How a double-double competition is fueling Quinnipiac’s best players

Amarri Monroe (2) and Paul Otieno (33) have a combined 23 double-doubles between them, a race that is just as intense as that for MAAC regular season championship. (Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics)

By Ethan Hurwitz (@HurwitzSports)

HAMDEN, Conn. — You get a double-double! And you get a double-double! Everybody gets a double-double!

It’s almost like Oprah Winfrey is handing out stuffed box scores to the Quinnipiac frontcourt. The Bobcats’ best two players—graduate forward Paul Otieno and junior forward Amarri Monroe—keep getting double-doubles, over and over and over again. 

But there needs to be a winner at the end of the day, and both of them know it. It’s what’s powering the Bobcats’ frontcourt, one that is among the nation’s best in offensive rebounding, to a 13-3 record in conference play and a spot in next month’s MAAC Tournament.

So what’s at stake between the two upperclassmen? Money? Dinner? Something else?

“(Bragging rights) 100 percent, I just like messing with him,” Monroe said. “In the middle of the game, I’m like, ‘Yo, how many rebounds you got? I’m gonna get more than you.’ That’s just the competitive spirit in me, I just want to be better than everybody, whether it’s steals, rebounds, and that’s where my game has grown.”

In almost every postgame press conference, Monroe makes note of one stat: The Bobcats haven’t lost when both players grab a double-double. It’s true, Quinnipiac is 5-0 when both players nab double figures in both points and rebounds. Wins against Hofstra (December 29), Siena (January 10), Merrimack (January 16), Fairfield (January 31) and Sacred Heart (February 14) have all come on the backs of major performances from Monroe and Otieno.

“That’s my job, that’s what I get paid to do,” Otieno said.

Monroe, who was named the MAAC’s Preseason Player of the Year, is likely going to be in that same award conversation at season’s end. He has a conference-best 12 double-doubles, including eight in his last 10 games. Add that with setting career-highs in points game after game after game, and Monroe has taken full control of this Bobcats team.

“When it comes to competition with my teammates—like Paul, the double-double thing—by the way, I now have 12 and he still has 11,” Monroe said after Sunday’s win at Manhattan. “Everything we do is competition, these guys probably let me know more about my own accolades than I know myself.”

On the other hand, Otieno has been a rebounding monster himself. His 11 double-doubles led the MAAC until his teammate passed him, and his offensive rebounding numbers have been near the best across the entire country. While he’s more reserved behind the microphone than his teammate, the senior big man lets his game and stats do the talking.

“We’re friends, man,” Otieno said. “We hang out like every day, just like being competitive on the courts. (With) double-doubles, we both get it, we win the game.”

The healthy rivalry has spread throughout the locker room, with the rest of the players and coaching staff even aware of what’s going on. 

“They’re competitors,” head coach Tom Pecora said. “I think they also get a fear of failure, (which) is generally what drives people when they’re in a bad situation. There’s fight or flight, and they’re fighting. They don’t bail on it, they’re not going to turn it back and run from the challenge, and that’s a good quality for a team to have.”

As an impartial third party, graduate guard Savion Lewis doesn’t know who will come out on top, though he did say Monroe, as he was seated next to him after Sunday’s press conference. For him, it’s just a glimpse into what makes the Bobcats’ stars so special.

“I’m gonna go with Mari right now because he’s right in front of me,” Lewis said. “They’re both freaking great rebounders, they both produce. I think that’s such a healthy competition. You know, most people, they get into bets about scoring, and that’s where all the adversity comes in, the egos come in. But they’re betting about rebounding and steals and blocks. We want that.”

With four games left in the regular season, and what the Bobcats hope will be an extended trip to Atlantic City for the conference tournament, the double-double competition still has legs. So when Quinnipiac takes the floor, don’t watch how the team reacts to the flashy offense. Watch to see if Monroe or Otieno can grab the defensive rebound.

“I told (Otieno), ‘Yo, every time we get a double-double together, we never lose. So let’s fight for some rebounds,’” Monroe said.