Bobcats Back in Hamden Sunday vs. UAlbany – Quinnipiac … – Go Bobcats

Quinnipiac Bobcats (3-1) at Albany Great Danes (1-2)
Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 | 2:00 PM
M&T Bank Arena | Hamden, CT
Game Notes: Quinnipiac | Albany

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HAMDEN – Quinnipiac Men’s Basketball is back at home on Sunday, Nov. 19, playing host to UAlbany in M&T Bank Arena (2:00 PM on ESPN+).
 
NEWS AND NOTES:

• Preseason All-MAAC First Team selection Matt Balanc has led the Bobcats with 18.0 PPG so far through four contests. He’s tallied double-digit scoring totals in every game this year.
• Graduate guard Savion Lewis has dished out 8.3 assists per game – which ranks No. 2 in the entire country so far this year. Lewis recorded 11 assists on Nov. 10 vs. CCSU. The graduate guard is averaging 7.3 PPG, 8.3 APG and 3.3 RPG in 2023-24. His 33 total assists rank tied for first in the entire country.
• Rihards Vavers has averaged 11.5 PPG & 5.8 RPG through his first three college contests.
• UConn transfer Richie Springs has chipped in with 8.8 PPG & 6.0 RPG, shooting 69.6% from the field.
• Amarri Tice has averaged 10.3 PPG & 5.0 RPG in his first season at QU.   

LAST TIME OUT: LEWIS, BALANC LEAD QU PAST ARMY (11/17)

• The Bobcats earned a road win on Friday night at Christl Arena, defeating Army West Point by the final score of 67-58.
• Savion Lewis (18 points) and Matt Balanc (17 points, 10 rebounds) paced the Bobcats in the victory.
• Quinnipiac used a 20-3 run over the final 9:40 of the first half to extend the lead to double digits. Army led 22-16 prior to the start of the run, then the Bobcats took a 36-25 lead into the break after a Savion Lewis layup at the rim.

BOBCATS FALL at UMASS (11/13)

• Quinnipiac men’s basketball dropped a non-conference matchup at UMass by the final score of 102-81 on Monday inside the Mullins Center.
• Matt Balanc and Amarri Tice led the scoring charge for the Bobcats with 13 points each. Richie Springs chipped in with 12 points and six rebounds, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor.  

QU DOWNS CCSU in HAMDEN (11/10)

• QU won its second consecutive game to begin the 2023-24 season on Friday evening in Hamden, holding on late to defeat Central Connecticut State University 74-70 at M&T Bank Arena.
• The Bobcats assisted on 21 of 29 made baskets in total. Savion Lewis led QU with 11 total assists.
• Matt Balanc led the scoring charge for QU with 22 points (8-16 FG), while Rihards Vavers chipped in with 18 points and seven rebounds.
• Transfer forward Richie Springs recorded a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) in the victory.
• QU shot 29-60 (48.3%) in total, knocking down 10 three-pointers.

BOBCATS WIN SEASON OPENER (11/6)

• The Bobcats opened up the 2023-24 season in impressive fashion on Monday, Nov. 6 in Hamden, cruising past Coast Guard by the final score of 116-48.
• The Bobcats shot 60.3% (38-63) in Tom Pecora‘s debut as Head Coach, setting a Division I program record for total points.
• With the victory, Pecora has reached 200 wins as a Division I Head Coach. He won 155 games at the helm of the Hofstra program (2001-10), then won 44 contests at Fordham (2010-15).
• Matt Balanc led the way with 20 points (6-11 FG) in just 17 minutes of action. The graduate guard knocked down five three-point attempts.
• Rihards Vavers chipped in with 15 points and seven rebounds and three blocks during his QU debut. The Latvia-native shot a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor, going 3-for-3 from three-point distance.
• Doug Young added 15 points and three rebounds off the bench in his first Divison I action.
• Amarri Tice recorded 11 points and seven rebounds over 18 minutes of playing time.
• Paul Otieno added 11 points and three rebounds.
• Former UConn forward Richie Springs scored 10 points to go along with four rebounds for the Bobcats.
• Alexis Reyes added eight points and six rebounds, knocking down a pair of triples in the victory.
• Savion Lewis impressed with eight assists in just 15 minutes.
• All 12 Quinnipiac players that saw the floor scored in the win. Six Bobcats reached double-digit scoring totals.

