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

[PointGuard]

Game #7: Dec. 7, 2019; New Hampshire Wildcats (2-4) at Massachusetts Minutemen (3-2)

Massachusetts has a 3-0 home record. PG Trenton Pepper is averaging 13.0 ppg and SF Nate Barnes is scoring 12.0 ppg.

If you looked at the shooting and rebounding stats, you’d think we would have been in a big hole at the half. We hit just 33% of our shots while UMass was hitting 44% of theirs. UMass dominated the boards 23-16. But, we turned the ball over just one time and forced the Minutemen to make 10 turnovers. At the buzzer we trailed by just a 32-30 score. Byron Windlan and Andrew Kresse both scored 8 points for us.

In the 2nd half we kept falling behind by 8 points or so and then cutting the Minutemen’s lead to 2. Our shooting continued to be abysmal. With 1:49 left we closed to within 3 points at 61-58. We intercepted a pass, missed our shot, intercepted another pass, and Byron Windlan hit a 3 with 35 seconds left to tie the game at 61-61. UMass tossed the ball away with 20 seconds to go. We called a time out with 9 seconds to go to set up our last effort to win. Our pick and roll failed, but Vernard Strickland found Andrew Kresse inside. Kresse eluded his defender for a driving layup…and….he missed! Yet another example of our inability to convert our shots. On to overtime.

OT: UMass scored first, and then Bobby Havens continued his horrible shooting night by missing on our next two possessions. Finally with about 3 minutes to go I called a time out to set up a pick and roll that freed up Byron WIndlan for a 12 foot jumper that found the mark and knotted the score at 63-63. UMass answered with an inside shot but Bobby Havens finally hit one to tie the game at 65-65 with 2:25 remaining. Both teams then missed shot after shot, and the game went to the second overtime.

2nd OT: The Minutemen scored the first 6 points. Bobby Havens hit a 3 to close the score to 71-68, but UMass scored on their next possession to move ahead by 5. Brad Reid knocked down 2 free throws to make the score 73-70 with 2:54 to go. Andrew Kresse’s 15 footer made the score 73-72 with 2:10 remaining. After another turnover by UMass, Bobby Havens hit a jumper from outside the key to put us ahead 74-73 with 1:40 on the clock. UMass answered immediately to give them a 75-74 lead. Bobby Havens missed another shot. We waited until the ball was passed to one of the Minutemens’ poorer foul shooters and fouled with 11 seconds to go. Their center missed the first of a one-and-one, and we rebounded and called a time out with 9 seconds left. Vernard Strickland then executed the pick and roll perfectly and hit a 12 foot jumper to put us ahead 76-75 with 4 seconds to play. UMass called a series of time outs, but when they finally put the ball in play, our full-court press prevented the Minutemen from getting off a last-second shot.

Final Score: New Hampshire-76, Massachusetts-75 (2 OT). New Hampshire season record: 3-4.

Scoring leaders: Havens-20, Kresse-16, Strickland-15, Windlan-13, Watson-8.

Rebound leaders: Watson-8, Havens-8, Kresse-8, Windlan-7, Strickland-6.

Assist leaders: Havens-5, Strickland-4.

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-20 pts, 8 reb, 5 assists, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Vernard Strickland-15 pts, 6 reb, 4 assists, 2 steals.

Other notes: Our shooting (35%) certainly didn’t win this game for us. Neither did our rebounding which resulted in a a 51-43 advantage for UMass. But…we turned the ball over only 8 times the entire game and forced UMass to make 24 turnovers.

Our starters scored 72 of our 76 points.

Bobby Havens was named the Player of the Game, but not by me. He hit just 8 of 34 shots (24%) and 2 of 13 of his 3 point attempts (15%). I was pulling my hair out every time he tossed up yet another brick. I even subbed for him twice even though he wasn’t tired, just hoping the time of the bench would turn things around for him…but it didn’t work.

It was great to win such an exciting game on the road plus one in which we had to make many come-backs.

[PointGuard]

Game #8: Dec. 10, 2019; George Washington Colonials (3-4) at New Hampshire Wildcats (3-4)

George Washington’s strength has been their guards and outside shooting. They are led by PG Jon Arnold (13.6 ppg).

