Takeaways from Quinnipiac’s season-opening defeat to crosstown rival Yale

Amarri Monroe goes up for two of his game-high 23 points, but it wasn’t enough as Quinnipiac lost to Yale Monday. (Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics)

By Ethan Hurwitz (@HurwitzSports)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Monday night marked the second straight year Quinnipiac and Yale faced off. And for the second straight year, the reigning Ivy League champion bested its crosstown rival.

On college basketball’s opening night, Yale took control—aided by an early offensive onslaught—to stifle the Bobcats and cruise to a 88-62 win at Payne Whitney Gymnasium. 

“You’re not gonna win on the road if you don’t have great leadership, on the floor and on the bench,” Quinnipiac head coach Tom Pecora said. “When we lose, it’s my fault.”

After the first 40 minutes of meaningful Quinnipiac basketball this year, here are a few key takeaways from tonight’s season opener. 

Struggling from deep:

The officiating crew took five trips to the replay monitor throughout the game. That was just two less than the amount of made threes by the Bobcats all game. The visitors shot 21.9 percent from behind the arc (7-for-32) and two of those came when the game felt well out of reach.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well, but I don’t think that was the glaring weakness,” Pecora said. “We weren’t shooting the ball well, but neither were they. We struggled shooting the basketball, obviously.”

An early triple from junior guard Ryan Mabrey gave him his first basket as a Bobcat, but he was later held scoreless for the remainder of the game. In fact, the only member of the Quinnipiac roster to make more than one triple was Alexis Reyes, who only made two.

A number of the attempted shots resulted in either an air ball straight out of bounds, or a chance to grab an offensive board. For the Bobcats, those rebound opportunities didn’t come any easier. 

“Our inability to control the backboards is very concerning,” Pecora said. “You can’t win that way.”

Amarri Monroe’s leading effort:

The MAAC Preseason Player of the Year was all over the floor for the Bobcats. Out of the 48 points scored by the Quinnipiac starters, Monroe was responsible for 23 of those. Even without playing for the majority of the final frame, the Bobcats’ leading scorer still topped every player on both sides. 

“We have to be a balanced offensive team,” Pecora said. “We’re not good enough to just have Amarri go out and make buckets (and) carry us for an entire night. You have to have some offensive balance.”

Behind Monroe in the box score was Reyes with 12 points, and graduate students Savion Lewis and Paul Otieno, both with five. Only 14 points came from the bench, which forced Monroe to play a team-high 30 minutes.

“We got some of our other guys some pretty good looks,” Pecora said. “They just weren’t able to knock them down.”

Minimizing the runs:

Yale was able to radiate the crowd’s energy onto the floor, resulting in a 14-0 run to force Pecora to call his first timeout. Later in the game, a 10-2 run pushed the Bulldogs’ lead up to a then-game-high 20.

It wasn’t just a few mistakes on the Bobcats’ end that led to the big deficits. It felt like the basketball had a mind of its own. Bad bounces off the rim negated some really good drives, while a number of defensive fouls kept sending Yale to the free throw line. 

“I was very impressed with the way we started the game,” Yale head coach James Jones said. “Really happy with the start of the year, and hopefully we can continue on.”

The 50 rebounds the Bulldogs grabbed just epitomized how crucial those second opportunities were. With 15 second-chance points, Yale found a way to pick up what would have been an empty possession, and instead, found a way to stack onto an already sizable lead.

First look at the freshmen:

Out of the Bobcats’ five newcomers, only three got time on the court Monday. Guard Jaden Zimmerman was the first to touch the floor, later followed by forwards Grant Randall and Spence Wewe.

Of the three, Wewe was the only one who went scoreless (Zimmerman had five points, while Randall added two). Instead of scoring the ball, Wewe was getting physical in deep—often too physical—racking up four fouls in his first four minutes.

“Spence gets better every minute, every day,” Pecora said. “He’s big, he’s raw, his heart’s in the right place. If he stays here for a while, he’s going to be an all-conference player in my opinion.

The biggest moment for the England native was a feisty scuffle with Yale junior forward Casey Simmons. In the middle of the paint, the two big men started jawing after a physical collision on the floor.

“This is the kind of game where you have to be patient and let a player like that go in and make some mistakes,” Pecora said. “The power depth should be a positive.” 

For the Bobcats, a bigger positive is that they get the ability to wipe the slate clean ahead of Thursday’s home opener against Division III WPI, where they will unveil last season’s MAAC regular season champions banner. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Hamden, where the veteran Bobcats will look to grab win No. 1 in 2024-25.

“It starts with me and then goes right to our veterans,” Pecora said. “I told them they’ve gotta set the example. Our four captains, they gotta bring it.”