Men’s Hoops Welcomes Vermont on Western Wednesday (Jan. 27; 7p.m.) – ESPN3

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire will play its fifth ESPN3 game at Lundholm Gymnasium against the University of Vermont on Western Wednesday, Jan. 27 (7 p.m.) with its fourth straight victory in sight.

Social Media
Be sure to follow the men's basketball team on Twitter (@UNHMBB) for up-to-date information on the program.

Cat Facts

The Wildcats are on their longest winning streak of the season, three games.
New Hampshire has outrebounded its opponents 49.3-27.6 in the last three contests.
Senior Ronnel Jordan (San Antonio, Texas) scored a career-high 25 points against Hartford on a personal-best 10 baskets.
Sophomore Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas) was named America East Player of the Week after averaging 24.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 59.6 percent shooting per game last week.
New Hampshire holds a 6-2 record overall and an 18-5 record at home, going back to last season.

Looking Ahead
The Wildcats close out the first half of America East play at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Saturday, Jan. 30 (1 p.m.). After a trip the Binghamton University UNH returns home on Monday, Feb. 8 (7 p.m.) for the University of Maine. Limited tickets are available so visit UNHWildcats.com/tickets or call 603-862-4000 for up-to-date ticket information.

The State of New Hampshire
New Hampshire secured its third straight victory against Hartford (Jan. 24) in the Wildcats sixth game scoring 80+ points (84-71). Jordan's 25 points led the Wildcats while junior Jaleen Smith (Freeport, Texas) and Leissner tallied 19 and 17 points, respectively. UNH was under pressure all afternoon from Pancake Thomas, Hartford's starting guard, who scored 38 points on 12 of 17 shooting.

New Hampshire had no trouble scoring this game, especially in the paint where it held a 42-18 advantage. The glass was easygoing as well (49-25), as the Wildcats recorded their third straight game with a 20+ lead on rebounds. The 'Cats grabbed 14 offensive boards to the Hawks' five for a 16-9 second-chance-scoring advantage.

Leissner continues to pace the team in scoring with 15.3 points per game. The sophomore collects 6.6 boards per contest, to rank second being sophomore Iba Camara (Dakar, Senegal.) who grabs 9.5 per game. Smith scores 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Junior Jacoby Armstrong (Sachse, Texas) has been a scoring force the last few games, averaging 12.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game this season

Scouting the Catamounts
Vermont currently holds a two-game winning streak, taking care of Binghamton and UMBC recently. At home against UMBC, the Catamounts bested the Retrievers 79-72 on bench play and second-chance points. UVM outplayed the opponents bench, 20-12, and controlled the paint, 40-34. The Catamounts totaled four double-digit scorers, led by Kurt Steidl with 17 points. Dre Wills recorded 11 points and 10 rebounds. Ethan O'Day and Ernie Duncan scored 14 and 13 points, respectively.

The Catamounts average four double-digit scorers, led by Trae Bell-Haynes with 12.4 per game. Steidl scores 11.2 followed by O'Day with 11.1. Duncan averages 10.4 points to round out the scorers. O'Day corrals 6.0 rebounds per game to pace the squad, and also stuffs 1.8 shots per game.

Vermont is coaches by John Becker who has been at the helm for four years. The 2014 America East Coach of the Year has guided the Catamounts to four 20-win seasons, four straight postseason berths (NCAA, NIT, CBI - twice), won an America East Tournament title (2012), an America East Regular Season crown (2014) and a NCAA Tournament game (2012). He owns a career record of 87-49 and is 51-13 in America East at Vermont.

All-Time Series
Vermont has a good hold on the all-time series, which totals 142 games played (92-50 overall). The Wildcats and Catamounts split the season series last year, both teams winning on their respective home courts. The last time the Catamounts won at Lundholm was on Feb. 19, 2014 in a 79-44 win.