Our horrendous shooting from the last game carried over into the first 6 minutes of this game. We’d hit 3 of 14 shots and trailed 10-6. I subbed for all starters except Andrew Kresse at that point. The team responded with 2 quick buckets to tie the game and within the next 5 minutes had built a 21-14 lead. Our starters returned and within the next 2 minutes our lead had expanded to 29-16. By the end of the half, we led 47-28. After going 3 for 14 in the first 6 minutes, we hit 16 of 19 of our shots in the final 14 minutes to finish the half shooting 58%. We held a 17-15 rebounding advantage and forced the Colonials to turn the ball over 10 times while making just 5 turnovers ourselves. We’d scored 22 points in the paint to GW’s 4 and scored 12 fast break points to GW’s 2. Bobby Havens his 2 of his first 8 shots, but then after sitting on the bench came back to knock down 4 of 5 shots and finish the half with 15 points. Heinrich Neubauer provided the stimulus for the turn around by coming off the bench to hit 4 of 4 shots, dish out 2 assists and get 2 steals in 7 minutes of play.

In the 2nd half we continued where we left off in the first half and rapidly expanded our lead. We continued to shoot well and our defense kept George Washington from mounting any kind of comeback.

Final Score: New Hampshire-86, George Washington-55. New Hampshire season record: 4-4.

Scoring leaders: Havens-20, Windlan-17, Strickland-14, Kresse-11, Neubauer-10.

Rebound leaders: Kresse-8, Havens-8, Windlan-5.

Assist leaders: Strickland-10.

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-20 pts, 8 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Vernard Strickland-14 pts, 10 reb.

Other notes: We hit 53% of our shots while limiting GW’s shooting to 32%. The Colonials held a small 36-33 rebounding advantage. We more than offset that by creating an 18-8 turnover advantage. We dominated inside, scoring 46 points in the paint to the Colonials’ 12. We also held a 24-6 fast break points advantage because of how our defense created so many turnovers.

Vernard Strickland had a double-double (14 points and 10 assists).

Heinrich Neubauer possibly was a key to our victory when he came in and lit a fire in the first half.

This was the first game where our team really came together. We got good production from 4 of the starters and several of our reserves.

After two good wins our RPI climbed about 100 spots and is now 184th best in the country.

[PointGuard]

We’ve continued to court a number of high school and JC players, but didn’t anticipate getting any more commitments until spring. But we were surprised when a top-ranked JC player contacted us and became our 2nd confirmed recruit for next year:

PF Travis Stone, 6-7 JC So, Green Cove Springs, FL, 2.1 GPA. Last year’s stats: 17.7 ppg, 14.0 rpg, 4.2 apg, 2.4 spg, 3.3 bpg. Excellent scorer with outstanding inside shooting capabilities, exceptionally strong rebounder, very good defensively, strong shot blocker, hard worker who has seldom missed practice. Ranked 27th best recruit in the nation. Overall rating: A.

[PointGuard]

Game #9: Dec. 14, 2019; Wyoming Cowboys (2-7) at New Hampshire Wildcats (4-4)

Wyoming has 3 players averaging in double figures: SG Ron Culuko (15.8 ppg), C Jesse Curry (11.9 ppg), and SF David Granger (11.0 ppg).

We came out shooting well, but uncharacteristically had a bunch of turnovers (6 in the first 6 minutes). We hit 63% of our shots and still trailed 41-38 at the end of the first half. That primarily was because we had 12 turnovers, but also because the Cowboys got to the free throw line 7 more times (scoring 7 more points) than did we. Wyoming also pumped in 6 of 10 from 3 point distance. Byron Windlan led our scoring with 11 points, but Vernard Strickland also chipped in 10 points.

Early in the 2nd half we continued to shoot the lights out and took a 50-47 lead with 16 minutes to play. We then moved out to a double digit lead. While we could never put Wyoming away, we held onto a lead the rest of the game and were never seriously threatened.

Final Score: New Hampshire-80, Wyoming-73. New Hampshire season record: 5-4.

Scoring leaders: Havens-29, Strickland-15, Windlan-11, Kresse-10.

Rebound leaders: Strickland-6, Windlan-5.

Assist leaders: Strickland-5.

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-29 pts, 3 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Vernard Strickland-15 pts, 6 reb, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.

Other notes: We hit 57% of our shots and Wyoming hit 41% of theirs. But Wyoming made 10 of 20 from beyond the arc. We out-rebounded the Cowboys 32-27, but had 17 turnovers to Wyoming’s 14. We scored 30 points in the paint.

