PHOTO GALLERY
THE BASICS:

RESULT: UNH 74, Hartford 63
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
ATTENDANCE: 2,640
RECORDS: Hartford (8-21, 3-11 America East); UNH (17-10, 10-4)

THE LEAD:
Jalen Ross led all players in double figures with 22 points, but the Hartford men's basketball team couldn't overcome a tough second half, falling to New Hampshire, 74-63, on Saturday night. Pancake Thomas added 17 points and five boards in a losing effort for the Hawks.
 
The Wildcats saw three players reach double figures in scoring, led by 13 from Tanner Leissner and 12 from Daniel Dion. Leissner also grabbed 15 boards to post a double-double for the game.

FIRST HALF:
Hartford's outside shooting started hot, carrying over from its win against UMBC on the power of two deep threes by Taylor Dyson, to earn the Hawks an early 11-5 advantage with 16:57 to play. The Dyson threes were part of a white-hot shooting outburst by the Hawks to start the game, with Hartford beginning the contest on a 29-10 run. The Hawks hit seven from deep as part of the rally, including two each from Dyson, Ross, and Thomas.
UNH, which struggled to combat Hartford's firepower on offense early in the contest, started to gain some steam when it responded with a 14-5 run on the strength of its own outside shooting to narrow the Hawks' lead down to 33-24 with 8:07 to go in the half.
 
Down the stretch, the Hawks distributed the scoring effort to keep the Wildcats at bay. With UNH taking away perimeter shooting, Hartford changed it up by looking to score inside. Wilkerson, who was active on the boards throughout the opening half, scored on a nifty pass from Evan Cooper to raise the lead to 37-26 with 3:39 to play. The Hawks would take a 40-32 lead into the locker room.

SECOND HALF:
Hartford cooled off after the break, struggling to find shooting space in a more urgent defensive approach by the Wildcats. UNH eliminated the gap and tied the game at 40 with 16:05 to go, but Hartford got a big basket from deep by Blagojevic to answer a UNH three pointer and keep it tied at 43.  
New Hampshire extended the lead to 56-47 on a mid-range jumper amidst a mini 6-0 run to increase its advantage, but a pair of Thomas free throws spelled what was another run for the Wildcats, with the Hawks now down nine with 5:15 to play.
The Hawks couldn't pull out of a shooting slump in the second half, and the Wildcats closed the game out at the free-throw line for a 74-63 win. UNH went 22-for-26 at the stripe, as the Hawks were whistled for 18 fouls in the second half.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
• The Hawks carried over the offensive momentum from the last game against UMBC and got off to a scorching start in the first half, going 7-for-13 from deep to the tune of 40 percent shooting overall.
• Hartford's six blocks were the squad's highest mark of the season and most since the team swatted seven shots against Binghamton on Mar. 8, 2014.
• Wilkerson had another big night for the Hawks, grabbing a career-high seven rebounds and swatting a career-high five blocks. The freshman has now made five starts on the season and equaled his career-high in minutes tonight with 22.
• Ross had his 10^th-straight game in double figures, finishing with a team-high 22 points. It marked his third 20-point game on the year and the 20^th overall for the Hawks.
• UNH went 23-for-30 from the free-throw line, while the Hawks were just 8-for-11.

UP NEXT:
Hartford heads to Maine to begin its last regular-season road trip when the Hawks do battle with the Black Bears on Wednesday night in Orono. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be carried on the Talk of Connecticut 1360 AM with Jeff Dooley and Randy LaVigne on the call.