Tchoukuiegno Scores Career-High 19 Points in 69-67 Win at UMass Lowell

Saturday, February 20

Lowell, Mass.

1 PM

University of New Hampshire

10-8,9-6America East

UMass Lowell

8-11,7-8America East

New Hampshire

UMass Lowell

Photo by: Michelle Bronner

Tchoukuiegno Scores Career-High 19 Points in 69-67 Win at UMass Lowell

2/20/2021 5:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

LOWELL, Mass. – Redshirt freshman Blondeau Tchoukuiegno (Montreal, Quebec) scored a career-high 19 points and junior Nick Guadarrama (Newington, Conn.) recorded one of his career-high four steals at the final buzzer to secure a 69-67 victory for the University of New Hampshire men's basketball team in Saturday afternoon's regular-season finale against UMass Lowell at Costello Athletic Center.

The win lifted UNH into third in the America East standings and secured the No. 3 seed for the upcoming 2021 Hercules Tires America East Men's Basketball Playoffs. The Wildcats (10-8 overall, 9-6 AE) will host a pod next weekend that includes the sixth and seventh seeds.

Tchoukuiegno scored 12 of his personal-best 19 points in the second half, when he made 3 of 4 from the floor, including 2-for-3 on 3-pointers, and was perfect on four free throws; he also tallied three of his four assists and played all 20 minutes after halftime.

In addition to the steals, Guadarrama finished with 13 points, four rebounds and three blocks – another personal best. Redshirt freshman Nick Johnson (Bronx, N.Y.) recorded 13 points, team-high seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Junior Qon Murphy (Charlotte, N.C.) had 10 points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block.

UMass Lowell falls to 8-11 and 7-8 in America East. The River Hawks were led by Connor Withers (16 points), Allin Blunt (14) and Kalil Thomas (12).

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FIRST HALF

There were three ties and one lead change in the first half – all in the last five minutes.
UMass Lowell led 9-4 lead at the first media timeout (at 15:38) by making 4 of 6 field goal attempts in comparison to UNH's 2-for-7.
The Wildcats inched within two points on a layup by Tayler Mattos (New London, N.H.) at 13:39 and trailed by that 10-8 score at the next media timeout (11:52).
The River Hawks went on a 7-2 spurt to open up a 17-10 lead at 8:44.
Jayden Martinez (Cibolo, Texas) drove through the lane for a layup at 8:17, and the Wildcats trailed by that 17-12 at the third media timeout of the half (7:24).
Tchoukuiegno drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to ignite a 13-5 run that gave New Hampshire its first lead of the game, 25-23.
That 3-ball lifted the 'Cats within 18-15, and then Mattos and Murphy made back-to-back layups to trim the margin to 20-19 at 5:52.
Following a UMass Lowell 3-pointer, consecutive layups from Johnson and Tchoukuiegno tied the score, 23-23, at 4:35.
Mattos' tip-in dunk off a miss gave UNH its first lead, 25-23, at 1:26.
Guadarrama hit a step-back jumper to put the 'Cats back in front, 27-25, with 44 seconds remaining and Tchoukuiegno beat the buzzer with a layup in the lane to send UNH into the locker room with a 29-27 halftime lead.

SECOND HALF

UMass Lowell hit back-to-back 3-pointers to retake the lead, 33-29.
A pair of layups by Murphy forged the fourth tie of the game, 33-33, at 18:02.
UNH trailed by one point, 38-37, at the first media timeout of the second half (at 15:22) and by three points, 44-41, at the next media timeout (11:37).
Tchoukuiegno's 3-pointer from the right wing gave the Wildcats a 46-45 lead at 10:21, but the River Hawks scored the next four points to go back ahead, 49-46, at 9:13.
Guadarrama's jumper and Murphy's driving layup made it 50-49 in favor of the 'Cats at 7:37.
Trailing 51-50, Tchoukuiegno hit a deep 3-pointer from straightaway and Johnson hit four consecutive foul shots to fuel a 7-0 run that gave UNH a 57-51 lead at 4:52 that would not be relinquished.
Murphy drew a charge at 1:57, which led to a pair of Martinez free throws that extended the Wildcats' advantage to 61-57 at 1:40, and then Guadarrama's 3-pointer gave UNH its largest lead of the game, seven points (64-57), with 58 seconds remaining.
A dunk by Martinez advanced the score to 68-62 with 20 seconds to play, but he was called for a technical foul (hanging on the rim) and the subsequent UML free throw made it a five-point game.
At the foul line for two shots with nine seconds on the clock, Allin Blunt made the first and missed the second but Anthony Blunt grabbed the offensive rebound and Kalil Thomas hit a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 68-67 with five seconds remaining.
A UNH timeout was followed by one from UML, and the River Hawks fouled Johnson before the ball was inbounded. He made the front end of the double-bonus at the free throw line to extend the lead to 69-67.
UMass Lowell grabbed the defensive rebound and pushed the ball upcourt. Bryce Daley drove the lane and attempted a kickout pass, but Guadarrama intercepted the ball at the buzzer to secure the win.
There were four ties and six lead changes in the second half.

UNH NOTEBOOK

The 2021 Hercules Tires America East Men's Basketball Playoffs will mark the first time UNH is the No. 3 seed in conference tournament history (dating back to the 1980 ECAC NAC tourney).
It is also the Wildcats' highest seeding since the 1995 North Atlantic Conference tourney, when they were the No. 2 seed.
UNH ended the regular season with back-to-back wins against UMass Lowell and with three wins the last four games.
Tchoukuiegno scored his career-high 19 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the floor, including 3 of 4 on 3's, and a 4-for-4 effort at the foul line.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

There were seven ties and seven lead changes in the game. The largest lead by both teams was seven points, and neither team had a scoring run of longer than seven points.
UNH made 9 of 11 free throws in the final 5:30; up until that point, the 'Cats were 4-for-9 at the foul line.
After a slow shooting start, UNH made 14 of 34 (41.2%) first-half field goal attempts. At the other end of the court, UML cooled off after its hot shooting start with a .348 field goal percentage (8 of 23) in the first half.
The Wildcats continued to heat up in the second half at 52.2 percent (12-23) and finished with a .464 field goal percentage. UML shot 41.9 percent in the second half and .389 overall.
New Hampshire outscored the hosts 22-8 in the paint in the first half and 38-24 overall.
Both teams struggled from the perimeter in the first half. UNH made 1 of 8 3-pointers, while the River Hawks were 2-for-7. The Wildcats finished 4 of 17 (23.5%), UML was 7-for-23 (30.4%).
The home team recorded a 42-31 rebounding advantage, including a 15-8 edge on the offensive glass that led to a 12-4 edge in second chance points.

SERIES NOTEBOOK

UNH has an 11-6 lifetime record against UMass Lowell, all which have come with head coach Bill Herrion at the helm of the program.
New Hampshire won the last two meetings to win the season series, 2-1. The teams split a pair of games at Lundholm Gym on Feb. 5-6.

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