Bobcats Set to Battle Marist Saturday Night in MAAC Quarterfinals

Saturday, March 7

Atlantic City, NJ

6:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

#5 Marist

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Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

Bobcats Set to Battle Marist Saturday Night in MAAC Quarterfinals

3/6/2026 2:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: QU Athletic Communications

#4 Quinnipiac (19-12, 12-8 MAAC) vs. #5 Marist (18-11, 12-8 MAAC)
Saturday, March 7, 2026 | 6:00 PM
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall | Atlantic City, NJ

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ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – Quinnipiac men's basketball will begin action at the 2026 Air Force Reserve MAAC Men's Basketball Championship on Saturday night, as the #4 Bobcats are set to take on #5 Marist in the quarterfinal round at 6:00 PM from Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.

ALL-MAAC BOBCATS

Quinnipiac earned four All-MAAC honors following the completion of the 2025-26 regular season, as revealed by the league office on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
Senior Amarri Monroe earned a spot on the All-MAAC First Team, Jaden Zimmerman was selected as an All-MAAC Second Team honoree, Asim Jones made the All-MAAC Third Team and Keith McKnight was named to the All-Rookie Team. Monroe also was named to the All-Defensive Team for his efforts.

SCOUTING MARIST

The Red Foxes wrapped up the regular season at 18-11 overall (12-8 MAAC). Marist dropped four of its last six contests heading into postseason play.
Justin Menard led Marist in points (12.6 PPG) and assists (3.7 APG) during the regular season. Elijah Lewis and Rhyjon Blackwell each chipped in on the scoring front with 12.0 PPG.
The Red Foxes lead the MAAC in team defense, allowing just 63.7 points per game. Marist has forced opponents to shoot just 27.8% from 3-point distance which also leads all MAAC teams.
Head Coach John Dunne is in his eighth season at Marist in 2025-26. He arrived at Marist after a successful 12-year tenure as head coach at Saint Peter's University. Dunne is the first coach in MAAC history to reach the conference championship game as a #11 seed, and the first to reach the MAAC semifinals as a #9 seed.

SERIES HISTORY vs. MARIST

The Bobcats are 17-11 against Marist since QU joined the league prior to the 2013-14 campaign.
Quinnipiac and Marist split two matchups during the regular season with the home team winning each time.
The Bobcats knocked off Marist in Hamden on 12/29, then Marist took the matchup in Poughkeepsie on 1/24.
Asim Jones poured in 22.5 points per game against Marist in the previous two meetings this year (23 points on 12/29 & 22 points on 1/24).

LAST TIME OUT: ROAD WIN at CANISIUS (3/1/26)

Quinnipiac earned a road win in its final contest of the regular season, defeating Canisius by the final score of 67-63 on Sunday, March 1.
Asim Jones led the Bobcats with 27 points, 23 of which came during the second half. He went 8-of-15 from the floor over the final 20 minutes of action.
Keith McKnight chipped in with a career-high 22 points. The first-year forward also grabbed nine rebounds in the win.
The Bobcats outscored the Golden Griffins 16-7 over the last 5:16 of play.

AMARRI MONROE

2024-25 MAAC Player of the Year Amarri Monroe is back with the Bobcats for his senior season. Monroe withdrew his name from the transfer portal to instead finish out his collegiate career at QU. (LINK)
Monroe has stuffed the stat sheet so far in 2025-26, averaging 15.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.3 steals & 2.2 assists per game.
The Newburgh, New York-native has 12 double-doubles already this season, including nine during MAAC play.
Monroe ranks 8^th nationally among Division I active career leaders for double-doubles (31), 10^th in steals (212), and 17^th in rebounds (848).
LAST YEAR: Monroe paced Quinnipiac during 2024-25, averaging 18.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game – all of which led the team. He finished 2024-25 as the MAAC leader in rebounds per game (9.1), offensive rebounds per game (6.9), and double-doubles (14). Monroe won MAAC Player of the Year honors, and was also tabbed to the NABC Mid Atlantic District Second Team

JADEN ZIMMERMAN

Jaden Zimmerman has led the scoring charge in '25-26 for the Bobcats, pouring in 15.5 points per game.
He was named MAAC Player of the Week on Dec. 8 after leading the Bobcats to a pair of wins to begin conference play.
Zimmerman has scored 15+ points in 15 different games this year.
LAST YEAR: Zimmerman posted 11.0 PPG & 2.1 RPG over 33 contests during his first season with the Bobcats, earning a spot on the 2024-25 MAAC All-Rookie Team.

