QU Travels to CCSU for Saturday Battle

Saturday, December 21

New Britain, Conn.

1:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

CCSU

Khaden Bennett at Yale (11/4/24 in New Haven)

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

12/20/2024 1:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: QU Athletic Communications

Quinnipiac (5-6, 2-0 MAAC) at Central Connecticut State (6-4, 0-0 NEC)
Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024 | 1:00 PM
New Britain, CT | Detrick Gymnasium
Game Notes: Quinnipiac | CCSU

Watch: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: Click Here
In-Game Updates: @QU_MBB on X/Instagram

HAMDEN, Conn. – Quinnipiac Men's Basketball hits the floor again on Dec. 21, making the short trip to CCSU to continue the non-league schedule with a 1:00 PM contest.
The game will be televised live on NEC Front Row.

LAST TIME OUT: BOBCATS FALL vs. HOLY CROSS in HAMDEN

Quinnipiac dropped a non-conference contest vs. Holy Cross, 70-69, on Tuesday night at M&T Bank Arena.
Savion Lewis scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds, and tallied four assists for the Bobcats. Paul Otieno also registered 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Amarri Monroe chipped in with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Jaden Zimmerman (12 points) and Khaden Bennett (10 points) also scored in double figures.
Holy Cross closed the final 8:06 of regulation on a 21-14 run. The Crusaders were led by Kahlil Singleton (20 points) and Joe Nugent (19 points).

NEWS & NOTES

Preseason MAAC Player of the Year Amarri Monroe leads QU in scoring (13.8 PPG) so far this season, and has also recorded 6.6 RPG. Monroe has tallied double-digit scoring totals in seven of 10 contests. He leads the MAAC in steals (30) as well.
Big man Paul Otieno ranks third in the entire country in offensive rebounds per game (4.09). Otieno has posted 12.3 PPG and 8.6 RPG so far this year. The grad big man has four double-doubles so far in 2024-25.
Point guard Savion Lewis leads all MAAC players with 5.9 assists per game. Last year, Lewis finished fourth nationally with 7.3 APG.
The Bobcats' defense has recorded 9.3 steals per game – which leads all MAAC teams so far in 2024-25.

SCOUTING CCSU

Central Connecticut enters at 7-4 overall. The Blue Devils have won five of their last six games, including a one-point victory over Fairfield on Wednesday, Dec. 18.
The program is led offensively Jordan Jones (12.5 PPG), David Haid (11.5 PPG), and Jayden Brown (10.8 PPG) thus far in 2024-25.
Head Coach Patrick Sellers helped lead CCSU to a Northeast Conference Regular Season title (co-champions) in 2024. He was named Jim Phelan Northeast Conference Coach of the Year, and NABC District 15 Coach of the Year after guiding the Blue Devils to 20 wins in 2023-24.
Quinnipiac is 14-16 against CCSU since 2000. The Bobcats have taken 11 of the last 12 meetings, including last year's battle on 11/10/23 in Hamden (74-70 victory). Richie Springs had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the Bobcats' win last year over CCSU.

QU SELECTED AS PRESEASON LEAGUE FAVORITE

Quinnipiac Men's Basketball has been selected as the preseason favorite in the 2024-25 MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, as revealed by the league office on Oct. 8, 2024.
Quinnipiac earned 166 points in total in the preseason coaches' poll (11 first-place votes). It marks the first time that QU has ever been selected as the preseason MAAC favorite.
The defending MAAC regular season champs went 15-5 in league play (24-10 overall) last season under Head Coach Tom Pecora. The Bobcats earned a berth to the 2024 Ro College Basketball Invitational (CBI) after setting a program record for total wins.

QU RETURNS PRESEASON ALL-MAAC TRIO

Three Bobcats in total (Amarri Monroe, Savion Lewis, Paul Otieno) received preseason recognition. Monroe and Lewis are Preseason All-MAAC First Team selections, while big man Paul Otieno earned a spot on the Preseason All-MAAC Second Team.
Preseason MAAC Player of the Year Amarri Monroe (formerly Amarri Tice) played in all 34 games for Quinnipiac a season ago, stuffing the stat sheet with 12.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.8 SPG, 1.0 BPG. He posted 14.4 PPG & 7.2 RPG in MAAC play. Monroe was the only player that finished inside the league's Top 5 in rebounds, blocks, and steals. He scored 10+ points 25 different times, and registered five separate double-doubles.
Savion Lewis wrapped up the 2023-24 campaign averaging 8.1 PPG, 7.3 APG & 3.2 RPG for the Bobcats. He finished second nationally in total assists (248). Lewis recorded 5+ helpers in 28 of Quinnipiac's 34 contests, including an impressive 17-assist night against Rider in Hamden (1/5/23).
Graduate forward Paul Otieno returns for another year after leading the MAAC in field goal percentage (63.8%) in 2023-24. He averaged 11.0 PPG & 6.9 RPG, starting in all 34 contests for the Bobcats. He registered four double-doubles a season ago.

