Fairfield University Athletics

DURHAM, N.H. – Thirteen three-pointers for host New Hampshire kept Fairfield University Men's Basketball at arm's length for much of Friday afternoon's non-conference clash in Durham. Despite climbing back to within six points early in the second half, the Stags could not overcome the hot shooting Wildcats in an 83-71 decision.
 
Fairfield drops to 0-2 on the young season with the loss. UNH, which hosted and defeated Brandeis in its opener on Monday, improves to 2-0.
 
"We knew that one of the keys for them was to knock down a lot of threes, and unfortunately for us, they executed and were able to do exactly that," said Head Coach Jay Young. "I'm proud to see our guys continue to fight back, but UNH always had an answer. Credit to Coach Herrion and UNH for the way that they played, but certainly a frustrating day for us."
 
New Hampshire shot 13-for-24 (54.2%) from distance, draining eight triples in the first half to build an early lead. Overall, the Wildcats were 28-for-53 (52.8%) from the floor and converted 14-of-18 free throws (77.8%). The Stags shot 23-for-51 (.45.1%) from the field, 7-for-19 (36.8%) from downtown and 18-for-22 (81.8%) from the stripe.
 
Fairfield was led by 19 points for Caleb Fields, who also paced the Stags with 14 tallies in Monday's opener at Wake Forest. Fields buried three three-pointers and also hauled in seven rebounds with a trio of steals in 33 minutes at the point guard spot.
 
James Johns Jr. made his Fairfield debut, providing a spark off the bench with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including two three-pointers. Allan Jeanne-Rose and Brycen Goodine also netted double figures with 10 points apiece.
 
The Stags never led in the contest as UNH scored the game's first four points. The teams traded buckets for much of the opening 10 minutes, with a Johns three-pointer making it a 20-17 ballgame at the midway point of the period. Johns added a jumper before the Wildcats struck off on the game's first run – an 8-0 spurt to open up a 31-21 advantage with 7:14 to go in the half. The deficit grew as large as 14 in the opening stanza, but the Stags had the final salvo as Jake Wojcik, Fields and Jeanne-Rose each went 2-for-2 from the stripe over the final 90 seconds to send Fairfield into the break facing a more manageable 43-35 margin.
 
Jeanne-Rose, Supreme Cook and Johns all scored early in the second half to keep the Stags in striking distance down 48-42, but the Wildcats scored the game's next seven points and eventually built their largest lead of the day at 66-50 with 8:50 to go. Led by nine late points from the Fields, the Stags continued to put points on the board but were unable to slow UNH's torrid shooting pace as time expired on an 83-71 final.
 
TJ Long added eight points for the Stags in a reserve role as he along with Johns and Goodine accounted for Fairfield's 31 bench points. Cook posted seven boards and Wojcik rounded out the scoring with four.
 
Fields and Jeanne-Rose shared the team lead with seven rebounds apiece as UNH held a 33-28 advantage on the boards.
 
New Hampshire, which returns only three letterwinners from 2021-22, was led by a quartet of transfers all netting double figures. The pace was set by Seattle University transplant Kyree Brown's game-high 25 points, while Nazim Derry, formerly of Goldey-Beacom College, netted 17.
 
The Stags' season-opening, eight-game road trip moves on to Cincinnati, Ohio on Tuesday for a 9 p.m. visit to Xavier before a national television audience on FS2.
 
The Musketeers, who handily defeated Morgan State in their opener on Monday and will host Montana tonight at 8 p.m., are unranked but receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches' Preseason Polls.