Men’s Hoops Travels to Defending AE Champion UAlbany (Jan. 12; 7 p.m.)

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire men's basketball team takes on the University at Albany for the first time this season, Tuesday, Jan. 12 (7 p.m.) at SEFCU Arena.

Cat Facts

New Hampshire held Binghamton to 43 points, the lowest point total an opponent has put up against the Wildcats all season.
Junior Jaleen Smith (Freeport, Texas) went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line to remain the nation's leading freebie shooter. (95.8 percent).
The Wildcats lost to UAlbany three times last season, but only by a combined score of five points.
UNH limited turnovers against Binghamton, tying the season-low mark for turnovers in a game (five).
New Hampshire won its conference opener for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

The State of New Hampshire
New Hampshire solidified its defense after nine days off for a 58-43 America East opening win against Binghamton (Jan. 9). Smith totaled 15 points, on 4 of 8 shooting, with four rebounds, two assists and six free throws made. Junior Jacoby Armstrong (Sachse, Texas) scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds. Sophomore Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas) notched nine points and nine rebounds.

UNH held a 5-14 turnover advantage and shot 33.9 percent from the field.

Four athletes average double-digit scoring this season led by Leissner with 13.5 points. Smith totaled 13.3 points per game followed by Armstrong who tallies 12.3. Junior Daniel Dion (Cedar Park, Texas) is scoring 10.3 points in 10 games played. Sophomore Iba Camara (Dakar, Senegal) paces the team in rebounds per game (9.7), ahead of Leissner (6.5 rpg). The lone senior, Ronnel Jordan (San Antonio, Texas) scored 9.2 points per game. Smith dished 4.2 assists per game and grabs 5.9 rebounds.

Scouting the Great Danes
UAlbany is on a six-game winning streak and has won 11 of its last 12 contests, most recently defeating Vermont, 69-57, on Jan. 9. Junior Mike Rowley scored 18 points and corralled 11 rebounds in the win. Freshman Joe Cremo tallied 11 points followed by senior Evan Singletary with 10. Senior Ray Sanders finished with five steals to lead both teams.

Vermont held the Great Danes to 1 of 11 from beyond the arc but a 41-32 rebound advantage and a 38-28 point-scoring lead pushed UAlbany ahead in the end.
Four players average double-digit scoring, led by Singletary with 12.3. Senior Peter Hooley scored 11.6 points followed by Cremo (10.8 ppg) and Sanders (10.7 ppg). The team is not afraid of sharing the ball as five athletes have 20+ assists headlined by Hooley with 2.9 per game.

Head coach Will Brown continues his success at the helm of UAlbany during his 14^th season. The 2015 America East Coach of the Year is the longest tenured coach in the league and has led the Great Danes to five conference championships, five NCAA Tournament appearances and a CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament appearance.

All-Time Series
The Great Danes hold a 20-13 all-time lead over the Wildcats and have defeated UNH the last three contests. New Hampshire last won at SEFCU Arena on Feb. 9, 2010, defeating UAlbany 62-53.

Best Start Since…
UNH holds an 8-6 record through 14 games for the first time since the 1994-95 season when that team started 8-6 overall. The best 14-game record was 13-1 back in 1926-27 when the team finished 14-1 and was New England Conference champions.

Locked In Leissner
Forward Leissner is coming off a freshman campaign where he led the team in scoring and collected the 2015 America East Rookie of the Year honor. This season, he again leads the team with 13.5 points per game and grabs 6.5 rebounds per game. Leissner has totaled 20+ points three times this season and has two double-doubles. Leissner is eighth in the conference in points per game and ranks eighth in rebounds per game. He sat out because of injury against Brown, American and Bryant and scored 14 points in his return at Abilene Christian.

Zeroed In
Smith totals 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and leads the 'Cats with 4.2 assists per contest. The junior leads the team, as well as the nation, in free-throw percentage, shooting 95.8 percent from the line (46 of 48). The floor general paces the squad in minutes with 35.4 per game. Smith recorded his first double-double of the season, second of his career, in the 82-45 season-opening win against Lyndon State University. In the program's first victory over Bryant University, Smith scored a career-high 23 points (7 of 13) in 40 minutes of action.

Casual Camara
Camara nearly averages a double-double with 9.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. He opened the season with a 20-rebounds effort against Lyndon St. and scored 15 points for his first double-double. The Senegal native has tallied four double-doubles this year to lead the team. A season ago, Camara averaged just 3.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Camara leads the team with seven 10+ rebound games through 14 contests and ranks 30^th in the country in rebounds per game.

Home Sweet Home
The Wildcats are 5-1 when playing at Lundholm Gymnasium this season and are 17-4 in Durham going back to last season. UNH is outscoring its opponents 71.9 to 57.6 in the last 21 home games.

Score, Score Score
UNH is 5-1 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. In the 100-point outburst against Worcester St., Leissner, Camara, Dion, Jordan, junior Joe Bramanti (Andover, Mass.), Armstrong and McNamara scored 10+ points. At Holy Cross, the first foursome completed the feat again followed by five 10+ scorers at Brown. In the Wildcats third 80+-point scoring game against Abilene Christian, Leissner, Smith, Dion and Jordan all pitched in double-figures. The Wildcats lone loss was at BU to a score of 78-74 when five athletes scored 10+ points.

