Men's Basketball Plays First Road Game At Dartmouth Tuesday

Bobcats Play First Road Game At Dartmouth Tuesday Night
The Quinnipiac University men's basketball team plays its first road game of the year Tuesday, when it travels to Hanover, N.H., to face Dartmouth College. The Bobcats have dominated the series in recent years, winning seven of the last nine and eight of 12 overall. The Bobcats are coming off a tough 79-75 loss to Vermont Saturday, while the Big Green will play their third game in three cities covering five days Tuesday. Dartmouth defeated Hartford, 71-57, Friday in Connecticut, before falling to Loyola (Md.), 73-59, Sunday in Baltimore.

Scouting the Dartmouth Big Green
The Big Green is led by Jabari Trotter, who's averaged 15.0 points per game while shooting 52.4 percent from long range. No other Dartmouth players averages in double-figures, but David Rufful has produced 8.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. R.J. Griffin averages 8.3 points, while Ronnie Dixon has dished out a team-best 3.0 assists per game.

Last Time Out Against Vermont
Justin Rutty contributed 19 points and nine rebounds, while James Johnson had 18 points, six rebounds and five steals, but a late comeback bid fell short for the Bobcats against Vermont, as they fell, 79-75. Dominique Langston added 14 points and eight rebounds, while Deontay Twyman had 13 points.

Last Time Against Dartmouth
James Feldeine scored 18 points, Jeremy Baker added 15 and Justin Rutty had a double-double as the Bobcats cruised to a 73-51 victory over Dartmouth, Dec. 30, 2009, at the TD Bank Sports Center. Jamee Jackson also scored a career-high 10 points. Matt LaBove led Dartmouth with 13 points.

Follow the Bobcats
Tuesday's game can be heard live on AM 1220 WQUN and www.quinnipiacbobcats.com. Bob Mortali will have the play-by-play call, while Bob Tipson will provide color commentary. Dartmouth's official athletics website, www.dartmouthsports.com, offers a live video webcast for $6.95. Live stats will also be available.

Movin' On Up
With 829 rebounds, Justin Rutty ranks sixth all-time at QU and tied for 13th all-time in the Northeast Conference. Rutty passed Frank Lisnow '67 (809) and Lester Ayala '92 (815) on the QU list and Rik Smits (Marist) (811) on the NEC list with 10 rebounds against Hartford on Nov. 16, while moving into a tie with Wagner's Largest Agbejemisin with nine rebounds Nov. 20 against Vermont.

Rutty Moves Up QU Career Scoring List
With 1,206 career points, Rutty now ranks 18th on the Quinnipiac career scoring list and fourth on the Quinnipiac Division I scoring list. With 19 points against Yale, Nov. 13, Rutty leapfrogged Ed Skwara '69 (1,159), Art Leary '70 (1,159), Mike Buscetto '93 (1,165), Rashaun Banjo '04 (1,166) and Jim Freund '81 (1,166).

Johnson Steals Milestone
With five steals Nov. 20 against Vermont, James Johnson became the 12th Quinnipiac player all-time and fourth at Division I to compile 100 career steals. Ironically, the five steals tied Johnson's career-high, originally set Dec. 21, 2008, against the same Vermont team on the same Lender Court before a regional television audience on NESN.

Langston Huge
Dominique Langston has emerged as a solid contributor off the bench, averaging 13.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game over two games against Hartford and Vermont.

Takeaway 'Tay
Deontay Twyman is tied for the team lead with six steals through three games this season, including three against Hartford.

Rutty Eyes Exclusive 1,000-1,000 Club
Justin Rutty currently stands at 1,206 points and 829 rebounds in his career. With at least 26 more games left in Rutty's career, his career 8.8 rebounds per game average would leave him at 1,058 boards, while his three-year average of 10.38 boards per game would put him at 1,099 rebounds. Just two prior Quinnipiac players have reached both 1,000 points and rebounds.