VETERAN GROUP

The Bobcats return six of nine players that logged 200+ minutes last season.
Amarri Monroe (12.9 PPG), Paul Otieno (11.0 PPG), Savion Lewis (8.1 PPG), Alexis Reyes (7.8 PPG), Doug Young (6.3 PPG), Richie Springs (3.8 PPG) are all back for Quinnipiac ahead of the new season.

6 NEWCOMERS

The Bobcats added six newcomers in total.
Ryan Mabrey transferred in from Miami University, where the former All-MAC Freshman Team selection played in 58 games with the RedHawks over the last two seasons.
Quinnipiac also brought in five true first-year athletes: Grant Randall (Queens, NY), Samson Reilly (Manchester, CT), Spence Wewe (Bristol, England), Braylan Ritvo (Harlem, NY), Jaden Zimmerman (Bronx, NY).

INSTANT IMPACT

Both Jaden Zimmerman and Grant Randall have made an immediate impact during their first collegiate season.
Zimmerman is averaging 8.8 PPG during his first year. The guard has registered 10 or more points five different times already.
Grant Randall has chipped in with 2.5 PPG and 3.2 RPG off the bench. Randall scored a career-high six points during Quinnipiac's trip to Saint Louis.

BENCHMARK 2023-24 SEASON

The Bobcats finished off the benchmark campaign with 24 total wins (new program record).
Quinnipiac won its first-ever MAAC regular season title under first-year Head Coach Tom Pecora.
QU also set a new program mark for total points in a single season (2,630).
The Bobcats' 19-4 start over their first 23 games marked the program's best start to a year since the 1965-66 campaign.
Quinnipiac won 10 consecutive games from Jan. 5 – Feb. 8.
The Bobcats finished the month of January with a 7-0 record, marking the first perfect month in the university's Division I history.

HEAD COACH TOM PECORA

Tom Pecora – a veteran with 15 years of experience as a head coach at the Division I level – just wrapped up his first season as Head Coach at Quinnipiac University in 2023-24. Pecora just completed his seventh season in total with the Bobcats (previously served as Associate HC from 2017-2023). He was announced as Quinnipiac's next Head Coach on Thursday, April 13, 2023.
Pecora led the Bobcats to a record-breaking 2023-24 campaign during his first year at the helm, eventually earning MAAC Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Bobcats to the top seed in the conference. Quinnipiac set a new program record for wins (24) during the benchmark season, as the Bobcats went 15-5 in league play to capture the program's first-ever MAAC Regular Season Championship. The Bobcats set a new program record for total points (2,630) under Pecora. Quinnipiac defeated each MAAC opponent at least once.
Prior to his time at Quinnipiac, Pecora served as the head coach at Hofstra for nine years (2001-2010) and at Fordham for five seasons (2010-15). He also served as the associate head coach under Jay Wright for seven seasons before taking the head job at Hofstra, the last two of which resulted in America East Conference titles and NCAA Tournament berths.
Pecora served as the head coach at Hofstra for nine years (2001-2010) and at Fordham for five seasons (2010-15). Prior to taking over the head coaching position at Hofstra, Pecora served as the associate head coach under Jay Wright for seven seasons, the last two of which resulted in America East Conference titles and NCAA Tournament berths.
As a head coach at Hofstra, Pecora compiled a 155-126 mark in nine seasons, leading the Pride to four postseason appearances (three NIT and one CBI), the most for any New York City team over that nine-year span. In 16 years at Hofstra with Pecora on the staff (nine years as a head coach, seven as an assistant), the Pride averaged 19 wins a season (246-161).
During his time in Hempstead, Hofstra was the winningest program in the Metropolitan New York area. Over his last six years, Hofstra won 121 games, including four 20-win seasons. In 2006 and 2009, he was named Coach of the Year by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) and he also received regional Coach of the Year honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY).
Prior to joining the staff at Hofstra, Pecora also had previous experience in running a program, serving as head basketball coach at the State University of New York at Farmingdale from 1989-92. In three seasons at Farmingdale, the Rams posted a 62-24 record, captured the Region 15 championship in 1992 (when they finished 20-9), advanced to the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament and were ranked as one of the nation's top 20 junior college programs.

FUTURE BOBCATS

Quinnipiac Men's Basketball has announced the addition of three players during the early signing period, as revealed by Head Coach Tom Pecora and the Bobcats on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. Keith Mcknight (Teaneck, N.J.), Jayden Reid (Cheshire, Conn.), and Lateef Patrick (Milton, Mass.) will are all set to join the reigning MAAC regular season champions ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Full Press Release: CLICK HERE

To stay up to date with all Quinnipiac men's basketball news, follow the program on Twitter/Instagram @QU_MBB or visit www.gobobcats.com/mbb.