Philly Gym Rat (The Perry “QM” McMullin Story)

[PointGuard]

And entering this season, we have so many questions:
When will UNH rise above? [color="DarkRed"]"When the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars"[/color]

When will Albany fold? [color="DarkRed"]We're planning to turn the "Great Danes" into "Chihuahuas" this year[/color]

Why are UNM students suddenly deciding to go to UNH? [color="DarkRed"]I'd like to say they're coming to our games because of our stellar play, but really it's the giveaways that work..."free condom" night was a sell-out[/color]

[PointGuard]

Game #1: Nov. 16, 2019; St. Francis Terriers (0-0) at New Hampshire Wildcats (0-0)

We were called for 9 fouls in the first half and hit just 33% of our shots. St. Francis hit 6 of 7 of their 3-point shots and took a 34-26 lead to the locker room. Bobby Havens scored 19 of our 26 points. The rest of our team hit only 3 of 17 of their FG attempts.

It took us 8-1/2 minutes before we scored in the 2nd half. We continued to fizzle offensively and the refs continued to call most of the fouls against us. We made a couple of small runs but could never close the score enough to truly compete.

Final Score: St. Francis-58, New Hampshire-45. New Hampshire season record: 0-1.

Scoring leaders: Havens-28.

Rebound leaders: Watson-7, Babul-5, Kresse-5, Havens-5.

Assist leaders: Neubauer-3.

Player of the Game: St. Francis’ SG Carlos Hatcher-14 pts, 5 reb.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SG Bobby Havens-28 pts, 5 reb.

Other notes: We embarrassed ourselves in our home opener. We hit just 27% of our shots while St. Francis hit 40% of theirs. We had 20 fouls called against us and St. Francis was charged with just 8. The Terriers got to the line 15 more times and scored 11 more points from on free throws than did we. We were out-rebounded 38-35. The only team stat favoring us was turnovers (15-8).

Our lackluster play will result in an extra practice session each day for a while.

[PointGuard]

Game #2: Nov. 19, 2019; Washington State Cougars (0-1) at New Hampshire Wildcats (0-1)

Our defense was stellar in the first half. We held the Cougars’ shooting to 30% and forced them to make 9 turnovers. We hit 52% of our shots, but again the refs penalized us for 10 fouls. Four of our starters had 2 fouls apiece. We held a 38-24 halftime advantage. Heinrich Neubauer scored 11 points (in 5 minutes of play) to lead our scoring.

We continued to shoot well in the 2nd half and played strong defensively until late in the game when we let the Cougars cut into our 30 point lead.

Final Score: New Hampshire-76, Washington State-51. New Hampshire season record: 1-1.

Scoring leaders: Neubauer-17, Havens-12, Kresse-10, Watson-8, Strickland-8.

Rebound leaders: Watson-6, Strickland-5.

Assist leaders: Neubauer-3, Strickland-3, Kresse-3.

Player of the Game: PG Heinrich Neubauer-17 pts, 3 assists, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Vernard Strickland-8 pts, 5 reb, 3 assists, 3 steals.

Other notes: We dropped in 53% of our shots while holding the Cougars to 35% shooting. We lost the battle of the boards 37-29, but held a 19-9 turnover advantage. Once again we were assessed 20 fouls while Washington State was whistled for just 11 infractions. Heinrich Neubauer’s offensive performance (17 points on 5 for 7 shooting from the field (including 2 for 2 from 3 point distance) and 5 for 6 at the line) in 19 minutes of play was a pleasant surprise.

[CoachC]

And entering this season, we have so many questions:
When will UNH rise above? [color="DarkRed"]"When the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars"[/color]

When will Albany fold? [color="DarkRed"]We're planning to turn the "Great Danes" into "Chihuahuas" this year[/color]

Why are UNM students suddenly deciding to go to UNH? [color="DarkRed"]I'd like to say they're coming to our games because of our stellar play, but really it's the giveaways that work..."free condom" night was a sell-out[/color]

As always PG has it all figured out!

[PointGuard]

Game #3: Nov. 23, 2019; New Hampshire Wildcats (1-1) at New Mexico Lobos (0-1)

We will need to be able to crack New Mexico’s 3-2 zone defense to have a chance to win. New Mexico is strong (and deep) inside, although their big men didn’t step up in their first game this year. SF Tarrell Anderson scored 18 points in their opener.

