Leissner Scored 20 Points, as Men’s Basketball Fell 85-66 to UConn

Tuesday, November 17

Storrs, Conn.

7 PM

University of New Hampshire

(1-1)

University of Connecticut

(2-0)

UNH

UCONN

Photo by: Elise Austin-Washburn

Leissner Scored 20 Points, as Men’s Basketball Fell 85-66 to UConn

11/17/2015 8:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

STORRS, Conn. – Sophomore Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas) scored 20 points and grabbed four rebounds as the University of New Hampshire men's basketball team fell 85-66 to the University of Connecticut, Tuesday night at Gampel Pavilion.

The Wildcats dropped to an even 1-1 on the season and the Huskies improved to 2-0.

Leissner scored his 20 points on 7 of 18 shooting including two threes and four free throws. Junior Jaleen Smith (Freeport, Texas) totaled nine points, six rebounds, to lead the team, and four assists. Freshman Pat McNamara (Arlington Heights, Ill.) scored 14 points, 12 in the second half on four threes.

The Huskies were led by Sterling Gibbs who scored 18 first-half points and 21 total. Rodney Purvis tallied 20 points as well, with four rebounds and three assists. Daniel Hamilton finished with a double-double on 13 points and 11 boards.

The Wildcats scored first as sophomore Iba Camara (Dakar, Senegal) was fouled and dropped both free throws for a 2-0 lead. Camara finished with eight points, four boards, two assists and two steals.

New Hampshire stuck with the Huskies most of the first half and led 16-15, with 9:50 remaining, on a 6-0 run from a layup by Armstrong, free throw by Leissner and a finish by Smith inside the arc. The lead changed five times in the opening frame.

UConn began to pull away, going on a 15-6 run to lead 30-22 with five minutes to go in the first half. The Huskies hit five-consecutive threes in the stretch, three from Gibbs and one each from Purvis and Sam Cassell Jr.

The 'Cats stuck around within five most of the final minutes until a 7-2 run in the final 3:46 put the Huskies up 10, 39-29, at the break.

UConn upped their offensive pressure in the second half and jumped to a 51-34 lead on a Gibbs three with 15:40 remaining. Smith nailed a jumper and Camara scored a layup to inch within 13 points, the closest they would be for the remainder of the contest.

The Huskies took their largest lead of the game at the nine-minute mark (69-48) on a Purvis 3-pointer.

New Hampshire stuck around on McNamara's second-half shooting and Leissner scoring 11 of his 21 points in the final frame. Throughout the game, UNH held a 11-5 turnover advantage.

New Hampshire will turn around and travel to the College of the Holy Cross on Thursday, Nov. 19 (7 p.m.) at the Hart Center for game 2 of 3 during the road stretch.

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