WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Hartford men's basketball team dominated from start-to-finish, scoring a convincing 74-39 win over visiting New Hampshire inside Reich Family Pavilion on Wednesday. Senior J.R. Lynch knocked down seven three-pointers to lead all scorers with a career-high 29 points as the Hawks (10-10) improve to 3-2 in the America East.
 
Jordan Reed scored 21 points and added a team-best nine rebounds to pace the Wildcats (3-15), who dip to 1-4 in the league.
 


PHOTO GALLERY

HARTFORD 74, UNH 39
 
The Hawks jumped out to an 11-2 lead within the first four minutes and never looked back, pushing the margin to 23 points at 36-13 with 3:30 remaining on a 19-5 run. Behind 21 first-half points from Lynch — including his fifth three-pointer in the final seconds — and a dominant defensive effort that held the Wildcats to 21.9 percent shooting, Hartford took a commanding, 44-17 lead into the break.
 
After an exchange of buckets resulted in a 52-30 Hartford lead with 13:50 to go, the Hawks settled in and dominated for the remainder of the game. Fueled by four-straight three-pointers — including a pair from Lynch — Hartford held UNH to just one field goal over the next 10 minutes and used a 20-3 run to open up a 39-point lead (72-33) with 4:50 to go.
 
INSIDE THE BOX AND NOTES

• The Hawks were stellar defensively, holding UNH to a season-low 39 points
• The defensive effort marked the first time since 2012-13 that Hartford holds an opponent to 40 points or fewer, when New Hampshire scored just 40 on Jan. 24, 2013 (51-40)
• Hartford's 35-point win marked its largest margin of victory against a Division I opponent since last season, when the Hawks defeated Binghamton by 32 points (97-65) on Jan. 13, 2018
• Redshirt-senior John Carroll also scored in double figures for the Hawks, finishing with 13 points
• Hartford's defense held the Wildcats to just 22.7 percent shooting (15-of-66), including a dismal 7-of-32 clip in the first half
• Lynch was on fire from long range, converting on 7-of-10 attempts from behind the arc
• Coming one point shy of his fourth double-double of the season, senior George Blagojevic tallied a game-best 12 rebounds as Hartford finished with a 50-38 edge on the boards
• Senior Travis Weatherington pulled down nine rebounds, a career-high
• Finishing with two steals, Lynch moved into seventh place in Hartford's record book with 152 career swipes

 
NEXT ON TAP
Hartford returns to the road with a trip to UAlbany on Saturday. The Hawks and Great Danes are slated for a 3 p.m. tipoff from SEFCU Arena in a game that will be aired on ESPN+.