We scored the first basket of the game but then let New Mexico go on an 11 point run. New Mexico’s fans kept us off balance early in the game, but we gradually got on track and took a 23-19 lead with 4 minutes to go in the 1st half. But the half ended with us trailing 29-27. Byron Windlan led our scoring with 7 points. Yet again we had 3 starters with 2 fouls in the first half.

We moved out to a 42-33 lead in the first 6 minutes of the 2nd half. New Mexico then rolled off 8 straight points and their crowd got back into the game. We fell apart in the final minutes of the game.

Final Score: New Mexico-61, New Hampshire-52. New Hampshire season record: 1-2.

Scoring leaders: Havens-11, Windlan-10.

Rebound leaders: WIndlan-8, Kresse-7, Babul-5, Watson-5.

Assist leaders: Strickland-4, Neubauer-3.

Player of the Game: New Mexico’s SG Sean Abney-15 pts, 2 reb, 2 assists, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SF Byron Windlan-10 pts, 8 reb, 1 steal.

Other notes: We had a hard time making a basket late in the game and our shooting slipped to 38% compared to New Mexico’s 45%. We out-rebounded the Lobos 34-30, but we turned the ball over 16 times while New Mexico had just 11 turnovers.

[PointGuard]

Game #4: Nov. 26, 2019; Bowling Green Falcons (0-3) at New Hampshire Wildcats (1-2)

Bowling Green has had a tough start to their season but they have yet to play at home. Their center, Jeff Tucker, is their leading scorer with 13.0 ppg.
We shot well (50%) and built up a 9 point lead only to surrender almost all of it in the waning minutes of the 1st half. Vernard Strickland and Bobby Havens both had 7 points to pace our scoring.

We were in control throughout the 2nd half and pulled away at the end to win easily.

Final Score: New Hampshire-71, Bowling Green-54. New Hampshire season record: 2-2.

Scoring leaders: Havens-20, Strickland-12, Windlan-8, Kresse-8.

Rebound leaders: Windlan-6.

Assist leaders: Neubauer-5, Strickland-3.

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-20 pts, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SF Byron Windlan-8 pts, 6 reb, 2 assists, 2 steals.

Other notes: We were on fire throughout the game, hitting 56% of our shots. We played strong defensively, limiting Bowling Green to 36% shooting and forcing them to make 18 turnovers. But we turned the ball over 19 times. We held a 28-23 rebounding advantage.

[PointGuard]

Game #5: Nov. 30, 2019; Purdue Boilermakers (2-2) at New Hampshire Wildcats (2-2)

The Boilermakers opened the season with a big win over #13 Kansas but have faltered on the road in their past 2 games. Purdue has some talented players at all positions.

The refs called 2 fouls against both Andrew Kresse and Bobby Havens in the first 6 minutes of play, putting both of them on the bench. To make matters worse, Jake Watson injured his hand in the first couple minutes so 3 of our starters were off the court. After that we were simply out-manned and out-muscled. Purdue took a 40-32 halftime advantage as they hit 47% of their shots and we hit 39% of ours. They also out-rebounded us 20-15. Bobby Havens scored 7 points in his 6 minutes on the court.

We struggled to cut the Boilermakers’ lead throughout much of the 2nd half but it remained between 5 and 10 points until they went on a roll to pull ahead by 20 late in the half. We reeled them back in over the last few minutes, but it was too little too late.

Final Score: Purdue-73, New Hampshire-64. New Hampshire season record: 2-3.

Scoring leaders: Havens-17, Jones-8.

Rebound leaders: Jones-6, Kresse-5.

Assist leaders: Strickland-3, Jones-3.

Player of the Game: Purdue’s C Julian Ausler-16 pts, 7 reb, 3 assists, 2 blocks.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SF/PF Aaron Jones-8 pts, 6 reb, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.

Other notes: Purdue outshot us 47% to 39%. The Boilermakers had a 35-30 rebounding advantage, but we offset that by forcing them to make 13 turnovers while we turned the ball over just 8 times. The ultimate difference, though, was that Purdue went to the line 13 more times and scored 9 more points of free throws (the difference in the score) than we did. We got extremely good production from Aaron Jones in the first game which he got much floor time as he filled in for the injured Jake Watson.

Jake Watson’s injury is expected to be healed before our next game.

While it’s obvious the step up in the level of competition for our pre-conference games is taking a toll on our record, I’m hopeful that it is toughening up our team for when we play America East opponents.

[PointGuard]

Game #6: Dec. 3, 2019; Penn State Nittany Lions (3-2) at New Hampshire Wildcats (2-3)

We play a second-straight Big 10 opponent, but none of their wins have been against strong teams. Their point guard Delvin Gunn is averaging 17.2 ppg.

