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University of New Hampshire Athletics
Jaxson Baker helped spark the 'Cats in Saturday's win over Bryant. (Andrew Yourell photo)
Insider Report: 'Something Special'
3/6/2023 6:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball, UNH Insider
'Cats Head to UMass Lowell on Tuesday, Take Aim at America East Title Shot
DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire men's basketball team pulled off a huge 67-60 win over Bryant University on Saturday afternoon in front of a rocking and raucous crowd in Lundholm Gymnasium, earning itself a spot in the semifinals of the America East tournament for the first time since 2017.
Head coach Bill Herrion had little time to savor the triumph.
By the time he talked to his team in the locker room, concluded his post-game media obligations and made his way back upstairs to Lundholm, another quarterfinal game of great interest to Herrion and his staff was under way. In that one, UMass Lowell quickly set a tone en route to an 85-54 rout of Maine.
That game set up a Jersey Mike's America East semifinal between No. 2 seed UMass Lowell and No. 3 seed UNH on Tuesday night at 6 in a sold-out Costello Athletic Center in Lowell.
No. 5 Binghamton plays at No. 1 seed Vermont on Tuesday night at 7 in the other semifinal.
The semifinal winners meet on Saturday at 11 a.m. for the league championship at the home of the highest remaining seed in a game that will be televised on ESPN2.
The Wildcats have never played in an America East title game.
The UMass Lowell win not only determined UNH's semifinal opponent, it sent Herrion on a painful mission: after he got home, he sat down to watch a replay of his team's game against the River Hawks a week earlier.
"I went back – I didn't want to, but I had to," Herrion said with a chuckle. "I had to watch the first half of our game when we got beat badly down there."
UMass Lowell jumped on the Wildcats early in Lowell on Saturday, Feb. 25, led 40-25 at the half and rolled to a 92-55 win.
"I was thinking about what we have to do this time around," Herrion said. "We're not going to reinvent the wheel, but what changes can we make, especially defensively, to give ourselves a better chance to win the game Tuesday night."
It's a tall task.
The River Hawks have the best overall record in the league at 25-7 and at 11-5 in conference play were second to Vermont, which was 14-2.
UNH and UMass Lowell were the only teams to beat Vermont in league play.
The River Hawks have won their last five games and eight of their last nine, the only loss in that stretch was a rematch, 93-81, at Vermont.
UMass Lowell has averaged 82.7 points a game in its last eight contests.
Turnovers hurt UNH badly in that loss at UMass Lowell, which was played in the Tsongas Arena, as opposed to Costello (capacity 850-900) where the River Hawks have played 14 of their 16 home games this season. They are undefeated in all their home games.
"We've got to take care of the ball," Herrion said. "We can't turn it over and let them get out in transition. There's no defense for live ball turnovers."
The Wildcats have been among the top teams in the nation all season in limiting turnovers (they are currently ranked 11th with 9.8 turnovers per game), but they had 17 in that loss in Lowell. UNH had three points off turnovers in the game. UMass Lowell had 23.
On the plus side, Herrion's group beat UMass Lowell in Durham, 69-65, on Jan. 28.
UNH had 12 turnovers and UMass Lowell 14 in that one.
Junior forward Clarence Daniels led the Wildcats with 22 points and 13 rebounds for one of his 15 double-doubles on the season, junior guard Kyree Brown had 12 points and 10 assists, junior guard Nick Johnson had 12 points and six assists and graduate student Jaxson Baker had 14 points and made four his eight three-point shot attempts.
Another focus for UNH on Tuesday night will be defense around the basket.
"When we beat them here at home the first time around, we did a good job defensively in the post," Herrion said. "Down there, they really pounded the ball inside."
Senior Abdoul Karim Coulibaly – 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds – is the big weapon on the inside. He had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the UMass Lowell win over UNH and averages 11.8 points and 7.8 rebounds a game.
Bottom line, Herrion is proud of the job his assistants – Chris Mohr and Herrion's son, Ryan – did to identify players and put together a team after the squad was deleted by transfers and graduation a year ago. And proud, too, of how the players have hung together and performed.
"We coached them hard," Herrion said. "We always do. These guys deserve all the credit for conforming to what we want to do and how we want to play."
Now they have an opportunity to enter uncharted waters and reach the league championship game for the first time.