ASIM JONES

Transfer guard Asim Jones is up to 12.7 points and 3.9 assists per contest through 31 games. He's shooting 47.9% from 3-point range.
Jones has posted 14.3 points per contest in MAAC play.

GRANT RANDALL

Grant Randall is averaging 10.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game so far during a breakout sophomore campaign. He has four double-doubles in 2025-26.
Randall is averaging 11.3 points per game in league action.

KEITH MCKNIGHT

Keith McKnight has made an immediate impact during his first season with the Bobcats. He's averaging 11.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest off the bench, shooting 55.0% from the floor.
McKnight has reached double-figure scoring totals 21 different times during his first collegiate season.

OFFENSIVE ATTACK

Quinnipiac ranks second in the MAAC in scoring offense (75.4 PPG), and second in fast break points per contest (11.77).
The Bobcats rank 61^st nationally in KenPom's adjusted tempo (69.6).
QU's average offensive possession is just 16.5 seconds – which ranks 60^th nationally.

WELCOME TO THE JAM

Quinnipiac finished the regular season with 90 dunks, 20 more than any other MAAC team (Saint Peter's has 70).
That numbers ranks 25^th of all mid-major Division I programs.

TALL TASK

The Bobcats have the tallest team in the MAAC, according to KenPom.
QU has 10 student-athletes that are 6-foot-5 or taller.

MAAC SUCCESS

QU is 42-18 in regular season MAAC contests over the last three seasons (2023 – current) under HC Tom Pecora.

PRESEASON MAAC FAVORITES

For the second straight season, Quinnipiac was voted as the favorite in the MAAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Bobcats earned 158 total points and eight first place votes in the poll.
This marks the second time in program history that the Bobcats have been selected as the preseason favorites.

BACK-TO-BACK MAAC REGULAR SEASON TITLES

The Bobcats are on the heels of a record-breaking two-year stretch, where Quinnipiac posted two consecutive 20-win seasons during Tom Pecora's first two years at the helm.
The Bobcats went 24-10 in 2023-24, then posted a 20-13 mark last season.
QU captured the league's regular season title during both seasons, posting a 15-5 MAAC record in both 2023-24 & 2024-25.
The Bobcats advanced to the semifinal round of the MAAC Tournament in both years.

THE 2025-26 BOBCATS

The Bobcats return eight players in total: Amarri Monroe, Grant Randall, Ronell Giles Jr., Samson Reilly, Spence Wewe, Braylan Ritvo, Jaden Zimmerman and Akintola Akinniyi.
Quinnipiac has seven total newcomers – a pair of transfers (Asim Jones & Nate Guerengomba), and five other true first-year players (Jayden Reid, Tai Turnage, Christopher Skenderi, Keith Mcknight & Sam Nosakhare.

HEAD COACH TOM PECORA

Tom Pecora is currently in his third season as Head Coach at Quinnipiac University in 2025-26.
Pecora – a veteran with 17 years of experience as a head coach at the Division I level – has won back-to-back MAAC Coach of the Year awards after leading Quinnipiac to two consecutive regular season titles in 2023-24 and 2024-25. The Bobcats went 15-5 in league play during Pecora's first season at the helm in 2023-24, then followed up with another 15-5 MAAC record in 2024-25. Pecora has more wins (30) over his first two seasons than any men's basketball head coach in the history of the MAAC.
Pecora just completed his eighth 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.
He has guided his teams to 324-291 record as a collegiate Head Coach (stops at SUNY Farmingdale, Hofstra, Fordham, and Quinnipiac).
Pecora reached 300 total wins on Feb. 14, 2025 after helping lead the Bobcats to a win over Sacred Heart on ESPNU. Quinnipiac has won 130 total games during Pecora's time on staff (since 2017), tallying double-digit win totals in seven of eight seasons.
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.
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.
He has coached NBA players at his previous two stops as head coach – Speedy Claxton, Norman Richardson, and Charles Jenkins (at Hofstra), and Eric Paschall (at Fordham).

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.