Fives Alive
Dion has a knack for scoring (10.3 ppg), something he's had since arriving at UNH. He scored a season-high 16 points at Abilene Christian (Dec. 3) in his first start this season and at Colgate (Dec. 13). The 6-foot scorer uses his quickness and creative offense to open space for his quick release (37.0 percent). He totaled double-digit scoring in four straight games from Dec. 3 to Dec. 13. During his sophomore season, the Texas native tallied 9.2 points per game after a freshman season where he scored 8.2 per contest.

Let's Go Home
The men's basketball team scheduled a trip to Texas this season to tackle Abilene Christian (Dec. 3; 8 p.m.) and Southern Methodist University (Dec. 5; 1:30 p.m.) to give the six Texas natives on the team a chance to play in front of family and friends. The five-day trip consisted of an 86-75 win over Abilene Christian, the program's first win in the state of Texas, and a 98-44 loss to No. 22 Southern Methodist.

Strong Play
Armstrong poured in a personal-best 26 points, a season-high for a Wildcat, in an 88-77 win at Brown followed by a 22-point outburst against American to lead all scorers. 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 notched seven points, and four rebounds on 3 of 5 shooting from the field. This season, the 2015 America East All-Conference Third Team member is scoring 12.3 points and corralling 4.8 rebounds per game.

Let's Hit The Road
UNH won three straight road games for the first time since the 2005-06 season with wins over the College of the Holy Cross (Nov. 19; 73-69), Brown University (Nov. 24; 88-77) and Abilene Christian (Dec. 3; 86-75). The Wildcats never scored more than 75 points during the 2005-06 streak as they totaled two in the three-game stretch this season.

Old Man On The Mountain
As the lone senior this season, Jordan leads by example on the court. The Texas native poured in a career-best 17 points against Dartmouth on 7 of 11 shooting and followed that up with a team-high 16 points at BU. At Abilene Christian, the guard scored a then career-high 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting in his sixth start of the season. Jordan averages 9.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

The Lone Star State
UNH has seven individuals from the state of Texas. Armstrong, freshman Andrew Dotson (Arlington, Texas), Dion, Jordan, Leissner, transfer Jordan Reed (Lucas, Texas) and Smith all chose the chilly New England weather over the hot lone star state.

Double-Double Dose
UNH student-athletes have tallied seven double-doubles through 13 games, led by Camara who has four. Leissner has two double-doubles and Smith with one. 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 has been close to a double-double four additional times this season. He was two-points shy at Bryant and at BU, one rebound away against Colgate and a point short against Dartmouth.

3-Point D
The Wildcats held Binghamton (Jan. 9) to a season-low 15.0 percent (3 of 20) from beyond the arc in the conference season opener. The Wildcat defense allowed Boston University (Dec. 21) to shoot 47.1 percent on threes followed by Boston College (Dec. 30) who shot 40.0 percent in the two games prior.

Mac Truck
McNamara is shooting 42.0 percent from beyond the arc this season, and went a season-high 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.

Wildcat Captains
Smith, Armstrong and Bramanti 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.

Burn Baby Burn
Sophomore Keon Burns (Beaverton, Ore.) has started in 7 of 13 games this season and averages 3.8 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. The 6-foot, 4-inch guard poured in a career-high 10 points and six rebounds against Brown (Nov. 24). Burns' father Jack played hoops at UNH from 1978-82.

Herrion Wins Again
Head coach Bill Herrion has won 125 games while a head 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, in a 73-69 win over Holy Cross (Nov. 19). 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.), was broadcasted on WBIN Classics and Fox College Sports on Dec. 19 (1 p.m.) against Dartmouth College in Lundholm and lastly will be covered by Fox College Sports on Jan. 16 (1 p.m.) against Stony Brook University in Durham. The ESPN3 contests were at Southern Methodist University (Dec. 5; 1:30 p.m.), at Boston College (Dec. 30; 2 p.m.), and will be 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. Dotson 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. 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. Reed is a transfer from Rice University and played in 12 games but will have to sit out this season because of transfer regulations.

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 UNH athletic programs as a whole recorded a GSR of 90 percent.

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)

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.)- W, 82-45
Nov. 19 at Holy Cross (7 p.m.)- W, 73-69
Nov. 28 vs. American (12 p.m.)- L, 68-50
Nov. 30 vs. Bryant (7 p.m.)- W, 75-67
Dec. 19 vs. Dartmouth (1 p.m.)- W, 76-56
Dec. 21 at Boston U. (7 p.m.)- L, 78-74
Dec. 30 at Boston College (2 p.m.)- L, 72-67 OT
Jan. 9 vs. Binghamton (1 p.m.)- W, 58-43
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.)

The Wildcats are 5-3 overall when radio is broadcasting.

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 returns home to take on Stony Brook University on Saturday, Jan. 16 (1 p.m.) on Fox College Sports.

For the most up-to-date information on the men's basketball program, 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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