Leissner (32 pts) & Armstrong (21) Lead 'Cats Past Dartmouth, 83-66

Saturday, December 30

Durham, NH

7 PM

University of New Hampshire

4-10

Dartmouth College

4-7

Dartmouth

New Hampshire

Photo by: Greg Greene

Leissner (32 pts) & Armstrong (21) Lead 'Cats Past Dartmouth, 83-66

12/30/2017 10:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Video Highlights Postgame Press Conference

DURHAM, N.H. – Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas) scored a season-high 32 points and Jacoby Armstrong (Dallas, Texas) netted a season-high 21 points to propel the University of New Hampshire men's basketball team to Saturday night's 83-66 non-conference victory against Dartmouth College at Lundholm Gym.

Leissner made 9 of 16 field goals, including all four 3-point attempts, and 10 of 14 free throws. He also recorded eight rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes.

Armstrong shot 8-for-10 from the floor and was a perfect 4 of 4 from the foul line in his 100^th career game. He also had three rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes.

John Ogwuche (Makurdi, Nigeria) pulled down a career-high eight rebounds and made all three field goal attempts, including a 3-pointer, for seven points; he was also credited with two assists.

DC was led by Miles Wright (14p), Will Emery (12), Ian Sistare (10) and Chris Knight (10).

UNH ends the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 4-10 record. Dartmouth is 4-7.

LOOKING AHEAD

New Hampshire begins America East conference play and the 2018 calendar season Jan. 3 (7 p.m.) at UMBC.
The Wildcats' next home game is Jan. 6 (1 p.m.) against the University at Albany. Tickets are available online at www.unhwildcats.com or by calling (603) 862-4000.

GAME RECAP

The teams traded scores early, but UNH took the lead for good at 14:38 when Iba Camara (Dakar, Senegal) made two fouls shots – his only points of the game – to give the Wildcats a 9-8 lead.
The 'Cats extended an 18-14 lead to 13 points (27-14 at 7:44) with a 9-0 run in which Leissner accounted for five consecutive points and Keon Burns (Beaverton, Ore.) scored the next four.
An Emery dunk lifted the Big Green within 34-23 at 3:22, but Leissner hit a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer, and Josh Hopkins (Greensboro, N.C.) also connected from beyond the arc to cap an 8-2 run that extended the advantage to 42-25 at 1:25.
Leissner's second 3-pointer of the half gave UNH its largest lead of the half, 45-27, but Wright countered with a 3 at the other end of the court to trim the deficit to 45-30 at the half.
New Hampshire continued the hot hand from the perimeter in the opening minutes of the second half to extend the lead to 20 points. Jordan Reed (Lucas, Texas) hit a 3-pointer, then Leissner made back-to-back 3's to give the 'Cats a 54-34 lead at 17:37.
Dartmouth inched within 54-38, but Leissner scored a bucket in the paint and Armstrong threw down his third dunk of the game to reestablish a 20-point cushion.
UNH took its largest lead of the game – 22 points – when Leissner's jumper advanced the score to 63-41 at 13:05.
Trailing 66-46, the Big Green scored seven consecutive points to close within 66-53 at 9:07; the run was capped by a steal and coast-to-coast finish by Wright.
DC pulled within 12 points, 75-63, on Chris Knight's jumper at 3:23.
Armstrong made two free throws and Ogwuche hit a 3-pointer to quickly push the lead to 17 points, 80-63, at 2:57.
The visitors missed a 3-pointer and the front end of a 1-and-1 on the next two possessions, which allowed the 'Cats to push the margin to 19 points on two more Armstrong foul shots at 1:32.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

UNH built a 15-point halftime lead on the strength of 50% shooting from the floor, including 7 of 14 from 3-point range.
Leissner netted 19 first-half points on 5 of 9 FGs and 7 of 8 FTs.
Armstrong, who went to the bench four minutes into the game with two fouls, netted 16 second-half points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor and 4-for-4 at the foul line.
UNH finished the game 12 of 26 on 3-pointers, which marked the second highest total by the 'Cats this season. In comparison, the Big Green was 4-for-17 (23.5%) from 3-point range.
The Wildcats recorded a 35-26 rebounding advantage and converted 12 offensive rebounds in to 17 second-chance points.

UNH NOTEBOOK

Leissner moved to the top of UNH's record book for career free throws attempted with 583. He supplanted the previous benchmark of 576 established by Billy Pappas (1952-55).
Leissner extended his school record for career free throws made to 451; No. 2 on the list is Robin Dixon (1979-83) with 340.
Camara recorded six rebounds against Dartmouth to climb to No. 3 on New Hampshire's career rebounding leaderboard with 828; he surpassed Dan Nolan (1980-84), who finished with 826.
New Hampshire leads the Battle of the Granite State, 35-30, and that includes a 10-3 mark in the 13-year tenure of head coach Bill Herrion.
Herrion recorded his 398^th career win, 161 of which are at UNH.
The 83 points is the highest total against a Division I opponent this season; the Wildcats scored 111 vs. Lyndon State College and 95 against Wheelock College, both of which are D-III programs.