Maultsby led Wildcats with a career-high 21 points.
DURHAM, N.H. – Junior guard Marque Maultsby (Raleigh, N.C.) led the 'Cats with a career-high 21 points as the University of New Hampshire men's basketball team defeated Hartford, 77-69, Sunday afternoon in a back-and-forth game that featured 15 lead changes and six ties. With the score tied at 69-69 with 1:31 remaining in the second half, UNH ended the game on a 8-0 run to earn the victory.
Maultsby made 8 of 9 from the floor including 3-for-3 from 3-point range. Junior forward Nick Guadarrama (Newington, Conn.) was close behind Maultsby with 19 points.
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 2-2 (1-0 America East), while the Hawks, who entered the game on a five-game win streak, fall to 5-3 overall (2-1 America East).
Traci Carter led the Hawks with 21 points. UNH grabbed 39 rebounds and shot 52.8 percent from the field, while the Hawks posted 26 rebounds and shot 43.9 percent. UNH outscored Hartford, 34-14 in the paint.
Score: New Hampshire 77, Hartford 69 Records: UNH (2-2, 1-0 AE), Hartford (5-3, 2-1 AE) Location: Durham, N.H. (Lundholm Gymnasium) Date: Sunday, December 27, 2020 BOXSCORE | VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS | POSTGAME PRESSER | PHOTO GALLERY HOW IT HAPPENED: Nick Guadarrama (Photo by Jack Bouchard)
First Half:
Hartford opened up the game on an 8-0 run, but Maultsby made a 3-pointer for UNH's first points of the game.
UNH amassed a 5-0 run that began with a 3-pointer by Guadarrama and ended with a bucket by Maultsby at 14:42 to cut the Hartford lead to 10-8.
Maultsby began a second 5-0 run with a 3-pointer and junior forward Jayden Martinez (Cibolo, Texas) scored on a layup which put the 'Cats in the lead 13-12.
In the next five minutes there were seven lead changes with Hartford leading 22-21.
The Hawks then outscored UNH by a 18-12 margin before Guadarrama hit a late 3-pointer to pull the Wildcats within 40-36 at the half.
Marque Maultsby (Photo by Jack Bouchard)
Second Half:
With UNH trailing 50-42, the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run started by a turnaround jumper by junior center Tayler Mattos (New London, N.H.) and ended with a layup by Maultsby with 11:27 remaining in the half to give the Wildcats a 51-50 advantage.
After the Wildcats fell behind at 57-53, Guadarrama evened the scored on a layup and two foul shots.
With the Hawks now leading 65-61 with 3:44 left in the second half, Martinez made a layup and did not convert the three-point play, but UNH got the offensive rebound and Martinez drilled a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 66-65 lead with 3:13 remaining on the clock.
After the Hawks hit a foul shot to tie the game, Maultsby connected from long range to give the Wildcats back the lead at 69-66 with 2:29 remaining.
Hartford responded with a 3-pointer to tie the contest, but UNH went on an 8-0 run to clinch the win.
WILDCAT NOTEBOOK: Tayler Mattos (Photo by Jack Bouchard)
In his UNH debut, Mattos finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and tied his career high with three blocks.
Junior guard Qon Murphy (Charlotte, N.C.) also made his UNH debut with four points, one rebound and one assist.
Martinez tallied 13 points and eight rebounds over 35 minutes.
UNH improved to 2-1 at home this season.
Qon Murphy (Photo by Jack Bouchard) BILL HERRION POSTGAME QUOTES
On the victory
"Great team win for us...coming off the quarantine. Last time we played was three weeks ago today, at Quinnipiac, and we only practiced 5-on-5 this week since Thursday, so give the kids a lot of credit for sucking it up and finding a way. That was a very hard-fought game, and I'm really proud of them."
On playing without Sean Sutherlin
"We're a little bit of a different basketball team right now without Sean Sutherlin... we're trying to pound the ball inside more. I think that was evident with the free throw numbers. We got to the free-throw line 26 times. We didn't shoot it great, but we were really trying to pound the basketball into the paint."
On Hartford
"They came in with a five-game winning streak, and they've got a lot of guys back off a team that was going to play in the finals for the championship in this league last year, so they've got veteran, experienced players in their program.... They're really, really well coached, offensively they have great spacing, and they can make shots. That's why they're tough to guard."
Looking ahead to Monday's rematch
"We're a team that really prides ourselves on rebounding the basketball. It ended up plus-13 at the end of the game. I thought we got beat to a couple of 50-50 rebounds in the first half that we were out of position, they spread out and we got hurt on 3s. So we've got to rebound the ball better, and our ball-screen defense has to be much tighter and much more consistent tomorrow." UP NEXT:
The Wildcats go up against the Hawks again tomorrow, Monday, December 28 at 1:00 p.m. in Durham, N.H. at Lundholm Gymnasium. The game can be watched on ESPN3.