After playing impressively throughout the first half and early in the 2nd half, Vernard Strickland went down with an injury and sat out the rest of the game. X-rays after the game revealed he has a broken bone in his foot and will be out until mid-late January. This is a big blow to us since our depth at PG was already shallow. Also after a slow start this season, Vernard’s last 3 games have been exceptionally strong.

[PointGuard]

Game #10: Dec. 17, 2019; New Hampshire Wildcats (5-4) at Seton Hall Pirates (5-4)

Seton Hall has beaten two teams (New Mexico and St. Francis) to whom we lost earlier this season. The Pirates have 3 players scoring in double figures (PF Brandon Crosby-18.0 ppg, PG Jason Whitfield-15.8 ppg, and SF Tarik Goron-10.7 ppg). Chris Thorne, their center, is averaging 8.8 rpg. Seton Hall is a big hurdle for us since they have a number of really talented players. The Pirates have won all their home games this season.

Heinrich Neubauer will start at PG for us in place of injured Vernard Strickland.
Both teams played tenacious defense in the first half. We were able to hit just 31% of our shots, but we held Seton Hall’s shooting to 25%. We came out of the half with a 28-24 lead. Bobby Havens got into foul trouble and sat on the bench for the final 6 minutes of the half, but still led our scoring with 9 points.

In the 2nd half, Seton Hall shot better than us and got to the foul line more. They quickly took the lead and then gradually expanded it.

Final Score: Seton Hall-65, New Hampshire-54. New Hampshire season record: 5-5.

Scoring leaders: Havens-25, Watson-8.

Rebound leaders: Windlan-5, Havens-5.

Assist leaders: Smith-3.

Player of the Game: Seton Hall’s SF Brandon Crosby-24 pts, 4 reb, 1 assist, 2 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SG Bobby Havens-25 pts, 5 reb, 1 assist.

Other notes: We hit just 32% of our shots and only 23% of our 3’s. The Pirates hit 39% of theirs (and 44% of their 3 point attempts). Seton Hall got to the line 9 more times and scored 8 more points on free throws than us.

Bobby Havens was named America East Player of the Week.

[CoachC]

Crack that whip, PG, still a lot of season left!

[PointGuard]

I thought we would be stronger inside this year than we have been. Andrew Kresse hasn't been dominant at center and Jakc Watson has been a bust at PF thus far. And their backups have not come through either.

I think we will do OK in conference play, though.

[PointGuard]

Game #11: Dec. 21, 2019; New Hampshire Wildcats (5-5) at Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-5)

Mississippi State has played a tough schedule including losses to 3 ranked teams and playing all games except one thus far on the road.

Bobby Havens was on fire at the beginning of the game, hitting 6 of 7 shots (including 3 three-pointers) and scoring 15 points to give us an 18-5 lead after 6 minutes of play. We then went stone cold for the next 10 minutes allowing Mississippi State to pull within a single point of the lead. The half ended with us holding a 34-32 advantage. Bobby Havens scored 19 points in the half.

Mississippi State took a small lead early in the 2nd half, but we responded by kicking our offense into gear, led by the scoring of Bobby Havens. But in the 2nd half, all starters contributed and we held the Bulldogs off for an impressive road win.

Final Score: New Hampshire-72, Mississippi State-65. New Hampshire season record: 6-5.

Scoring leaders: Havens-32, Neubauer-12, Kresse-8.

Rebound leaders: Kresse-12, Windlan-6, Havens-5.

Assist leaders: Neubauer-5

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-32 pts, 5 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Andrew Kresse-8 pts, 12 reb,

Other notes: We held small advantages on most team statistics, but ultimately this was the Bobby Havens show.

That brought an end to pre-conference play. While our record wasn’t impressive, I was happy we had done as well as we had against stronger competition this year. Vernard Strickland’s injury is a concern, but Heinrich Neubauer has stepped in to fill in at PG. But when Neubauer is on the bench, we’re forced to play Andrew Smith, who is really a SG, at the point.

Not surprisingly, Bobby Havens, was named America East Player of the Week (his 2nd such award of the season).

[PointGuard]

New Hampshire.....6-5.....RPI: 142
Stony Brook............6-6.....RPI: 181
Maine.....................5-6.....RPI: 331
Binghamton............4-7.....RPI: 154
Boston...................4-7.....RPI: 325
Albany...................4-8.....RPI: 257
Vermont................3-8.....RPI: 259
UMBC....................3-8.....RPI: 318
Hartford.................2-9.....RPI: 266

America East teams were unimpressive against their pre-conference opponents.

[JMD]

What happened to Albany?