Last season, for the second consecutive year, New Hampshire was eliminated in the semifinal round of the America East (AE) Tournament. This year the Wildcats want to finally take that next step and make an appearance in the championship game.

“We’ve obviously been close,” said UNH head coach Bill Herrion. “I think the last couple years we’ve knocked on the door in the semifinals but we haven’t gotten to the finals.”

The 2015-16 season was historic for the Wildcats. They reached 20 wins for the first time in program history and were selected to the CIT postseason tournament, where they defeated Fairfield, their first-ever postseason victory.

After the strides of last year, UNH was selected to finish second in this year’s AE preseason coaches’ poll.

“I think [being chosen second] says that the other coaches in the league respect you,” Herrion said. “From that standpoint that’s positive, but what also comes with the respect factor is [that] it puts a bigger target on your back.”

Other than the last two years, the Wildcats haven’t had much conference success. They finished dead last in 2013 and prior to that, their highest finish was fifth.

“I think that’s probably the biggest challenge that our team has going into this year; we’ve really never been in this position as a program, where we are coming off two really good years,” Herrion said.

Expectations are high as the Wildcats bring back their top four scorers from last year, all of whom are upperclassmen. The veteran presence on the roster is something Herrion plans to rely on this season.

“Albany won three championships in a row and they did it with veteran players,” he said. “I hope that the fact that we do have a lot of returning players that have played a lot of minutes … I hope that’s an advantage.”

Leading the way last season for the Wildcats was then-sophomore forward Tanner Leissner. His team-leading 15.9 points put him third in the AE. He also averaged 7.3 rebounds per game — fourth best in the AE. Leissner’s efforts earned him First Team All-Conference honors.

Now in his junior year, Leissner is one of the top talents in the AE Conference and was named to the Preseason All-Conference team for the second straight season.

“[Leissner’s] work ethic, how he approaches practice, it is the same every single day,” Herrion said. “He’s a good player. We can play him inside in our league, and he’s a very effective inside player, but we can also put him out on the perimeter.”

Heading into the season, the Wildcats’ biggest advantage over teams will be their rebounding ability. UNH was third in the AE last season, recording an average of 5.3 more rebounds per contest than its opponents. Its top rebounder last year was sophomore forward Iba Camara, who pulled down 8.6 rebounds per game.

The Wildcats have used their rebounding advantage to establish themselves as a top defensive team, which they will look to continue this season.

“[Rebounding] is something that we really emphasize,” Herrion said. “We spend a lot of time on it in practice. We were very fortunate that Iba Camara … emerged as a really good rebounder.”

For the Wildcats, the story of this season will be whether they can break through and get the chance to compete for the AE title. This year, they have all the pieces to make a run at the title.

“It’s one game at a time,” Herrion said. “The only poll we are worried about is the one at the end of the year.”