NEW HAMPSHIRE
Record: 7-12 (3-2 America East)
Last Game: L, 67-56, vs. Vermont 1/18
Last 10: 5-5
Last Meeting: Stony Brook 64-61 on 2/1/17; Woodhouse team-high 21; erased 8-point halftime deficit
CM Unofficial Line: New Hampshire -2.5
KenPom RPI: Stony Brook 212, New Hampshire 243
KenPom Prediction: New Hampshire 68, Stony Brook 66
Listen/Watch:TV:
http://www.espn.com/watch/?gameId=400991554Stony Brook radio:
http://www.whli.com/listen-live.aspxNotables:6-7/230 sr F Tanner Leissner 19.7 ppg, 8.3 ppg, .355 3-pt FG%, .781 FT%
6-9/230 sr F Iba Camara 9.4 ppg, 11.0 rpg, .482 FG%
6-7/230 gr F Jacoby Armstrong 7.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, .811 FT%
6-0/190 jr G Jordan Reed 7.5 ppg, .352 3-pt FG%
6-1/190 so G John Ogwuche 5.8 ppg, .500 3-pt FG%, .889 FT%
As we've seen over and over the last few years, everything is going to run through Leissner. He's a no frills, blue-collar kid who's going to battle underneath, get to the line a million times, and knock down shots from the perimeter on occasion. A Tyler Hansbrough kind of player. Unlike some of our bigs, he's been uber consistent – no fewer than 14 points in any game this year, and a high of 32 in UNH's win over in-state foe Dartmouth. If he was a Seawolf all this time, we'd all love him.
Between him, Camara and Armstrong, their size is very difficult to ignore, and whether we can rebound in spite of that size will go along way in determining our success. UNH isn't a team that's going to blow anybody out, and they likely won't get blown out either. Scoring is not their strong suit, not with an ugly .415 shooting percentage.
What's even less concerning is that they flat-out
do not turn the other team over. On the surface, you'll see that they force 10-plus turnovers a game, but take out the 23 turnovers by Wheelock and the 29 by Lyndon State, and you have a team that has forced double-digit turnovers just three times this year – 10 against Dartmouth, Albany and Vermont. Turnovers have been a major weakness for us this year, so if we can hold onto the ball, I like our chances.
One wild card is the emergence of the kid Ogwuche. His minutes were up and down to start the season, but he's really come on of late, dropping in a team-high 17 against Vermont yesterday. That broke his previous career high from three days earlier when he went for 15 in a win at UMass Lowell. He's hit 9 of his last 15 threes dating back to the Dartmouth game on 12/30. Just something to keep an eye on. They may have found themselves a shooter for the next three years.
It's with only modest enthusiasm that I say that I think we go up there and win this one.