Johnson's Elite Company
James Johnson's consecutive starts streak now stands at 67 games to begin his career. Johnson became just the eighth freshman in QU Division I history to start his collegiate debut, and started all 31 of Quinnipiac's games in 2008-09, joining just 19 other freshmen in the nation to start every game their team played. Each player to start his first game and complete four years at QU has scored over 1,000 points. Rob Monroe, Bill Romano, Justin Rutty and Jared Grasso started their first games and rank first, second, fourth and seventh, on the Bobcats scoring list. The 67-game streak currently ranks second in program history to begin a career and fourth among all QU D-I starts streaks.

Bo Knows Scoring
James Johnson scored a game-high 23 points Nov. 16 against Hartford. He also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists.

More Exclusive Company For Rutty
Justin Rutty connected on his 500th career field goal against Yale, Nov. 13, becoming one of just three Quinnipiac players at the Division I level to achieve the feat. Rutty joins Bill Romano '02 (599) and Rob Monroe '05 (523).

Sweet 16's
Deontay Twyman tied his career-high with 16 points against Yale at the Connecticut 6 Classic, Nov. 13. James Johnson matched Twyman's 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting and 4-for-4 from the line.

Gabriel's Impressive QU Debut
Mike Gabriel was impressive in his Quinnipiac debut against Yale, Nov. 13, scoring 10 points in just 13 minutes off the bench. He was very efficient, making 3-of-4 field-goal attempts and 4-of-6 free throw attempts.

Dom From Trey
Dominique Langston made both of his three-point attempts in his collegiate debut against Yale, Nov. 13, to account for his six points.

Bonding Overseas
The Bobcats took a 10-day trip to The Netherlands, Belgium and France this past August. In four games, Quinnipiac went 3-1.

Moore of the Same
Head Coach Tom Moore has won the season opener in each of his four years at QU, the first three coming against Hartford, while the most recent came this season against Yale. Prior to Moore's arrival to Hamden, no Quinnipiac team had won its first game of the season during the school's Division I era. Teams that have had Moore serving on the coaching staff have won 11 consecutive season openers. The last time one of Moore's teams didn't win its first game was Nov. 11, 1999, when defending National Champion and top-ranked UConn was upset by Iowa in the Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic. None of Quinnipiac's other five coaches all-time won their first three season openers, and only Burt Kahn won as many as four straight at any point. Kahn won six straight from 1967-68 through 1972-73.

Everybody's Favorite
The Northeast Conference's coaches selected the Bobcats as the league's first unanimous favorite since 1997-98 (Long Island). In addition, The Sporting News, Athlon, Lindy's and the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Report also picked the Bobcats as the NEC favorite.

QU Picked Second In CT6 Poll
Quinnipiac was picked second in the Preseason Connecticut 6 Coaches' Poll. Fairfield claimed the top spot, while Central Connecticut immediately followed the Bobcats in third. Sacred Heart, Yale and Hartford rounded out the poll.

Eight Is Enough
Quinnipiac returns eight players from the 2009-10 squad, and also welcomes eight new players in 2010-11. Only four of the eight new players will be available for play immediately (Azotam, Gabriel, Harrison, Langston), while Tevin Baskin is slated to be eligible beginning second semester (Dec. 22 at Niagara). Austin Alecxih, Lance Brown and Garvey Young each must sit the year out due to NCAA transfer rules.

Bobcats Experience Historic 2009-10 Season
The Quinnipiac University men's basketball team experienced a historic season of firsts in 2009-10. Jim Phelan NEC Coach of the Year Tom Moore led the Bobcats to a program-record 23 wins, the first Northeast Conference Regular Season Championship in team history, and a berth into the National Invitation Tournament, the first national postseason tournament appearance in program Division I history. Junior forward Justin Rutty was named the NEC Player of the Year, becoming the first player in program history earn the award. Both Rutty and senior wing James Feldeine were named to the All-NEC First Team Moore's recognition as Coach of the Year was also a first in program history.

Moore Wins
With 23 wins in 2009-10, including 15 NEC victories, the Bobcats set a new program record. The marks edge the 1999-2000 QU team (18-10, 12-6 NEC) for the most wins at D-I, and passed the 1972-73 and 1979-80 teams for the all-time program record.

