By: Chris Dacey Follow @ChrisDacey_
College basketball season may be way ahead of us, but the buzz is still in the air.
With Baker Dunleavy in his second season as head coach of the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team, and a backcourt-heavy recruiting class coming in, it is no surprise the Quinnipiac community is ready for the hoops season to begin.
Amidst all the excitement, the Bobcats have released their non-conference schedule for the 2018-19 season.
The one game that stands out the most is against the defending national champions, the Villanova Wildcats. This game is a homecoming for Dunleavy, as he played and coached at the Big East powerhouse school before coming to Hamden. The game will be played in Pennsylvania at Dunleavy’s alma mater.
Mostly the same from last year with the exception of Villanova. First home game is November 15th. #MAACHoops https://t.co/kEkCVj2g9D
— Chris Dacey (@ChrisDacey_) July 26, 2018
As for the rest of the non-conference slate, the opponents are pretty similar to last year. There are 11 total non-conference games. Five will be played at home in the newly named People’s United Center, five on the road, and the game against Drexel will be played at Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, Connecticut) as a neutral site game.
The non-conference schedule is as follows:
Saturday, Nov. 10: at Villanova
Thursday, Nov. 15: Hartford
Tuesday, Nov. 20: at New Hampshire
Sunday, Nov. 25: Maine
Wednesday, Nov. 28: at UMass
Saturday, Dec. 1: at Stony Brook
Wednesday, Dec. 5: at Dartmouth
Saturday, Dec. 8: Lafayette
Sunday, Dec. 16: vs. Drexel (at Mohegan Sun)
Wednesday, Dec. 19: Bethune-Cookman
Saturday, Dec. 22: Stony Brook
Takeaways:
- At first glance, Quinnipiac is not traveling far for its road games. The past two years it went to Lake Buena Vista, Florida and Lynchburg, Virginia but this year the furthest the Bobcats will have to travel is to Villanova.
- No preseason tournament this year for the Bobcats like the past two years. Quinnipiac played “big name” teams like Gonzaga and Wake Forest in these tournaments. Villanova is the “big name” team that Quinnipiac plays this year.
- The first home game is against Hartford who has been a staple on Quinnipiac’s non-conference schedule. Last year Hartford beat Quinnipiac by two points on its home floor.
- Last year many people were high on UMass but Quinnipiac played well against the Minutemen at home and beat them by a narrow two points. A big win from Dunleavy’s new look squad at the time.
- Quinnipiac opened the season last year at home by welcoming Dartmouth. The Bobcats won that game with a last-second block from then-senior Chaise Daniels. Have to think that might still be on the minds of the Big Green.
- For those who don’t know, Bethune-Cookman is a MEAC school from Florida. The Wildcats went 18-14 last season and 11-4 in MEAC play. Bethune-Cookman lost in the first round of its conference tournament to Morgan State.
Last season, the Bobcats were 3-9 in non-conference games but this year Dunleavy has had time to construct more of a full recruitment class with guards like Savion Lewis and Ty Pickron.
Additionally, transfers Kevin Marfo and Travis Atson are now eligible to play along with last year’s leading scorer Cam Young coming back for a grad year. Things are definitely looking up for this program and the results from the non-conference games will give fans many indications before the craziness of MAAC play begins.
