Albany came out with led legs in the first half, scoring only 8 points in the first nine minutes, as a Patrick Konan jump shot pushed the lead to 17-8. But Albany righted the ship as Gerardo Suero got it going, and helping push Albany to a 27-25 half time lead.

The Second Half: If you're an Albany fan, that probably prompts a reaction something like this.

New Hampshire stormed out of the gates with two quick buckets, led by Brian Benson, who was his usual pogo-stick-like self inside. The Great Danes had no answer for him all game and he finished with a mighty statline of 19 & 12 on 9-10 shooting. Despite an above average game from Blake Metcalf, Benson was too much for anyone on Albany to handle.

13:29 33-43 UNH

An Alvin Abreu jumper pushed the lead to 10.. but a feisty offensive possession with a number of offensive rebounds showed that the Great Danes had enough for another push. But as Suero willed them back into the game, UNH wasn't ready to allow them back in right away. Abreu hit two threes and Ferg Myrick had one of his own as the lead was pushed to 54-41.

But then came the spurt. Back to back threes from Mike Black and Jayson Guerrier, rattled UNH, who committed a few turnovers against a strong Albany press, and suddenly we have a game.

1:53 61-61 Another typical Suero power brings it back to even. UNH is in shambles and Albany has ALL the momentum. But the Wildcats finally get it back to Benson, who settles things down with an easy lay-up in the post. But UNH kept the big plays rolling. Ferg Myrick comes up with a HUGE and-1 that turned it into a free-throw shooting contest despite a big time shot from Jon Iati to cut it to two.

And usually a free throw shooting contest is a good bet. UNH is shooting 62% on the year. One of the worst in the country. But the Wildcats hit 3 of 4 -- and Albany's last shoot to tie was a Mike Black ugly three pointer where he tried to draw a foul.

GAME: 69-64 UNH

UNH is the worst offensive team in the league not named Binghamton: The Wildcats have been terrible this year on offense. Yes, there's caveats that they look better on paper. Benson is one of the league's best bigs, Abreu is a volume shooter who can go off, Ferg Myrick has loads of potential as an AE swing man, etc. etc. but it didn't come together during the year. Only against UMBC and Binghamton have they scored more than 1 point per possession (average) and that was against the worst defenses in the nation.

44 point Wildcat explosion in the second half: Blame the Albany defense or Wildcat offense? Wildcats hit all their shots tonight. Big, big ups to Alvin Abreu, who's high shooting rate (25.8%) and poor efficiency (93.6) spell gunner (even though him gunning, despite subpar, is still better than the offense overall, a measly 91.8 during conference play). His 4-6 from three was the difference in the game, in my opinion, even more so than Benson's 9-10 night.

But Albany has to bear a lot of the brunt. They were making a ton of their shots, but nothing is a shot of confidence like open looks. And UNH was making a lot of open looks.

Iati and Watts: Luke Devlin's back is out of sorts again and rumor is he might not see the court. Logan Aronhalt's minutes have dropped and his production hasn't been near where it was -- he's playing on one good knee and it's catching up to him. Jacob Iati, dear lord, why is he being asked to cover power forwards, but he's playing his heart out. He's not the ideal player to have at the top of a three quarter court trap, but his constant motion energized the rest of his team. And Watts will HAVE to step up. He hasn't seen steady minutes at all this year, but he came through late last year (remember that game winner vs. Maine?) and his drives into the lane look so smooth (unfortunately his floaters do not).

Wildcat Offense: If this is a trend, you should NOT want to play UNH in the AmEast tournament. They only got 6 deep, but there's latent potential in that core. It'll be a game of Russian Roulette if you see them in March.

One of the biggest holes in the America East is the lack of student support. There's so many good stories, accessible players and coaches who sell out and don't have an eye to the NBA, and yet it's just hard to get the buzz that draws students away from girls or drinking or studying. Even worse, in the Canadian quarters of the America East, the hoops team is second or third fiddle to frozen sports.

That's why we're reaching out to college campuses to rally the troops.

First, we connected with the "The New Hampshirite" at unhblog.com, the finest student blog I've yet come across in the AE. Here's everything you ever wanted to know about the state that once defined itself by a face on a rock that is no longer there:

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Last Season: 12-18, 6-10, lost in first round of AE Tournament to Boston University.

Head Coach: Bill Herrion

Key Losses: Tyrone Conley, Dane DiLiegro, DeAndray Buckley, James Valladares

Newcomers: Garrett Jones, Tommy McDonnell, Patrick Konan, Jeron Trotman

Projected Line-up:

G: Alvin Abreu, Sr..

G: Chandler Rhoads, Jr.

F: Ferg Myrick, Jr.

F: Brian Benson, Sr.

Bench: Garrett Jones, Fr; Ryan Herrion, Jr; Tommy McDonnell, Fr; Jordan Bronner, So. ; Scott Morris, So; Kazadi Nyanguila, C; Chris Matagrano, Jr; Jeron Trotman, Jr

A Look Back:

Injuries did in UNH early. Alvin Abreu was done after two games. 12 games later, their All-Rookie Ferg Myrick went down with an injury. That was basically all she wrote for the Wildcats. However, UNH did come out of the gate quickly. They started the season 5-2, almost pulling the major upset against UConn, losing only 62-55. UNH played opponents very close, with six of their first seven games being decided by 10 points or less (four games by five points or less, in which they went 3-1). However, they would go 1-8 in their next nine games, which sunk the season. However, despite everything, they were able to play solid defense, as they ranked 18^th nationally in scoring defense.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes:

The Wildcats will need to keep all these things from snapping and tearing. They return two of their best players from knee injuries. If they can avoid the injury bug (which is impossible for most teams, so at least minimize the damage), UNH has the ability to be a sleeper in the conference. If Herrion can work with a healthy team (a talented one as well), watch out America East.

More on the Wildcats after the jump

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