobcats have started out with a win in league play since beating Fairfield in 2013-14, their first season in the MAAC. Rigoni's sixth three-pointer gave Quinnipiac its largest lead of the game at 70-62 with just over five minutes remaining, but Monmouth was able to close to within one with eight seconds left. Rich Kelly, who had 11 assists, knocked down two pressure foul shots to push the lead to three, and Monmouth missed a tying three attempt in the final second, settling for splitting two foul shots with 0.2 on the clock to make the final deficit two points.

RUNNING OUT OF FINGERNAILS
Remarkably, Quinnipiac has been in seven games decided by two points or less in its first 13 contests (going 4-3). The team's four wins this year have come by a combined seven points, including its 78-76 win over Monmouth on Thursday, 78-77 over Dartmouth on opening day, 68-66 over UMass on Nov. 29 and 89-87 over Columbia on Dec. 4. The Bobcats also lost at the buzzer to Colorado 70-69 on Nov. 17 and lost two straight games to Hartford (77-75) on Dec. 7 and Drexel (72-71) on Dec. 18 when their winning three-point attempts missed at the buzzer.

KELLY NAMED ROOKIE OF WEEK FOR SECOND TIME
Freshman guard Rich Kelly was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week on Dec. 26 after tallying 21 points, 16 assists and one turnover in a pair of games, and is coming off a personal-best 11 assists in Thursday's win over Monmouth. Kelly signed with Quinnipiac in April, when he projected to be an understudy in a crowded backcourt, But after four of last year's guards transferred, Kelly ascended into a starting role, and has played like a veteran, ranking second in the MAAC in assists (6.2 apg) and first in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3) through Dec. 30. He earned his first MAAC Rookie of the Week Award after a 22-point, 10-assist effort in a win at Columbia (including the winning layup on a drive with 4.8 seconds left), marking the first 20-point, 10-assist game for a Bobcat in 13 years:

QU Points-Assists Double-Doubles Since 2004-05
Rich Kelly vs. Columbia (12/4/17)   22 pts, 10 ast
Dave Johnson vs. Niagara (12/22/11)   13 pts, 10 ast
Deontay Twyman vs. Buffalo (3/14/11)   14 pts, 10 ast
James Feldeine vs. Monmouth (2/25/10)   19 pts, 11 ast
James Johnson vs. Monmouth (12/6/08)   12 pts, 10 ast
Rob Monroe vs. FDU (1/12/05)   25 pts, 12 ast
Rob Monroe vs. UConn (12/30/04)   16 pts, 10 ast
Rob Monroe vs. Longwood (11/27/04)   15 pts, 14 ast

DUNLEAVY ERA BEGINS WITH WIN
Quinnipiac's 78-77 win over Dartmouth on Nov. 11 in the season opener marked the debut of Head Coach Baker Dunleavy, who was hired in March. Dunleavy had a very successful career at Villanova as both a player and a coach under Jay Wright. During his playing days, the Wildcats were an Elite Eight team in 2005-06, behind future NBA guards Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry. During his four seasons as an associate head coach from 2013-17, Villanova compiled an overall record of 129-17, including a national title in 2016 and four straight BIG EAST regular season titles. His father Mike is a long time NBA coach who is currently the head coach at Tulane, making the Dunleavys one of two father-son coaching combinations in Division I, along with Tubby Smith (Texas Tech) and G.G. Smith (Loyola-Maryland).

YOUNG NO LONGER RESTLESS
Senior guard Cameron Young, a traditional three-man at 6-6, 205, was the odd man out in the Quinnipiac rotation last year when the Bobcats relied on a three-guard lineup, playing only eight minutes all season and not scoring a point. With a new roster and a new coaching staff this season, Young has seized his new chance, emerging as Quinnipiac's leading scorer (16.2 ppg) and leading rebounder (6.0 rpg) through the first 13 games. Young set career highs in the Bobcats' near-upset over Colorado on Nov. 17 with 26 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, and broke his best point total with 27 points against Hartford on Dec. 7. He ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (6th), rebounding (9th), steals (10th), and three-pointers (11th), and has the four highest-scoring games for the Bobcats this season:

Quinnipiac's 20-Point Games
Cameron Young vs. Hartford   27
Cameron Young vs. Colorado   26
Cameron Young vs. Liberty   26
Cameron Young vs. Drexel   24
Chaise Daniels vs. Maine   24
Rich Kelly vs. Columbia       22
Jacob Rigoni vs. Columbia   20
Cameron Young vs. Monmouth   20

DOWNTOWN DOWN UNDER
Freshman Jacob Rigoni joined the Bobcats from Adelaide, Australia this season and has provided a big lift to the Bobcats scoring off the bench, including 20 points in a win at Columbia and 18 on 6-7 shooting from three-point territory in Thursday's win over Monmouth. Rigoni has been particularly efficient from the three-point line all year, where he leads the MAAC, shooting 56.4 percent from beyond the arc (22-39), which would rank fourth nationally if he had enough attempts to qualify.