BLOCK PARTY

• The Bobcats blocked 10 shots in the season opener vs. Coast Guard, the most blocks of any team in the country on opening night.
• The last time Quinnipiac blocked 10 shots in a game was vs. New Hampshire on Dec. 6, 2020. 

PECORA TAKES OVER AS HEAD COACH

• Tom Pecora, a veteran with 14 years of experience as a head coach at the Division I level, will take over at the helm of the Quinnipiac program in 2023-24. He assumed the role of Quinnipiac Men’s Basketball Head Coach on Thursday, April 13, 2023. Pecora is entering his seventh season with the Bobcats in total.
• 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, he compiled a 155–126 mark in nine seasons, leading the Pride to four postseason appearances (three NIT and one CBI), more than any team in New York City 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).

PECORA REACHES 200 D1 WINS

• Pecora reached the 200-win mark as a Division I head coach after the Bobcats defeated Coast Guard in the season opener on Monday night (11/6). He won 155 games at Hofstra over 9 seasons, then tallied 44 victories at Fordham over five years.

SCOUTING UALBANY

• The Great Danes are 1-2 so far this year, falling at Seton Hall most recently on Nov. 15.
• UAlbany is led offensively by Sebastian Thomas (16.7 PPG). Amar’e Marshall (13.3 PPG), Jonathan Beagle (12.0 PPG), and Tyler Bertram (10.3 PPG) have all added double-digit point totals thus far.
• Dwayne Killings is in his third season with the Great Danes. He has 22 wins so far at UAlbany.
• QU is 5-1 against UAlbany dating back to 2001. The Bobcats won the last matchup between the two teams back in 2019. Matt Balanc scored 16 points in the win.

MEET THE BOBCATS

• Preseason All-MAAC Selection Matt Balanc returns for his graduate season to help lead the way for the Bobcats. The Maryland-native has recorded 1,112 career points over four seasons so far (10.1 PPG). Balanc averaged 12.0 PPG & 4.6 RPG in 2022-23.
• Point guard Savion Lewis will also return for his graduate season at QU. Lewis has played in 58 collegiate games over his career, averaging 6.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG & 3.1 APG to stuff the stat sheet.
• Big man Paula Otieno is back for the Bobcats after posting 7.2 PPG & 6.8 RPG during his first season in Hamden. Otieno started in all 32 QU games, and registered four double-doubles last year.
• QU also returns Alexis Reyes, JJ Riggins, Nicholas Margetson and Quinn Guth to this year’s squad.
• The Bobcats have seven newcomers in 2023-24. Transfer additions include Richie Springs (previously at UConn), Doug Young (previously at Midland College), Arion Lewis (previously at Delaware State) and Amarri Tice (previously at Wofford State).
• Khaden Bennett, Rihards Vavers and Daemar Kelly are QU’s three first-year student-athletes.

QU NAMES THREE CAPTAINS

AARON ROBINSON RETURNS TO QU

• Quinnipiac men’s basketball has added Aaron Robinson to its coaching staff as Director of Player Development, as revealed by Head Coach Tom Pecora on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023.
• Robinson – who played at Quinnipiac for four seasons from 2015-2019 – will assume his role immediately as the Bobcats prepare for the 2023-24 campaign. He has recently been working on the Basketball Operations staff for the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA.
• The Maryland-native enjoyed five seasons at the Division I level during his collegiate basketball career, including four full years as a Bobcat. Robinson played in 81 games at QU over four seasons, then took a graduate year at Coppin State. He scored 192 points to go along with 132 rebounds while at QU, knocking down 53 career triples.
• Robinson graduated with a degree in journalism from Quinnipiac. He was a member of Q30 Sports, an independent student media organization on campus, during his time in Hamden. Robinson also interned at NBC Sports (2021-22), and is the cofounder of AllFacts Media with his brother Andrew – who also played basketball at Quinnipiac.
• Most recently, Robinson has been serving as an intern in the Basketball Operations Department for the LA Clippers since September of 2022.

