Men’s Basketball Returns Home for American (Nov. 28; 12 p.m.)

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire men's basketball team returns home Saturday, Nov. 28 to tackle American University (noon) with a third straight win in sight, at Lundholm Gymnasium.

Cat Facts

UNH Head coach Bill Herrion ranks second on the all-time coaching wins' list with 120 wins.
Sophomore Iba Camara (Dakar, Senegal) has totaled double-doubles in 3 of 4 contests this year.
The Wildcats scored 88 points against Brown University (Nov. 24), the highest scoring output since Dec. 6, 2014 in a 96-45 win over Wheelock College.
This is the second matchup all-time between the Eagles and the Wildcats.
The last time the Wildcats started a season 3-1 was during the 2010-11 season when they won game five to start the season 4-1 overall.

The State of New Hampshire
New Hampshire most recently defeated Brown University 88-77 on the road at Pizzitola Sports Center. The offense was rolling with three guys scoring career-highs on the night. Junior tri-captain Jacoby Armstrong (Sachse, Texas) finished with a personal-best 26 points on 9 of 14 shooting and nailed eight free-throw attempts. Classmate and tri-captain Jaleen Smith (Freeport, Texas) tallied 18 points, a personal best, with eight rebounds and six assists. Smith shot 8 of 8 from the charity stripe as well. Camara notched his second straight double-double, third on the year, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Classmate Keon Burns (Beaverton, Ore.) scored a career-high 10 points.

With the win, Herrion took sole possession of second place on the coaching wins' list with 120 victories at UNH. The team played without their leading scorer Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas) because of injury.

Six different scorers average 10+ points a game led by Leissner with 18.0 per contest. Armstrong scores 13.3 and grabs five rebounds while Smith averages 12.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists. Camara has scored 11.8 points and grabbed 13.0 rebounds for a double-double average.

Scouting the Eagles
The Eagles most recently fell to Virginia Commonwealth University 72-44 at the Siegel Center in Richmond, Va., falling to 0-4 on the season. Jesse Reed, Paris Maragkos and James Washington all finished with double-digit scoring figures on 12, 11 and 11 points, respectively. Lonnie Rivera and Reed finished with five rebounds apiece. Charlie Jones stuffed three shots on the night.

The team shot 45.9 percent from the field but only 18.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Reed and Maragkos average 11.5 and 10.3 points, respectively for the Eagles. Charlie Jones leads the team with a 4.3-rebound effort per game. Defense has been tough to come by this year allowing 66.5 points per game with a -21.0 scoring margin through four games.

All-Time Series
The Wildcats trail in the all-time series, 0-1, to American. The last and only matchup between the squads was on Jan. 2, 1981 when the 'Cats fell 75-71 in a neutral game in the Old Dominion Classic tournament.

Casual Camara
Forward Camara scored career-highs in points and rebounds to open the 2015-16 season against Lyndon St. His 15-point and 20-rebound stat line earned him America East Player of the Week honors on Nov. 16. At UConn, the sophomore scored eight points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out two assists and totaled two steals. The Senegal native tallied a second double-double this season at Holy Cross with 14 points and 18 rebounds and followed that up with a 10 point, 10 rebound effort at Brown. Camara ranks fourth in the country in rebounds.

Score, Score Score
UNH is 3-0 when 4+ scorers finish with 10+ points in a game. In the season opener, Leissner, Camara, Smith and freshman Pat McNamara (Arlington Heights, Ill.) eclipsed the 10-point threshold. At Holy Cross, the foursome completed the feat again followed by five 10+ scorers at Brown.

Locked In Leissner
Leissner added a fifth career double-double and matched his career-high scoring output with 21 points during the season opener. At No. 19 UConn, Leissner finished with his second consecutive 20-point effort on 20 points and four rebounds. The 2015 America East Rookie of the Year averages 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and shoots 51.3 percent from the field per game. He sat out because of injury against Brown.

