Men's Basketball Travels to New Hampshire on Tuesday in Non-Conference Action

Tuesday, November 20

Durham, NH

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

New Hampshire

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

Men's Basketball Travels to New Hampshire on Tuesday in Non-Conference Action

11/19/2018 10:17:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac (0-2) at New Hampshire (2-2)
Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018 | 7:00 PM
Lundholm Gymnasium | Durham, New Hampshire
Game Notes: Quinnipiac

Watch: AmericaEast.TV
Radio: WQUN (AM 1220) (PxP: Steve Lenox | Color: Michael Zahn)
Live Statistics: UNHWildcats.com
Live Updates: @QU_MBB

All-Time Series vs. New Hampshire: 1-2
Last Meeting vs. New Hampshire: L, 64-59 (11/26/06)

DURHAM, N.H. – Quinnipiac men's basketball squares off with its second-straight America East opponent on Tuesday night, traveling to New Hampshire for a non-conference matchup.

LAST TIME OUT

The Bobcats dropped their second-straight game to begin the new season on Thursday night, falling vs. Hartford (68-54) in the 2018-19 home opener in Hamden.
Cameron Young led the team in scoring for the second time this year, recording 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting. Young leads the way with 17.5 points per game for the Bobcats in 2018-19.
Kevin Marfo grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss after recording eight boards in the season opener at Villanova.
Travis Atson has recorded 11 points in both games for Quinnipiac.

SECOND SEASON OF THE DUNLEAVY ERA

The 2018-19 season marks the second year at the helm of the Bobcats' program for Baker Dunleavy, a very successful former player and coach under Jay Wright at Villanova.
During his playing days – behind future NBA guards Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry – the Wildcats were an Elite Eight team in 2005-06. In 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. He is only the seventh head coach in Quinnipiac's history (since 1951-52).
In his first season with the Bobcats, Dunleavy led the program to the MAAC semifinals for just the second time since Quinnipiac joined the conference in 2013-14. Quinnipiac went 12-21 in 2017-18 (7-11 MAAC), before topping No. 10 Siena and No. 2 Canisius in the MAAC Tournament to advance to the Semifinal Round.
Dunleavy agreed to a five-year contract extension through the 2022-23 season, Quinnipiac Director of Athletics and Recreation Greg Amodio announced in August. The second-year head coach was named to The Athletic's list of "30 Coaches to Watch" in early November.

HE'S BAAACCCKKKKK

Senior guard Cameron Young was granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA in May of 2018, as the Bobcats leading scorer from a season ago will return as a graduate student in 2018-19, and was selected to the 2018 Preseason All-MAAC First Team.
Young was a second-team All-MAAC selection in 2017-18 under first-year head coach Baker Dunleavy after leading the Bobcats in scoring at 18.8 points per game, which ranked fourth in the MAAC. He averaged 20.9 points per game in MAAC games, which ranked second in the league, and was a MAAC All-Tournament Team selection after helping the Bobcats win two games, including an upset over regular season co-champion Canisius in the quarterfinals. His 622 points set a new Quinnipiac single-season scoring record at the Division I level, as did his 184 made free throws.
With Young's return, the Bobcats boast the top returning scorer in the conference, since the league's top three scorers this past season (Tyler Nelson of Fairfield and Kahlil Dukes and Matt Scott of Niagara) were all seniors. Young is also one of four returning players who were named to the All-MAAC first or second teams for the 2017-18 season (along with Isaiah Reese of Canisius, Dimencio Vaughn of Rider and Rickey McGill of Iona) as the Bobcats look to build off last year's MAAC Semifinals appearance in Dunleavy's second season at the helm.

SCOUTING NEW HAMPSHIRE

New Hampshire enters play going 2-2 so far this year, falling vs. American, 68-44, its last time out on Nov. 16.
Nick Guadarrama (11.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and Jayden Martinez (11.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg) have paced the Wildcats offensively through four games. UNH has six players currently averaging over 8.0 points per contest.
The Bobcats are 1-2 all-time vs. New Hampshire. The last time the two programs squared off came on Nov. 26, 2006 – when the Wildcats defeated Quinnipiac in Hamden (64-59).