SHAUN MORRIS PROMOTED TO ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH

• Quinnipiac Men’s Basketball has announced the promotion of Shaun Morris to Associate Head Coach, as revealed by Head Coach Tom Pecora and the Bobcats on Monday, July 10, 2023. Morris will enter his seventh season with the Bobcats in 2023-24.
• QU is coming off a 20-win season in 2022-23, marking the fourth time in the school’s Division I history that it reached 20 total victories. QU won a pair of games against NCAA Tournament teams, went 9-4 in Hamden, and earned the No. 3 seed in the postseason league tournament.
• Morris was recently recognized by Silver Wave Media, earning a spot as one of the Most Impactful Mid-Major Assistant Coaches.
• Under the help of his guidance, Morris and the Bobcats have advanced to a pair of MAAC Semifinals over the last six years. QU won a pair of postseason games to reach the semifinal round in 2017-18, then the 2021-22 Bobcats became the first-ever No. 11 seed in MAAC Tournament history to advance to the semifinal round. Quinnipiac has won 86 total games during that span, tallying double-digit win totals in five of six seasons. The Bobcats have posted a 47-34 record in games played at M&T Bank Arena in Hamden during that time frame.

BOBCATS REVEAL NON-LEAGUE SLATE

• 6 home dates at M&T Bank Arena in Hamden highlight the Quinnipiac men’s basketball non-conference schedule.
• Quinnipiac has 11 non-conference matchups in total. The Bobcats’ six home games are the most non-league dates in Hamden for the men’s basketball program since 2014-15.
• QU’s non-conference slate also features matchups against National Invitation Tournament opponents Yale (Dec. 11 in Hamden) and Florida (Dec. 30 in Gainesville).
• The Bobcats will begin the season in front of their home fans on Monday, Nov. 6 against Coast Guard.
• QU’s six home dates in the non-league slate are: vs. Coast Guard (Nov. 6), vs. CCSU (Nov. 10), vs. Albany (Nov. 19), vs. Stonehill (Nov. 26), vs. Navy (Dec. 8) and vs. Yale (Dec. 11).
• The Bobcats will also be tested on the road during non-conference action, making trips to UMass (Nov. 13), Army (Nov. 17), Holy Cross (Dec. 18), Lafayette (Dec. 21) and Florida (Dec. 30).

PRESEASON ALL-MAAC HONORS

• Quinnipiac has been tabbed No. 5 in the MAAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll, as announced by the league office as part of the inaugural MAAC Basketball Tipoff held at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, NJ. on Tuesday, Oct. 17.
• Matt Balanc has been selected to the Preseason All-MAAC First Team, while Paul Otieno earns Second Team honors.
• The Bobcats were tabbed No. 5 in the preseason poll. Rider has been selected as the preseason league favorite.

BOBCATS REACH 20 WINS in 2022-23

• The Bobcats are coming off a 20-win season in 2022-23, marking the fourth time in the school’s Division I history that it reached 20 total victories. It marks the 10^th time in program history that QU has reached the 20-win mark.
• QU won a pair of games against NCAA Tournament teams, went 9-4 in Hamden, and earned the No. 3 seed in the MAAC Tournament a year ago.
• The Bobcats won each of their first seven games of the 2022-23 campaign – marking the best start to a new year for the program since 1969-70.
• QU began the season with a road win at A10-foe Rhode Island.
• The Bobcats wrapped up a 2-1 trip to Canada for The Northern Classic (Nov. 25-27, 2022). Quinnipiac downed both Stephen F. Austin and Montana State for impressive wins at Place Bell Arena in Quebec, before falling 72-70 vs. Hofstra on the final day of the tournament.
• Quinnipiac began the month of January with six straight wins, downing Manhattan (1/1), Rider (1/6), Iona (1/8), Saint Peter’s (1/13), Mount St. Mary’s (1/15) and Canisius (1/22) during that span.  

TOP OF THE MAAC

• Quinnipiac recorded 37.41 rebounds per game last year – which finished first in the MAAC.
• Quinnipiac led the MAAC in 3-point shooting percentage (36.3%) last year.

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.