QU Men's Basketball Faces Canisius in MAAC Quarterfinals Friday Night (9:30 PM)

Friday, March 2

Albany, NY

9:30 PM

Quinnipiac University

Canisius College

Photo by: Gregory J. Fisher-SportsThroughT

QU Men's Basketball Faces Canisius in MAAC Quarterfinals Friday Night (9:30 PM)

3/2/2018 8:43:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: QU Athletic Communications

2018 MAAC MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS - QUARTERFINALS
Friday, March 2, 2018 | 9:30 PM | Times Union Center, Albany, N.Y. | ESPN3
#7 QUINNIPIAC BOBCATS (11-20) vs. #2 CANISIUS GOLDEN GRIFFINS (21-10)
Watch It Live: ESPN3
Listen Live Online:or AM 1220 WQUN (joined live on air after men's hockey at Yale)
Updates: @QU_MBB
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Quarterfinal Supplemental Notes: PDF
Quinnipiac MAAC Tournament Guide: PDF

All-Time Series vs. Canisius: Canisius leads 7-3
Current Streak: Canisius - 2 straight
This Year's Meetings: Canisius 82-74 at Quinnipiac (1/5), Canisius 71-64 at Canisius (2/10)

ALBANY, N.Y. - Fresh off a 67-58 MAAC opening-round win over Siena, the Quinnipiac men's basketball team faces a tough challenge against regular season co-champion and second-seeded Canisius in the quarterfinal round on Friday evening at 9:30 p.m. at the Times Union Center.

LIVING ON THE EDGE
If Quinnipiac finds itself in a close game late in the MAAC Tournament, it certainly won't feel like new territory. Out of the Bobcats' 30 games in the regular season, 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 have four one-point wins this year (over Dartmouth, Siena, Marist, and Manhattan) and three two-point wins (over UMass, Columbia, and Monmouth). Quinnipiac's average margin of victory in its 11 wins this season is just 3.3 points.

YOUNG NAMED SECOND-TEAM ALL-MAAC
Senior guard Cameron Young has a had a breakout season that earned him a spot on the All-MAAC Second Team after finishing the regular season fourth in the MAAC in scoring and second in conference games (20.9 ppg). 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, scoring 25 or more points eight times (see below) Young has also scored in double figures in each of the last 25 games, since being held to six in a loss to Maine on Nov. 26 and has three straight double-doubles after yesterday's 14 points and 11 rebounds in the Siena win.

Cameron Young's 25-Point Games
31 vs. Fairfield, 2/17/18
31 vs. Iona, 2/2/18
27 vs. Manhattan, 2/15/18
27 vs. Hartford, 12/7/17
26 vs. Marist, 1/10/18
26 vs. Siena, 1/1/18
26 vs. Colorado, 11/17/17
26 vs. Liberty, 11/19/17

YOUNG ON THE CHARTS
Cameron Young has a chance of setting Quinnipiac's single-season point record at the Division I level with a big day against Canisius. The school's DI mark of 607 points was set by DeMario Anderson in 2007-08, and Young has 581, just 26 points away, a figure he has reached eight times this season (see above). If he pulls it off, he will achieve a remarkable feat of going from zero points one season to a school record in points the next.

Quinnipiac Single-Season Division I Scoring Leaders
607 Demario Anderson, 2007-08
589 Rob Monroe, 2004-05
581 Cameron Young, 2017-18
549 Zaid Hearst, 2014-15
546 James Feldeine, 2009-10

KELLY NAMED TO MAAC ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Freshman guard Rich Kelly was named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team after handling the starting point guard duties all year and averaging 34 minutes per game. 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 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. He led the Bobcats with 18 points in yesterday's win over Siena, after finishing the regular season with 20 at Manhattan.

KELLY ON THE CHARTS
Freshman guard Rich Kelly has dented Quinnipiac's Division I record books as a freshman in a variety of ways. His 40 points against Fairfield was the second-most in the Bobcats' Division I history, while his seven three-pointers in that game also ranks tied for second in Quinnipiac's Division I annals as well. On thee single-season charts, Kelly has 145 assists this year, ranking fourth in QU history at the Division I level, just eight shy of third.

Quinnipiac Division I Single-Season Assist Leaders
170 Rob Monroe, 2004-05
166 Kason Mims, 2003-04
153 Nate Pondexter, 1999-00
145 Rich Kelly, 2017-18
142 Nate Pondexter, 1998-99

DANIELS JOINS 1000-POINT CLUB
Senior forward Chaise Daniels became the 39th player in Quinnipiac history to reach 1,000 career points and the 13th at the Division I level (since 1998-99). in a Feb. 10 game at Canisius. He reached the milestone after hitting a short jump hook with 2:30 left in the game, just before picking up his fifth foul. He now has 1031 points entering the postseason (36th all time at QU), and also has 532 career rebounds and ranks second all-time at Quinnipiac in all divisions in blocks shots with 148 after blocking three against Saint Peter's on Friday.

Quinnipiac All-Time Blocks Leaders (All Divisions)
217 Ousmane Drame '15
150 Chaise Daniels '18
146 Glenn Phillip '92
135 Brian Dawson '95
123 LeRon Gittens '94

A GRADUATE JUNIOR?
Isaiah Washington (8.5 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 had an 18-point effort at Niagara on Feb. 8, which tied his career high set on opening day at home against Dartmouth and had the game-winning basket in a Feb. 15 over Manhattan with 6.7 seconds left. He has also had a big impact defensively, holding 20-point scorer Luwane Pipkins of UMass to 2-13 shooting, and MAAC-leading scorer Tyler Nelson to 4-18 shooting in the first meeting with Fairfield at NYCB Live.

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"). He had a late-season game at Fairfield on Feb. 17 where he gave the Bobcats a huge lift off the bench, tallying five points, eight rebounds and four steals after Quinnipiac got off to a sluggish start to help get the game into double overtime. He also had seven steals against Maine on Nov. 26, one shy of the Bobcat record set by Jeremy Bishop in 2001-02.

TWIN KILLINGS
Juniors Aaron Robinson and Andrew Robinson are the first twins in Quinnipiac men's basketball history. Andrew (5.9 ppg) has been out of action for the last eight games with an injury, after scoring 14 off the bench in a win over Fairfield on Jan. 27, while Aaron (3.0 ppg) has continued to be a key member of the Bobcat reserve unit, hitting at least one three-pointer off the bench in 10 straight contests before the streak was snapped in the final week of the regular season by Saint Peter's.

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.

TRIGON-METRICS
Freshman forward Jacob Rigoni buried five three-pointers in yesterday's win over Siena, continuing a terrific rookie season which has seen him rank second in the MAAC at 45.7 percent from beyond the arc. He now has 69 three-pointers this season, ranking him tied for fourth in Quinnipiac's Division I history.

Quinnipiac Division I Single-Season Three-Point Leaders
84 James Johnson, 2010-11
72 Rob Monroe, 2004-05
70 Daniel Harris, 2015-16
69 Jacob Rigoni, 2017-18
69 James Johnson, 2011-12
69 Jared Grasso, 1999-00

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.

NEXT UP
The winner will get an off day to rest before moving on to the MAAC semifinals on Sunday against the winner of tomorrow's quarterfinal between No. 3 Niagara and No. 6 Fairfield.