BUILDING A WINNING STAFF

After being hired as the Quinnipiac head coach in March of 2017, Baker Dunleavy quickly assembled a very successful coaching staff. Associate Head Coach Tom Pecora, an assistant to Jay Wright at Hofstra (before taking over the head coaching duties when Wright left for Villanova), was a part of seven 20-win seasons with Hofstra (four as a head coach, three as an assistant) and was part of two 26-win teams (one as a head coach, one as an assistant), the program's highest win total at the Division I level. Shaun Morris, who was an associate head coach at Boston University for Joe Jones (another of Jay Wright's former assistants at Villanova), helped the Terriers to their winningest season ever (24) in 2013-14. Anthony Goins, meanwhile, was an assistant down the road at Yale under James Jones (Joe's brother), where he helped Yale to its winningest season in school history (23) in 2015-16. Dunleavy, Pecora, Morris and Goins have combined to be a part of 15 seasons of 20 wins or more at the Division I level as coaches.

FAMILY TIES

Quinnipiac head coach Baker Dunleavy's father, Mike, is currently the head coach of Tulane after a long NBA coaching career, including stops with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. Mike and Baker are the only father-son combination currently serving as head coaches at the Division I level. Baker's older brother, Mike Jr., had a 16-year NBA career (most recently with the Atlanta Hawks) after winning a national title in college with Duke in 2001. Mike Jr. was recently hired as a pro scout for the Golden State Warriors.

RETURN OF RICH

Rick Kelly returns for the Bobcats after an impressive rookie campaign. He earned a spot on the 2017-18 MAAC All-Rookie squad, tallying 11.1 points, a team-high 4.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds per contest during his first year at Quinnipiac while handling the starting point guard duties all year and averaging 34 minutes per game. The sophomore guard started in 32 total games, finishing third on the program's Division I single-season assist list with 155. He tallied double-digit points totals in 13 games.
To help cement the honors, Kelly had a 40-point explosion against Fairfield on Feb. 17, in which he shattered his previous high of 22 points. He became only the second Bobcat to score 40 points in a Division I game, falling one shy of Rob Monroe's school DI record of 41 points set against Longwood in 2004-05. Back on Dec. 4, Kelly had 22 points and 10 assists against Columbia, the first 20-point, 10-assist game for a Bobcat since Monroe had 25 points and 12 assists against FDU.
Kelly has been selected to the 2018 Preseason All-MAAC Third Team.

RIGONI RETURNS, TOO

Jacob Rigoni also returns to the Bobcats as a sophomore in 2018-19 after playing in all 33 games last season. The native of Adelaide, Australia – Rigoni averaged 9.8 points per game last season, including 11.5 points per contest in MAAC play.
Rigoni shot 43.2 percent from 3-point distance last year during MAAC play, ranking No. 1 in the conference. He made 75 3-pointers, placing second on Quinnipiac's Division I single-season list.

A LONG ROAD TO HAMDEN

Few athletes have overcome such significant odds to reach the college level as senior 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 played in all 33 games for Quinnipiac last year, recording 5.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. As a junior, he shot 55.0 percent from the floor.

TWIN KILLINGS

Seniors Aaron Robinson and Andrew Robinson are the first twins in Quinnipiac men's basketball history. Both brothers made an impact off the bench in 2017-18, as Andrew scored 5.9 PPG before having his season cut short to injury while Aaron recorded 3.1 PPG in 30 contests for the Bobcats.

CAN WE PLAY?

The Bobcats have two transfers that are expected to play key roles in 2018-19. Kevin Marfo (George Washington) and wing Travis Atson (Tulsa) sat out last season per NCAA regulations after playing their freshman year at other schools. Marfo
Marfo played in 23 of 35 George Washington games in 2016-17, recording 2.7 points and 2.8 assists per game. The forward recorded a season-high 18 points and nine rebounds on Dec. 4, 2016, shooting 6-for-10 from the floor.
Atson scored 35 points in just 133 minutes as a freshman at Tulsa, including a 10-point performance off the bench on Nov. 28, 2016. He played in 22 total games in 2016-17, starting three times.