Keeping Good Company
Quinnipiac was one of just four teams in the NCAA ranked in the top 10 nationally in both rebound margin and rebounds per game in 2009-10. The Bobcats ranked second in rebound margin and 10th in rebounds per game. Quinnipiac joined nationally-ranked Kentucky (4th - rebound margin, 5th - rebounds per game) and Kansas (9th - rebound margin, 7th - rebounds per game), as well as Radford (7th - rebound margin, 1st - rebounds per game) in the exclusive club. Quinnipiac also ranked 14th in offensive rebounds (14.61).

C-T State of Mind
Quinnipiac was 18-1 in games played in Connecticut, including a 14-1 mark at home in 2009-10. In starting 14-0 at home, the Bobcats established the best start at home in program history.

Twelve In Fourteen
Justin Rutty compiled his Quinnipiac Division I record 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th career double-doubles in seven consecutive games, Feb. 18-Mar. 10, 2010, and had 12 double-doubles in his last 15 games of the season. Rutty began the streak with five straight double-doubles, Jan. 24-Feb. 6. After a two-game stretch when he missed a double-double by two rebounds against St. Francis (N.Y.) and two points against LIU, Rutty reeled off seven more consecutive double-doubles.

Eighty Up
The Bobcats were 11-0 when scoring at least 80 points last season.

If It's Free, It's For Me
The Bobcats enjoyed marked improvement from the free-throw line in the latter portion of the 2009-10 season. After seeing its season free-throw percentage dip to 65.1 percent through 15 games, QU shot 76.7 percent (358-467) over the last 18 games to raise its free-throw percentage to 72.1 percent.

Rutty Grabs Quinnipiac DI Rebound Record
With 11 rebounds against Wagner on Jan. 9, Justin Rutty took over the Quinnipiac Division I Rebound lead from Bill Romano '02 (580).

Rutty's Keeping Good Company
At 15.3 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, Justin Rutty was one of just 20 players nationally to average a double-double in 2009-10.

Rutty Finds Free-Throw Stroke
Justin Rutty, a career 50.0 percent free-throw shooter, shot 79.4 percent (54-68) from the charity stripe in the last 14 games of the 2009-10 season. Included in the mark were two separate strings of at least 11 consecutive successful attempts. Rutty went 6-for-6 at Sacred Heart, the first 100 percent game of more than three attempts in his career. He followed with a 4-for-4 effort against SHU, and an 8-for-8 performance at Saint Francis (Pa.).

Bobcats, Rutty On NCAA Rebound Charts
Led by Justin Rutty's 10.9 rebounds per game (8th-NCAA), the Bobcats ranked 10th in the nation in rebounds per game (40.4 rpg.).

If At First You Don't Succeed...
41.2 percent of the Bobcats' rebounds in 2009-10 came on the offensive end, fourth-most in the NCAA.

On the Rebound
Quinnipiac was outrebounded just three times in 2009-10, and owned a +8.5 rebounding margin, second-best in the nation.

Quinnipiac, Rutty Grab Top Rankings
The Bobcats ranked 14th in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (14.6) in 2009-10. Individually, Justin Rutty ranked second nationally at 4.9 offensive boards per game, a year after finishing second in the nation behind only Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair (5.6 oreb/game) with 4.6 offensive caroms per game.

Sitting on Top of the NEC Stats
Quinnipiac ranked in the top three in the NEC in 12 of 19 statistical categories in 2009-10. The Bobcats were first in scoring offense (73.2), scoring margin (+6.7), field-goal percentage (.448), assist-to-turnover ratio (0.98), rebounding offense (40.4), rebounding defense (31.9), rebound margin (+8.5), offensive rebounding (14.61) and defensive rebounding (25.79). QU ranked second in assists (13.42) and free-throw percentage (.721) and third in field-goal percentage defense (.415).

On Deck
The Bobcats return home to play host to Maine, Monday night at the TD Bank Sports Center. Opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.