Purdue sliced and diced us on the boards early in the 1st half (including grabbing 6 offensive rebounds in the first 5 minutes of play) to allow them to pull ahead by 10 points. We eventually cut their lead in half, but they then pulled away late in the half to take a 43-30 halftime advantage. Four of our starters had 2 first half fouls apiece. Bobby Havens was our leading scorer with 12 points.

The second half was a replay of the first with Penn State dominating the boards and opening a 22 point lead. Delvin Gunn hit 6 big 3 pointers. We just didn’t have the fire power to compete.

Final Score: Penn State-79, New Hampshire-62. New Hampshire season record: 2-4.

Scoring leaders: Havens-21, Kresse-9, Reid-8, Neubauer-8.

Rebound leaders: Kresse-6, Havens-6, Babul-5, Windlan-5.

Assist leaders: Strickland-4, Neubauer-3.

Player of the Game: Penn State’s PG Delvin Gunn-27 pts, 2 reb, 1 assist.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SG Bobby Havens-21 pts, 6 reb, 2 assists, 1 steal.

Other notes: Penn State hit 42% of their FG attempts, and we hit 39% of our shots. The Nittany Lions pulled down 45 rebounds to our 31.

[PointGuard]

What’s happening to the Wildcats?

That’s a question on many peoples’ minds. We’ve only won 1/3 of our games and have lost more than we’ve won on our home court. There are a number of factors for this, including the following:

a. A tougher schedule this year than in past seasons.

b. A revision of our primary offensive sets this year. I’ve dropped the 5-out offense and replaced it with the Flex Offense. So even though we’ve kept the triangle and high post offenses in our arsenal, our players (even our most experienced players) are still learning the flex system and not implementing it optimally.

c. Foul troubles, particularly for our two starting guards (PG Vernard Strickland and SG Bobby Havens) and starting center Andrew Kresse. They’ve been getting into foul trouble early and therefore have been sitting on the bench more than we’d like.

d. A disproportionate amount of fouls called against us as compared to our opponents. That has put our opponents on the line far more than us…and resulted in them scoring more points of free throws than us.

e. Poor shooting. As a team we are hitting just 41% of our FG attempts and 34% of our 3’s. We need better shot selection. As a result, we’re only averaging 61.7 ppg (291st best in the country).

f. Failure to box out on the boards which has resulted in a -3.5 rpg for us.

g. Going up against teams with strong big men. Not only has this contributed to our rebounding problems, but it also has meant that our opponents are blocking too many of our shots (4.2 bpg). 348 teams are experiencing fewer blocks than us.

h. Bobby Havens is scoring well (18.2 ppg), but that is lower than last year and he’s hitting less than 40% of his shots.

i. No other player has stepped up to be a consistent scorer. We don’t have one other player who is even averaging 7.0 ppg.

j. Our big men have been far less productive offensively and less dominating on the boards than expected. In particular Jake Watson and Vincent O’Conner have failed to step up to their increased responsibilities at the PF position. On a positive note, both are hitting a high percentage of their shots, but they just don’t shoot enough. Instead they are passing up good shots.

k. PF Vernard Strickland has not played as strongly as last year, shooting poorly and scoring less, dishing out fewer assists, and pulling down fewer rebounds. Some of this is the result of his being tagged with a lot of fouls, thus limiting his court time and his effectiveness when on the court.

l. SF’s Byron Windlan and Brad Reid have played adequately, but neither has been able to demonstrate consistency.

m. Our lack of dominance at home has kept our fans from really getting into the game and thus providing us with sustained momentum.

n. A few positives: (1) we’re protecting the ball well, turning the ball over just 11.5 times a game (20th best in the nation)…a big part of that is that we are only allowing our opponents to steal the ball 3.3 times per game (9th best in the nation); (2) Freshman PG Heinrich Neubauer has been much better than anyone could have anticipated and freshman SG Rashun House has shot and scored well, even though he has thus far had limited court time; (3) Senior walk-on SF Aaron Jones has played well in a reserve roll and has filled in admirably at the PF position.

I’m at a point where I’m not overly concerned about our remaining 5 pre-conference games, but just want to get the team prepared to fire on all cylinders once conference play begins.

[PointGuard]

Here’s the Top 5 in the Media Poll: 1. Utah, 2. Kentucky, 3. Duke, 4. Syracuse, 5. North Carolina