MEET THE FOUR FRESHMAN

Tyree Pickron, a 6-3 guard from Philadelphia (Archbishop Wood HS), Tyrese Williams, a 6-1 guard from New York (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 join the Bobcats in 2018-19 as freshman.
Tyree Pickron: Averaged 15.9 points per contest as a senior in 2017-18 at Archbishop Wood High School, earning 2017-18 All-Catholic League Second Team and Pennsylvania Sports Writers All-State Third Team honors... Helped Archbishop Wood to its first-ever PIAA Class 5A championship as a junior in 2016-17 (13.5 PPG), scoring 18 points in the title contest... Played on the summer AAU circuit with K-Low Elite... High school teammates with current Villanova sophomore Collin Gillespie...
Tyrese Williams: Recorded 18 points, six rebounds and five assists per contest in 2017-18 as a senior at Cardinal Hayes High School... As a junior in 2016-17, helped Cardinal Hayes to its first Catholic High School Athletic Association Class AA title since 1990... All-CHSAA selection... Played AAU basketball with the New England Playaz...
Matt Balanc: Posted 17.6 points per contest as a senior at Springbrook High School in 2017-18, sinking 25 3-pointers in 16 games... Averaged over 20 points per game as a junior at Springbrook, the same school attended by current Quinnipiac twins Aaron Robinson and Andrew Robinson... First-Team All-Montgomery County Selection... 2018 Winter All-Met selection... Played AAU basketball with Mid-Atlantic Circuit... Selected MVP of the Maryland Elite Summer Basketball League All-Star game, where he scored 50 points...
Savion Lewis: Voted New York's 2018 Mr. Basketball after recording 34.0 points, 7.0 assists and 5.0 steals per contest as a senior at Half Hollow Hills East High School in 2017-18... Led Half Hollow Hills East to its first-ever Suffolk County championship as a junior in 2016-17, averaging 20.3 points per game... Newsday First-Team All-Long Island selection... Named MVP of the IS8/Nike 2017 Tip-Off Classic in 2017... Played on the AAU circuit with the New York Jayhawks…

ALL-MAAC HONOREES

Guard Cameron Young (Los Angeles, Calif.) was selected to the 2018 Preseason All-MAAC First Team, as announced by the conference office on Oct. 23 during the Men's and Women's Basketball Preseason Awards Show on ESPN3.
Sophomore guard Rich Kelly (Shelton, Conn.) also earned an individual honor, being selected to the 2018 Preseason All-MAAC Third Team.
The Bobcats were picked to finish tied for third place in the Preseason Coaches' Poll. Quinnipiac received 94 total points in the vote, finishing behind Rider (121 points) and Canisius (105 points) and tied with Iona (94 points).

THIS YEAR'S SCHEDULE

The Bobcats' non-conference schedule features 11 games, including five at home at the People's United Center, five away, and a neutral site game against Drexel (Dec. 16) at Mohegan Sun Arena as part of the Hall of Fame Showcase. The 11-game slate concludes on Dec. 22 with a home game against Stony Brook, before the Bobcats head into the MAAC schedule after the holiday break.
Quinnipiac's first home game of conference play will be played against Monmouth on Jan. 10 at the People's United Center. The Bobcats' MAAC opener will take place at Draddy Gymnasium on Thursday, Jan. 3 against the Jaspers of Manhattan College, and will be followed by another road game at defending MAAC Co-Regular Season champion Rider on Saturday, Jan. 5.

2017-18: LIVING ON THE EDGE

Quinnipiac went 12-21 in 2017-18 (7-11 MAAC), before topping No. 10 Siena and No. 2 Canisius in the MAAC Tournament to advance to the Semifinal Round.
Out of the Bobcats' 30 games in the regular season during 2017-18, almost half (13) were decided by two points or less or in double overtime, going 7-6 in those contests (7-3 in the ones decided in less than two overtimes). The Bobcats had four one-point wins last year (over Dartmouth, Siena, Marist, and Manhattan) and three two-point wins (over UMass, Columbia, and Monmouth).