Zeroed In
Smith nearly notched a triple-double (two rebounds shy) in the season opener (Nov. 13) against Lyndon St. The stat line was his second-career double-double and the first where he used the assists column. He continues to do a little bit of everything, averaging 12.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists through four games. At Brown, Smith notched 18 points for a new career-high in scoring. The 2015 All-Championship Team member started in all 32 games for UNH last year and ranked second in both scoring (10.7 ppg) and rebounding (5.2 rpg). He paced the team in assists with 2.8 per game. At the guard position, he ranked third in blocks with 11 and was the only guard with more than two.

Strong Play
Armstrong most recently poured in a personal-best 26 points in an 88-77 win at Brown. He made his season debut at UConn where he totaled seven points, five rebounds, a steal and an assist off the bench. At Holy Cross, he totaled seven points, and four rebounds on 3 of 5 shooting from the field. This season, the 2015 All-Conference Third Team member is scoring 13.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

Double-Double Dose
UNH student-athletes have tallied five double-doubles through four games, led by Camara who already has three in four games. Just a year ago, the Wildcats had five double-double stat lines in 32 games played. Leissner led UNH with four during 2014-15. Camara ranks 13^th in the nation with three double-doubles.

Mac Truck
Freshman McNamara is shooting 56.5 percent from beyond the arc this season, recently going 6-for-9 on 3-pointers at Holy Cross with five in the second half. The Illinois native scored 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting, including three treys, in the season opener against Lyndon State College. Last season, the Wildcats topped the league in 3-point field-goal percentage with a 37.4 percent mark. UNH looks to continue that trend, shooting 41.0 percent so far through four games. McNamara's 3-point percentage sits 33rd in the nation, and his 4.33 treys a game ranks 12th.

Foul No More
The Wildcats are playing disciplined and organized basketball of late, ranking 12^th in the nation in fewest fouls (52). At the conclusion of last year, New Hampshire ranked 211 out of 351 schools in the same category.

Wildcat Captains
Smith, Armstrong and junior guard Joe Bramanti (Andover, Mass.) bring leadership to the Wildcats this season. Bramanti returns to captaincy after last year's role produced a balanced team. Smith and Armstrong join Bramanti in their junior seasons, all with UNH, with a combined 3,000+ minutes of game time.

Scoring Jump
Leissner and Smith averaged 10 + points a game a year ago, improving the Wildcat offense from last place in the conference in 2013-14 (57.8 ppg) to first in the conference in 2014-15 (67.1 ppg). The +9.3 scoring increase is first among the most improved Division I teams from a season ago, where the 'Cats finished tied for sixth for most improved team with +13 wins.

Herrion Wins Again
Herrion has won 120 games while a coach at UNH and now ranks second all-time on the coaching wins' list. He overtook William Cowell (1916-28) who won 119 games throughout his 12-year coaching career. Next on the list is Gerry Friel (1969-89), who tallied 185 wins in 20 years of leadership.

Look Ma, I'm On TV
The Wildcats are set to play five ESPN3 games, two at home, and three television games in 2015-16. Additionally, New Hampshire played on SportsNet New York (SNY) when they took on the University of Connecticut (Nov. 17; 7 p.m.), will be broadcasted on WBIN Classics and Fox College Sports on Dec. 19 (1 p.m.) against Dartmouth College in Lundholm and lastly Fox College Sports on Jan. 16 (1 p.m.) against Stony Brook University in Durham. The ESPN3 contests will be at Southern Methodist University (Dec. 5; 1:30 p.m.), at Boston College (Dec. 30; 2 p.m.), at UMass Lowell (Jan. 21; 7 p.m.), against the University of Vermont (Jan. 27; 7 p.m.) and against the University of Albany (Feb. 11; 7 p.m.).

New 'Cats in Town
New Hampshire welcomes four newcomers to the roster this season. Guard Andrew Dotson (Arlington, Texas) was the 2014-15 District Offensive MVP in his area during his senior year, averaging 20.3 points per game. McNamara averaged 18 points per game in his senior season and was a regional champion, and All-Conference and All-Area selection. Sophomore guard Jordan Reed (Lucas, Texas) is a transfer from Rice University and played in 12 games but will have to sit out this season. The final freshman is forward David Watkins (Dorchester, Mass.) who was a top-30 player in New England last year. He received the most valuable player award in both junior and senior season at Brimmer and May School.

