University of New Hampshire Athletics
20-Win Season, Postseason Invites Headline 2016-17 Season
3/23/2017 9:18:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire men's basketball team's program record tying 20 wins and postseason invitations highlight the 2016-17 season recap.
The Wildcats recorded 20 wins this year, which matched last season's program-record mark. New Hampshire secured a home playoff game for the third straight year as the fourth seed in the America East playoffs, and advanced to the semifinals for the third consecutive season. The Wildcats recorded a total of 59 wins the past three years, which is a program record in a 3-year span. UNH won 10 non-conference games this season to set a single-season record in program history. The Wildcats won six straight games heading into the conference semifinals, which is the longest streak since Jan. 31-Feb. 18 of 1994-95. Additionally, UNH is only the third Division-1 team in New England to win 19 or more games the past three seasons.
"I thought we had a very successful season even though we did not reach our ultimate goal of winning the America East Championship and playing in the NCAA Tournament, which is still the main focus of this program," said head coach Bill Herrion. "We know we have work to do in this offseason to ultimately reach our goal next year."
New Hampshire scored 80+ points 11 times this season which is the second most all-time. The team defeated the University of Hartford on Feb. 18 by 30 points (82-52), which is the eighth time in program history with a 30+ point victory over a Division-I program. UNH's nine road wins tied for the nation's lead through March 6. The Wildcats had two huge wins during the Preseason NIT Tournament over Temple (57-52) and Winthrop (65-60), both of which were NCAA tournament teams in recent years.
"We were honored and privileged to be invited to both the CBI and CIT tournament," said Herrion. "Athletic Director Marty Scarano and I spoke at length after the season ended and agreed that this team is tired mentally and physically. Three or four of our primary players played enormous minutes this year and those guys had a lot of wear and tear this season. We felt it was in the best interest of the program to not play in a tournament this year and to put our focus and concentration on getting back in the gym, regrouping our guys and getting ready to be the best team we can be next year to chase a championship."
Seniors Jaleen Smith (Freeport, Texas) and Daniel Dion (Cedar Park, Texas) had a major impact on the team this season, scoring their 1,000th points. Smith finished his career fifth on UNH's all-time scoring list with 1,397 points. Smith also became the program's games-played leader at 122. Smith is also the first Wildcat in program history with 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 260 assists. Smith was named to the America East All-Conference Second Team following the season.
Dion finished his career 15th on UNH's career scoring list with 1,200 points. The senior broke the program record for 3-pointers made in a single season with 94. On Feb. 9 at Vermont he drilled seven threes, which is one shy of the program record for a single game. Dion finished his career second in games played (118) in program history and second all-time in 3-pointers made (244). He also broke the single-season record for threes made with 94 this season. Dion ranked third in scoring this past season with 13.6 points per game and was named to the All-Conference Third Team
Smith and Dion were both instrumental in the team's rebuilding of the UNH basketball brand that went from six wins in their freshman season (2013-14) to winning 19, 20 and 20 games the next three years. Smith finished his career with 12 top-10 career rankings and Dion finished with four.
"Jaleen Smith and Daniel Dion both had terrific senior seasons and the thing, as a coach, that makes you proud is each player has improved from freshman to senior year, statistically," said Herrion. "Both had tremendous senior seasons and both of those guys, along with Jacoby Armstrong, won six games their freshmen seasons and were enormous parts of building this program and having the success that we've had the last three years."
Junior Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas) led UNH in scoring this year with 17.1 points per game and ranked second in rebounding at 6.9 boards per contest. Leissner finished the season sixth in career scoring (1,381) and broke the program's all-time free-throw made record with 368. The junior scored 36 points in the double-overtime loss at UMBC, 105-103, which was the sixth highest single-game scoring total in program history, and highest in the last 20 years. Leissner recorded 27 double-digit scoring games this season and was named to the All-Conference First Team. Leissner will continue his Wildcat career with another season to come. The junior is on pace to break the school's scoring record of 1,861 points held by Al McClain (80-84) with 480 points to go. The forward has six top-10 career rankings with another year to go.