"You get this far, you get this close, it's not, 'Wow, we're here," Herrion said Monday morning. "It's, 'Now, how can we win this game tomorrow night and do something that's never been done here? . . . We're one of four teams that still has a shot in our league. I told them yesterday, we've got a chance to do something unbelievably special if we take care of business down in Lowell."
Head coach Bill Herrion had little time to savor the triumph.
By the time he talked to his team in the locker room, concluded his post-game media obligations and made his way back upstairs to Lundholm, another quarterfinal game of great interest to Herrion and his staff was under way. In that one, UMass Lowell quickly set a tone en route to an 85-54 rout of Maine.
That game set up a Jersey Mike's America East semifinal between No. 2 seed UMass Lowell and No. 3 seed UNH on Tuesday night at 6 in a sold-out Costello Athletic Center in Lowell.
No. 5 Binghamton plays at No. 1 seed Vermont on Tuesday night at 7 in the other semifinal.
The semifinal winners meet on Saturday at 11 a.m. for the league championship at the home of the highest remaining seed in a game that will be televised on ESPN2.
The Wildcats have never played in an America East title game.
The UMass Lowell win not only determined UNH's semifinal opponent, it sent Herrion on a painful mission: after he got home, he sat down to watch a replay of his team's game against the River Hawks a week earlier.
"I went back – I didn't want to, but I had to," Herrion said with a chuckle. "I had to watch the first half of our game when we got beat badly down there."
UMass Lowell jumped on the Wildcats early in Lowell on Saturday, Feb. 25, led 40-25 at the half and rolled to a 92-55 win.
"I was thinking about what we have to do this time around," Herrion said. "We're not going to reinvent the wheel, but what changes can we make, especially defensively, to give ourselves a better chance to win the game Tuesday night."
It's a tall task.
The River Hawks have the best overall record in the league at 25-7 and at 11-5 in conference play were second to Vermont, which was 14-2.
UNH and UMass Lowell were the only teams to beat Vermont in league play.
The River Hawks have won their last five games and eight of their last nine, the only loss in that stretch was a rematch, 93-81, at Vermont.
UMass Lowell has averaged 82.7 points a game in its last eight contests.
Turnovers hurt UNH badly in that loss at UMass Lowell, which was played in the Tsongas Arena, as opposed to Costello (capacity 850-900) where the River Hawks have played 14 of their 16 home games this season. They are undefeated in all their home games.
"We've got to take care of the ball," Herrion said. "We can't turn it over and let them get out in transition. There's no defense for live ball turnovers."
The Wildcats have been among the top teams in the nation all season in limiting turnovers (they are currently ranked 11th with 9.8 turnovers per game), but they had 17 in that loss in Lowell. UNH had three points off turnovers in the game. UMass Lowell had 23.
On the plus side, Herrion's group beat UMass Lowell in Durham, 69-65, on Jan. 28.
UNH had 12 turnovers and UMass Lowell 14 in that one.
Junior forward Clarence Daniels led the Wildcats with 22 points and 13 rebounds for one of his 15 double-doubles on the season, junior guard Kyree Brown had 12 points and 10 assists, junior guard Nick Johnson had 12 points and six assists and graduate student Jaxson Baker had 14 points and made four his eight three-point shot attempts.
Another focus for UNH on Tuesday night will be defense around the basket.
"When we beat them here at home the first time around, we did a good job defensively in the post," Herrion said. "Down there, they really pounded the ball inside."
Senior Abdoul Karim Coulibaly – 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds – is the big weapon on the inside. He had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the UMass Lowell win over UNH and averages 11.8 points and 7.8 rebounds a game.
Bottom line, Herrion is proud of the job his assistants – Chris Mohr and Herrion's son, Ryan – did to identify players and put together a team after the squad was deleted by transfers and graduation a year ago. And proud, too, of how the players have hung together and performed.
"We coached them hard," Herrion said. "We always do. These guys deserve all the credit for conforming to what we want to do and how we want to play."
Now they have an opportunity to enter uncharted waters and reach the league championship game for the first time.
"You get this far, you get this close, it's not, 'Wow, we're here," Herrion said Monday morning. "It's, 'Now, how can we win this game tomorrow night and do something that's never been done here? . . . We're one of four teams that still has a shot in our league. I told them yesterday, we've got a chance to do something unbelievably special if we take care of business down in Lowell."
Players Mentioned
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