Graduation Success Rate
The Wildcats received a perfect GSR of 100 percent in the NCAA report released on Nov. 4. Men's basketball was one of four New Hampshire programs that had the unblemished rating. The team was tied for first in the America East conference against other basketball squads in the conference. All 20 athletic programs as a whole recorded a GSR of 90 percent.

The Lone Star State
UNH has seven individuals from the state of Texas. Smith, Dotson, Armstrong, guard Daniel Dion (Cedar Park), Reed, Leissner and guard Ronnel Jordan (San Antonio) all chose the chilly New England weather over the hot lone star state.

2014-15 America East Award Winners
Joining Leissner, Armstrong was an America East All-Conference Third Team member with Matt Miller who joined the coaching staff after graduation. Bramanti was an All-Defensive Team selection and Smith was named to the All-Championship Team for his play during the tournament.

2015-16 America East Weekly Award Winners
Iba Camara – Player of the Week (Nov. 16)

New Hampshire Food Drive
Saturday is the "Beat Hunger Games" Wildcat Food Drive presented by Service Credit Union and WOKQ. Fans can bring non-perishable food and canned goods to the UNH vs American game to fight hunger. Donations were accepted at many games throughout the end of November and all proceeds benefit the NH Food Bank.

Miller Moves On
After Miller was denied a sixth season as a Wildcat, the team decided to add him to the coaching staff to help build the team for a title run. Miller was a key cog to the success last season, leading the America East in 3-point field goal percentage (48.1 percent) and ranking second in threes made (63). He finished his UNH career ranked 10th in threes made in a season and fifth in 3-point field goal percentage in a season. Additionally, Miller's shooting finishes second in the UNH record books for career 3-point field goal percentage.

Wildcats on the Air
The Wildcat Sports Radio Network will broadcast a total of 15 UNH men's basketball regular-season games during the 2015-16 season and will air the games for the America East Championships. Jim Jeannotte, 23-time New Hampshire Sportscaster of the Year handles the play-by-play. Mike Murphy, a five-time winner of the New Hampshire Sportscaster of the Year award, does the color commentating.

The Wildcat Sports Radio Network affiliates include (times/dates subject to change):

WPKX-AM - 930 - Rochester

WGIR-AM - 610 - Manchester

Live Stream - Stretch Internet - UNHWildcats.com

Here is the complete radio schedule:
Nov. 13 vs. Lyndon St. (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 19 at Holy Cross (7 p.m.)
Nov. 28 vs. American (12 p.m.)
Nov. 30 vs. Bryant (7 p.m.)
Dec. 19 vs. Dartmouth (1 p.m.)
Dec. 21 at Boston U. (7 p.m.)
Dec. 30 at Boston College (2 p.m.)
Jan. 9 vs. Binghamton (1 p.m.)
Jan. 16 vs. Stony Brook (1 p.m.)
Jan. 24 vs. Hartford (1 p.m.)
Jan. 27 vs. Vermont (7 p.m.)
Feb. 8 vs. Maine (7 p.m.)
Feb. vs. 11 UAlbany (7 p.m.)
Feb. 17 vs. UMass Lowell (7 p.m.)
Feb. 27 vs. UMBC (12 p.m.)

Preseason Predictions
New Hampshire was selected to finish fourth in the conference this season with 47 points. Leissner was named to the Preseason All-Conference Team as well, the only non-senior selected to the team.

Men's Hoops Media Center
To check out career numbers, year-by-year results, alumni roster and much more, head over to the men's basketball page at UNHWildcats.com and look under the additional links tab to find the media center link.

Looking Ahead
New Hampshire will stay at home to take on Bryant University on Monday, Nov. 30 (7 p.m.). Limited tickets are available so be sure to call the box office at 603-862-4000 or visit HERE.

For the most up-to-date information on the men's basketball team, visit the new UNHWildcats.com. Text UNH to 90561 to sign up for Sports alerts. Message & Data Rates May Apply. 1 message/text. Consent to receive a text message is not a condition of purchasing goods or services. Text HELP to 90561 for info. STOP to cancel. T&Cs & Privacy Policy is available HERE.

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