QU Men's Basketball Faces Fairfield on Long Island Saturday as Part of MAAC Tripleheader

Saturday, January 27

Uniondale, NY

1:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Fairfield University

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QU Men's Basketball Faces Fairfield on Long Island Saturday as Part of MAAC Tripleheader

1/26/2018 8:13:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: QU Athletic Communications

Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018 | 1:00 PM
NYCB Live, Home of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Uniondale, N.Y.)
QUINNIPIAC BOBCATS (8-13, 5-4 MAAC) vs FAIRFIELD STAGS (7-12, 2-6 MAAC)
Live Video: FairfieldStags.com
Listen Live: AM 1220 WQUN
Follow Live Stats: QuinnipiacBobcats.com
Updates: @QU_MBB

Ticket Information: 203-582-3905 or click here
Game Notes: Quinnipiac

All-Time Series vs. Fairfield: QU leads 5-4
Current Streak: Fairfield - 1 straight
Last Year's Meeting: QU 73-71 at Fairfield; Fairfield 89-86 (OT) at Quinnipiac

HAMDEN, Conn. - The Quinnipiac men's basketball team will try for its first three-game win streak of the season when it travels to Long Island to take on state rival Fairfield at NYCB Live, Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the first part of a MAAC tripleheader. The Bobcats are giving up a home game this year to participate in the event (Fairfield will give up a home game next year when the teams meet again), but that may not be a bad thing. The road team has won the last seven meetings in the Quinnipiac-Fairfield series, the last six of which have been decided by five points or less.

LAST GAME (QUINNIPIAC 85, MARIST 77)
Rich Kelly had 20 points and six assists to lead the way as the Bobcats used a big second half to take an 85-77 win at Marist on Thursday. Quinnipiac trailed 39-30 late in the first half, but used an 18-2 run spanning both halves (15-2 to start the second) to go ahead by seven. The Bobcats led by as many as nine in the second half, and held on late as the Red Foxes cut the lead to two points in the final minute. Cameron Young (18 points) and Jacob Rigoni (14 points) went 6-6 at the line in the final 20 seconds to seal it.

LAST MEETING (FAIRFIELD 89, QUINNIPIAC 86 - OT)
The last time these two teams met, Quinnipiac appeared to have a comeback win clinched, up by two points with 3.6 seconds left. However, the Stags went the length of the court with a well-designed inbounds play and Tyler Nelson was able to convert the tying lay-up with 0.1 seconds left before going on to win 89-86 in overtime. Nelson finished with 24 points and 12 assists (with 10 assists in the first half alone). Chaise Daniels had 18 points and seven rebounds for the Bobcats, one year after scoring a career-high 28 in a double-overtime loss at home to Fairfield.

HOME IS NOT SO SWEET IN THIS CASE
A strange twist in the local rivalry between Fairfield and Quinnipiac is that there has been a distinct home court disadvantage. After joining the MAAC in 2013-14, the Bobcats won the first match-up between the teams at home, but since then the road team has since won each of the last seven meetings. The last six Quinnipiac-Fairfield contests have been decided by five points or less, while the Stags have won the last two contests at the TD Bank Sports Center in overtime, an 89-86 win last season (after tying the score with 0.1 seconds left) and an 84-80 double-overtime win in 2015-16. Quinnipiac is considered the home team in this weekend's match-up, although the contest is officially a neutral site game. The series stands at 5-4 Quinnipiac, with Fairfield taking the one neural site match-up at Mohegan Sun as part of the former Connecticut 6 Classic while the Bobcats were members of the Northeast Conference.

RUNNING OUT OF FINGERNAILS
Quinnipiac has been in nine games decided by two points or less this year (going 6-3). The team's first six wins this season, including an 80-79 overtime win over Marist, were by a combined nine points (three by one point, three by two points). The Bobcats have finally changed things up this week, defeating Siena by seven on Sunday and Marist by eight on Thursday, which increases their average margin of victory to 3.0 points in their eight wins this year.

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 used 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, and currently is second in the MAAC in scoring in conference games at 19.8 ppg (overall he is fifth at 17.6 ppg). He is the only player on the Bobcats to reach 25 points in a game this season, which he had done five times (see below) and he has scored in double figures in each of his last 15 games.

Quinnipiac's 25-Point Games
Cameron Young vs. Hartford   27
Cameron Young vs. Marist   26
Cameron Young vs. Siena   26
Cameron Young vs. Colorado   26
Cameron Young vs. Liberty   26

KELLY TWO-TIME MAAC ROOKIE OF WEEK
Freshman guard Rich Kelly was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week twice this year. 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 and the first points-assists double-double since 2011 (see below). Kelly currently ranks second in the MAAC in assists (5.4 apg).

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

TRIGONI-METRICS
In addition to the strong performance from Rich Kelly (see above) this season, fellow freshman Jacob Rigoni has provided a big lift to the Bobcats offensively this year. Rigoni has been particularly efficient from the three-point line all year, where he leads the MAAC, shooting 50.0 percent from beyond the arc (41-82). Despite coming off the bench for most of the season, Rigoni is also second on the Bobcats in scoring in conference games at 12.1 ppg.

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, two behind their combined best of 21 in a loss to Maine, when Andrew tied his career-high with 17 and Aaron had 4. Aaron redshirted last season after limited action as a freshman, while Andrew scored 164 points over his first two seasons.

MILESTONE WATCH
Senior forward Chaise Daniels is closing in on becoming the first Bobcat in three years to reach the 1,000-point plateau. He enters the Fairfield game with 945 career points, 55 away from becoming the 39th player in Quinnipiac history with 1,000 points and the 13th at the Division I level (since 1998-99). He also has 495 career rebounds, five shy of 500, and already ranks third all-time at Quinnipiac in all divisions in blocked shots with 143, three shy of second place.

A LONG ROAD TO HAMDEN
Few athletes have overcome such significant odds to reach the college level as junior forward Abdulai Bundu. Bundu was born in 1996 in Sierra Leone in the middle of a civil war, just before his parents won 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, before he was finally reunited with his parents in Maryland in 2003 at age 7. Bundu's hustle plays at both ends helped Quinnipiac to a win over Siena on Jan. 1, leaping out of bounds to save an offensive rebound that led to the winning points with 1:37 left and then coming from a weak side help position for the clinching block at the buzzer. He also had a career-best 16 rebounds in a Jan. 5 loss to Canisius.

A GRADUATE JUNIOR?
Isaiah Washington (9.1 ppg) has started every game in the backcourt this season as a rare graduate transfer with junior eligibility. Washington graduated in three years from Penn State, including one redshirt season, and is pursuing his MBA while playing his final two years with the Bobcats. He made his Quinnipiac debut a special one, scoring 18 points in a 78-77 win over Dartmouth, doubling his previous career high of nine set during his Penn State days.

THE ELDER STATESMAN
Fifth-year senior Alain 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, and came over to the United States to attend prep school in Florida at age 15 knowing only two words in English ("yes" and "no"), but eventually earned a college scholarship and completed his degree in four years.

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.

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 (Memphis) and G.G. Smith (Loyola-Maryland).

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.

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.

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. In addition, 6-7 wing Nathan Davis is also redshirting this year after missing all of preseason practice while recovering from an injury suffered in high school, which will give the Bobcats seven new scholarship players next season, including the four fall signings (see above).

NEXT UP
The Bobcats will be right back in action after their opener for their second straight home game against an Ivy League team, entertaining Brown for a 7 p.m. contest on Monday night.