QU Ready for Sunday Showdown at Marist

Sunday, January 5

Poughkeepsie, NY

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Marist

Savion Lewis vs. Hofstra (12/29/24 in Hamden, CT)

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

1/4/2025 1:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: QU Athletic Communications

Quinnipiac (7-7, 3-0 MAAC) at Marist (10-2, 3-0 MAAC)
Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025 | 2:00 PM
McCann Arena | Poughkeepsie, NY
Game Notes: Quinnipiac | Marist

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POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Quinnipiac Men's Basketball readies for an early-season MAAC showdown at Marist on Sunday afternoon at McCann Arena. Both the Bobcats and the Red Foxes enter with a perfect 3-0 MAAC record to begin the league schedule.

LAST TIME OUT: QU BATTLES TO ROAD WIN AT SAINT PETER'S (1/3)

Quinnipiac Men's Basketball improved to 3-0 in MAAC play on Friday night at Run Baby Run Arena, as the Bobcats downed Saint Peter's by the final score of 59-46.
Jaden Zimmerman led QU with 16 points, which marks a new career-high total for the first-year guard. He shot 6-of-13 over 31 minutes, and knocked down three 3-pointers in the victory.
Paul Otieno recorded another double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds, while Amarri Monroe chipped in with 12 points and nine rebounds. Khaden Bennett also tallied 13 points.
The Bobcats went on an impressive 15-0 run over the final five minutes of the first half and never looked back. Otieno and Zimmerman both scored 11 first-half points.
Quinnipiac now moves to 3-0 to begin MAAC play for the first time since 2019-20.

NEWS & NOTES

Preseason MAAC Player of the Year Amarri Monroe leads QU in scoring (14.6 PPG) so far this season, and has also recorded 7.4 RPG. Monroe has tallied double-digit scoring totals in 11 of 14 contests. He leads the MAAC in steals (38) as well.
Big man Paul Otieno ranks third in the entire country in offensive rebounds per game (4.36). Otieno has posted 12.6 PPG and 8.4 RPG so far this year. The grad big man has six double-doubles so far in 2024-25. He also leads the MAAC in blocked shots (26).
Point guard Savion Lewis leads all MAAC players with 5.5 assists per game. Last year, Lewis finished fourth nationally with 7.3 APG.
Khaden Bennett has posted 10.9 PPG & 3.8 RPG to date. He's got 10+ points in eight of his last nine contests.
First-year guard Jaden Zimmerman has come on strong as of late, averaging 9.5 PPG so far during 2024-25. The Bronx, New York-native has scored 10+ in four straight games, and most recently poured in 16 points to help lead QU over Saint Peter's on the road.
The Bobcats rank second in the MAAC in rebounds per game (38.00), second in the league in steals per game (9.4), and second in blocks per game (4.4).

SCOUTING MARIST

The Red Foxes are 10-2 overall, and enter Sunday's contest with six straight wins.
Marist defeated Iona by five points on Friday night in New Rochelle (70-65).
Josh Pascarelli (17.6 PPG) leads Marist offensively, while Elijah Lewis (12.7 PPG) and Jackson Price (10.2 PPG) have also averaged double-digit point totals.
Marist is shooting 46.4% from the field which ranks best among MAAC teams. The Red Foxes have forced opponents to shoot just 41.9%.

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 9.5 PPG during his first year. The guard has registered 10 or more points eight different times already, and scored 16 points his last time out on the road at Saint Peter's.
Grant Randall has chipped in with 2.2 PPG and 2.8 RPG off the bench. Randall scored a season-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 X/Instagram @QU_MBB or visit www.gobobcats.com/mbb.