After losing his two leadings scorers in Ferg Myrick and Chandler Rhoads, New Hampshire head coach Bill Herrion hoped to replace some of that scoring capacity with junior transfer Matt Miller.

Miller, whose ability to shoot from the perimeter was well established at Division II Seton Hill, led his team as a sophomore with 20.1 points per game and converted 158 3-pointers in his two seasons there.

But instead, Herrion ended up with an even larger gap in his offense when Miller tore his ACL in the first week of practice.

“He’s out for the year, which is really unfortunate because Matt sat out last year and he was really excited and worked very hard and was ready to play this year, and he’s going to miss the season,” Herrion said. “So what we’re really going to miss with his being out is that he’s a terrific 3-point shooter, so we’ve got one less perimeter shooter with Matt out.”

Herrion’s options still aren’t shoddy, however — he’ll return seniors Patrick Konan and Chris Pelcher, upon whom he’ll depend for much-needed leadership.

Konan, a 6-foot-6 forward, should be the team’s primary source of scoring and rebounding. With 11.8 points (No. 12) and 5.4 rebounds per game (No. 15), Konan returns as the only Wildcat to rank among the America East’s top-15 scorers and rebounders.

Herrion will look to his No. 2 scoring man from last season to rise to No. 1 this year.

“Patrick can really score,” Herrion said. “He’s a very streaky offensive player, but we need him to be more consistent offensively … He’s kind of now a go-to guy, so he’s going to really get guarded hard by other teams, and he’s going to have to make that adjustment and not be a one-dimensional player.”

But Herrion added that he doesn’t think that will be problematic for the fifth-year senior. Konan led the team with 48 made 3-pointers a year ago, and Herrion said the forward has already proven himself to be much more of a dynamic offensive player.

After playing through a separated shoulder injury for the final two months of last season, then-junior center Chris Pelcher contributed 9.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and posted the Wildcats’ third highest shooting clip at 53.4 percent. Herrion expects a healthy Pelcher to play a key role in replacing Myrick and Rhoads.

“Chris Pelcher is as good a back-to-the-basket post player as there is in this league. He’s got to be a guy that when we need baskets he’s kind of a go-to guy for us,” Herrion said. “He’s going to have to learn how to play and kind of beat double teams because people are going to really pay attention to him, defensively inside.”

As far as being doubled goes, Pelcher’s numbers dropped during the conference season, when he attracted more attention. And now coaches, like Hartford’s John Gallagher, are paying even more attention to him.

“I think Pelcher is one of the best big guys in the league,” Gallagher said. “He’s really a dominant type of player, and I think he’s a double-double type of guy … I think with Patrick Konan, he’s really developed into a player.”

So as long as Pelcher manages to find a way out of those pressurized situations, he could have a big senior year.

But, as Herrion said, the team will need leadership. UNH recruited five freshmen, and Herrion said that all of them will have to play.

So far, power forward Jacoby Armstrong has impressed the Wildcats the most with his physicality, and Herrion expects that he will play immediately. But he’s confident in all of his recruits, at least offensively.

“We’ve got five freshman, and all five freshmen are going to have to play for us,” Herrion said. “They can all play on the offensive end of the floor. We can put them in a college game and they can play offensively. I think the biggest adjustment that freshmen make coming from high school or prep school to college is on the defensive end of the floor.”

Which is where guys like Konan and Pelcher come in.

“The first thing we need from Patrick and Chris is — because they’re both fifth-year seniors, they’re both transfers, so they’ve been playing college basketball for a while — I think the first thing we need,” Herrion said, “is for both of them to be leaders and to play like leaders.”