Junior Iba Camara (Dakar, Senegal) had a stellar year on the rebounding front, with 9.5 rebounds per game, placing him 34th in the country. He grabbed 7.1 defensive rebounds per game which ranked him 22nd in the country.
The Wildcats recorded 20 wins this year, which matched last season's program-record mark. New Hampshire secured a home playoff game for the third straight year as the fourth seed in the America East playoffs, and advanced to the semifinals for the third consecutive season. The Wildcats recorded a total of 59 wins the past three years, which is a program record in a 3-year span. UNH won 10 non-conference games this season to set a single-season record in program history. The Wildcats won six straight games heading into the conference semifinals, which is the longest streak since Jan. 31-Feb. 18 of 1994-95. Additionally, UNH is only the third Division-1 team in New England to win 19 or more games the past three seasons.
"I thought we had a very successful season even though we did not reach our ultimate goal of winning the America East Championship and playing in the NCAA Tournament, which is still the main focus of this program," said head coach Bill Herrion. "We know we have work to do in this offseason to ultimately reach our goal next year."
New Hampshire scored 80+ points 11 times this season which is the second most all-time. The team defeated the University of Hartford on Feb. 18 by 30 points (82-52), which is the eighth time in program history with a 30+ point victory over a Division-I program. UNH's nine road wins tied for the nation's lead through March 6. The Wildcats had two huge wins during the Preseason NIT Tournament over Temple (57-52) and Winthrop (65-60), both of which were NCAA tournament teams in recent years.
"We were honored and privileged to be invited to both the CBI and CIT tournament," said Herrion. "Athletic Director Marty Scarano and I spoke at length after the season ended and agreed that this team is tired mentally and physically. Three or four of our primary players played enormous minutes this year and those guys had a lot of wear and tear this season. We felt it was in the best interest of the program to not play in a tournament this year and to put our focus and concentration on getting back in the gym, regrouping our guys and getting ready to be the best team we can be next year to chase a championship."
Seniors Jaleen Smith (Freeport, Texas) and Daniel Dion (Cedar Park, Texas) had a major impact on the team this season, scoring their 1,000th points. Smith finished his career fifth on UNH's all-time scoring list with 1,397 points. Smith also became the program's games-played leader at 122. Smith is also the first Wildcat in program history with 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 260 assists. Smith was named to the America East All-Conference Second Team following the season.
Dion finished his career 15th on UNH's career scoring list with 1,200 points. The senior broke the program record for 3-pointers made in a single season with 94. On Feb. 9 at Vermont he drilled seven threes, which is one shy of the program record for a single game. Dion finished his career second in games played (118) in program history and second all-time in 3-pointers made (244). He also broke the single-season record for threes made with 94 this season. Dion ranked third in scoring this past season with 13.6 points per game and was named to the All-Conference Third Team
Smith and Dion were both instrumental in the team's rebuilding of the UNH basketball brand that went from six wins in their freshman season (2013-14) to winning 19, 20 and 20 games the next three years. Smith finished his career with 12 top-10 career rankings and Dion finished with four.
"Jaleen Smith and Daniel Dion both had terrific senior seasons and the thing, as a coach, that makes you proud is each player has improved from freshman to senior year, statistically," said Herrion. "Both had tremendous senior seasons and both of those guys, along with Jacoby Armstrong, won six games their freshmen seasons and were enormous parts of building this program and having the success that we've had the last three years."
Junior Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas) led UNH in scoring this year with 17.1 points per game and ranked second in rebounding at 6.9 boards per contest. Leissner finished the season sixth in career scoring (1,381) and broke the program's all-time free-throw made record with 368. The junior scored 36 points in the double-overtime loss at UMBC, 105-103, which was the sixth highest single-game scoring total in program history, and highest in the last 20 years. Leissner recorded 27 double-digit scoring games this season and was named to the All-Conference First Team. Leissner will continue his Wildcat career with another season to come. The junior is on pace to break the school's scoring record of 1,861 points held by Al McClain (80-84) with 480 points to go. The forward has six top-10 career rankings with another year to go.
Junior Iba Camara (Dakar, Senegal) had a stellar year on the rebounding front, with 9.5 rebounds per game, placing him 34th in the country. He grabbed 7.1 defensive rebounds per game which ranked him 22nd in the country.
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