Western Wednesday
Today's sponsorship is called Western Wednesday, with a general Western theme taking over Lundholm Gym. Country music will be played during stoppages of play and there will be a special country line dance halftime performance by On The Dance Floor with Gail Eaton. Fans are encouraged to wear western gear for a chance at giveaways.

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 15.3 points per game and grabs 6.6 rebounds per game. Leissner has totaled 20+ points six times this season, most recently at UMass Lowell (Jan. 21) in a 27-point night just after a career-high 30-point outburst at Maine (Jan. 18). Leissner is third in the conference in points per game and ranks seventh in rebounds per game.

30-Point Special
Leissner recorded the Wildcats' first 30-point scorer since Jan. 11, 2011 when Tyrone Conley scored 33 points against Hartford. Conley finished with 10 field goals including six threes in the game, both single-game highs that season. Leissner did his work in the paint with 11 of 18 shooting and no 3-point attempts. The sophomore also finished 8 of 10 from the free-throw line. In just 30 minutes of action, Leissner also grabbed seven rebounds.

AE Free Throw: 1, 2
The Wildcats hold the top-two free throw shooters in the conference led by junior Daniel Dion (Cedar Park, Texas) who holds the number one with a 90.9 percentage (30-33). Smith holds the number two spot shooting 87.3 percent (55-63) this season. Dion is unranked nationally because he makes 2.1 free throws per game when he needs to shoot 2.5 per contest.

Zeroed In
Smith totals 12.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and leads the 'Cats with 4.0 assists per contest. The floor general paces the squad in minutes with 35.1 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 9.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. He opened the season with a 20-rebound effort against Lyndon St. and scored 15 points for his first double-double. The Senegal native has tallied five 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 nine 10+ rebound games through 19 contests and ranks 35^th in the country in rebounds per game.

Home Sweet Home
The Wildcats are 6-2 when playing at Lundholm Gymnasium this season and are 18-5 in Durham going back to last season.

Fives Alive
Dion has a knack for scoring (9.7 ppg), something he's had since arriving at UNH. Dion drilled a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds to play against UMass Lowell to push the Wildcats to a 78-76 victory on the road, a play which finished #3 on SportsCenter's top-10 plays of the night. He scored a season-high 19 points at Maine (Jan. 18) as he matched a career-high in free-throws made (7). The 6-foot scorer uses his quickness and creative offense to open space for his quick release (36.8 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-active 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 recorded his second-career double-double at UMass Lowell with 20 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes of action. He poured in a personal-best 26 points in an 88-77 win at Brown followed by a 22-point outburst against American to lead all scorers. This season, the 2015 America East All-Conference Third Team member is scoring 12.1 points and corralling 5.1 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 25 points against Hartford on 10 of 17 shooting. Jordan averages 8.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game after starting 15 of 19 games played.

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 nine double-doubles through 19 games, led by Camara who has five. Leissner has two double-doubles, while Smith and Armstrong have totaled one each. 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
Freshman Pat McNamara (Arlington Heights, Ill.) is shooting 42.2 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 junior 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.

Burn Baby Burn
Sophomore Keon Burns (Beaverton, Ore.) has started in 7 of 16 games this season and averages 3.4 points and 1.8 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 128 games while a head coach at UNH and 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
By the end of the season, the Wildcats will have played six games on ESPN3 and three additional games on a local TV broadcast. So far, UNH has played on ESPN3 at UConn, at Southern Methodist University, at Boston College and at UMass Lowell. The Wildcats will play on ESPN3 at home against Vermont and Albany. New Hampshire wrapped up its television games against Stony Brook on Fox College Sports. UNH also played on WBIN Classics against Dartmouth and was on SportsNet New York at UConn, as well.

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)
Tanner Leissner – Player of the Week (Jan. 25)

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.)- L, 80-50
Jan. 24 vs. Hartford (1 p.m.) – W, 84-71
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 6-4 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.

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. Click HERE to sign up for newsletters on your favorite sports.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results