RICHMOND, Va. – Although New Hampshire lost by a deceptive 13-point margin in the final of the Holiday on the Hardwood Classic to host VCU, the Wildcats come away in good shape. They finish non-conference play with a 6-6 mark, and the six wins are the most before January since they also had six in 1994-95. While in Richmond, there were some good things that they hope to take with them.
The Wildcats started off the final slowly, turning the ball over early and often. They had ten turnovers in the first nine minutes of the game, then gave it away just six times the rest of the way. With that, some offensive rebounding kept them somewhat in the game, although they never got closer than 13 points at any time in the second half.
A promising development was the shooting of Chandler Rhoads. Not known for his shooting, the sophomore had 15 points and was 2-3 from behind the three-point line on Thursday after making both of his attempts the night before. Entering the tournament, he was a career 14.6 percent shooter from deep. The coaching staff hopes he can bottle that up for America East play, especially since they have struggled shooting the ball from deep in part because Alvin Abreu has been lost for the season.
Speaking of Abreu, roommate Tyrone Conley was an all-tournament selection but hasn’t been the same player without him around. Conley is an explosive athlete but has been up and down shooting it, going 1-8 from deep on Thursday night. When they get back, Abreu will be around the team and help Conley. Add in Ferg Myrick, the team’s leading scorer, and the Wildcats still have a lot on the wing. When Myrick penetrates, he can make things happen.
The Wildcats have been solid on the glass and are holding opponents to 40.5 percent shooting. They out-rebounded VCU in the loss on Thursday and held the Rams to 36 percent shooting in the second half. Those will go a long way to winning a wide-open America East, especially if they can improve their touch from long range. They don’t have to shoot lights-out, but improving slightly on their current showing (below 30 percent) might be enough.
If the perimeter shooting improves, it should allow more chances inside for players like Dane DiLiegro and Brian Benson (11 rebounds against VCU). Both give them solid rebounding but could stand to give them more offensively, especially Benson. DiLiegro got off to a good start but didn’t play his usual minutes in the two games in Richmond, with foul trouble being a contributor to that in the semifinal.
There isn’t a clear favorite in America East, although Vermont had the best non-conference record as the only team above .500 and Boston University probably has the most talent, much of which is young. New Hampshire could certainly contend if they take some of what they did in Richmond back to Durham, and improve in a couple of areas. They aren’t in bad shape, and they will get a measure of where they are early with the first two conference games being on the road (at Albany and Boston University).