A LONG ROAD TO HAMDEN
Few athletes have overcome such significant odds to reach the college level as Quinnipiac junior forward Abdulai Bundu. Bundu was born in 1996 in Sierra Leone in the middle of a civil war, just before his parents were fortunate enough to win an immigration lottery to come to the United States. However, they could not secure visas for Abdulai and his brother and had to make the agonizing decision to leave them behind with family and try to bring them over later. Abdulai survived four refugee camps and several armed robberies, before he was finally reunited with his parents in Maryland in 2003 at age 7. After coming to the United States, be didn't start playing basketball until age 15, but quickly became one of the top scorers in Maryland at Largo High School. Bundu has been coming on strong lately, averaging 12.0 points and 7.3 boards over his last four games, including a season-high 17 in his first start of the season at Drexel (12/18).

A GRADUATE JUNIOR?
Transfer shooting guard Isaiah Washington has started every game in the Quinnipiac backcourt this season as a rare graduate transfer with junior eligibility. Washington graduated in only three years from Penn State, including one redshirt season. Washington is pursuing his MBA at Quinnipiac while playing his final two years with the Bobcats, and he made his debut a special one, scoring 18 points in a 78-77 win over Dartmouth, doubling his previous career high of nine which he set in his Penn State days.

THE ELDER STATESMAN
Fifth-year senior Alain Chigha is back for his final campaign with the Bobcats. Chigha graduated in May with a degree in sociology and is currently in grad school at Quinnipiac, joining graduate transfer Isaiah Washington (see above) in the MBA program. Chigha is a native of Cameroon, but came over to the United States to attend prep school in Florida at age 15 knowing only two words in English ("yes" and "no").

TWIN KILLING
Juniors Aaron Robinson and Andrew Robinson are the first twins in Quinnipiac men's basketball history. Andrew (11) and Aaron (8) combined for 19 points in a Nov. 29 win over UMass, the highest total they have combined for thus far. Both twins carry grade point averages over 3.7 as broadcast journalism majors.

TARCA EARNS SCHOLARSHIP
Fourth-year walk-on senior Greg Tarca was named a team co-captain earlier this season, along with fifth-year senior Alain Chigha (see above). Tarca was able to drop the "walk-on" from his title on Saturday, Dec. 16, though, when the program surprised him with a full scholarship at the team's Secret Santa party.

BOBCATS INK FOUR IN FALL SIGNING PERIOD
Quinnipiac earned four commitments from guards in the fall signing period. Tyree Pickron, a 6-2 guard from Philadelphia (Archbishop Wood HS), Tyrese Williams, a 6-1 guard from New York City (Cardinal Hayes HS), Matthew Balanc, a 6-3 guard out of Silver Spring, Maryland (Springbrook HS), and Savion Lewis, a 5-11 point guard out of Huntington Station, New York (Half Hollow Hills East HS) will represent the QU Class of 2022.

A WINNING STAFF
All four coaches on the current Quinnipiac staff have been a part of helping prior schools to their winningest seasons in program history. Head Coach Baker Dunleavy was part of a 35-win season at Villanova (the national title year of 2015-16). Tom Pecora helped Hofstra to a Division I record 26 wins as an assistant in 2000-01 and matched it as a head coach in 2005-06, Shaun Morris was part of a Boston University staff that won a school-record 24 games in 2013-14, and Anthony Goins helped Yale set a new program high with 23 wins in 2015-16.

WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR
Quinnipiac has two transfers sitting out this year who are expected to fill big roles over the next three seasons. Big man Kevin Marfo (George Washington) and wing Travis Atson (Tulsa) will sit out this season per NCAA regulations. Martin is projected to step into the role Chaise Daniels will leave vacated after graduation, while Atson will help fill the void left open by senior wings Cameron Young and Alain Chigha.

NEXT UP
The Bobcats will return home on Friday, Jan. 5 for an 8 p.m. contest against Canisius at the TD Bank Sports Center, then quickly turn around for a road game at Saint Peter's on Sunday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m.