Gulf Coast Showcase: Houston vs Vermont

Houston 72 Vermont 71

Heartbreak.

Houston converted a layup at the buzzer to defeat Vermont in the championship of the Gulf Coast Showcase. This one is tough. Vermont fought hard to get back into the game and took control in the final minute, only to have miscues come back to haunt them. Vermont went up 71-67 and then allowed a corner three on an out of bounds play to cut the lead to 71-70. Then Kurt Steidl came down with a huge rebound and forced a jump ball. On the ensuing inbound he was fouled with about 7 seconds left. Steidl missed the front end of the one and one. Houston then drove it right down the middle and dished it off for the winning layup. Agonizing defeat. I feel for Steidl. He worked his butt off and hit big shots in the second half, only to have the missed free throw come back to haunt him. Vermont played so hard in the second half and couldn't miss from three shooting 9-17 from deep. Ernie Duncan remained hot scoring 17 points to lead the Cats. Payton Henson had 11 points and 7 rebounds, continuing his consistent run to start the season. He did get into silly foul trouble in the first half and it was very telling when he was on the bench. He is already Vermont's most important player. The only portion of the game where Houston dominated Vermont was with Henson on the bench at the end of the first half. Vermont gave up offensive rebounds and their offense was completely stagnant. His versatility on offense and ability to rebound are very much the engine of this team. Drew Urquhart quietly had a very effective tournament and is steadily earning more and more minutes. He looks more decisive on the court and is staying away from the glaring miscues that have kept him on the bench over his first two years. Anthony Lamb only played eight minutes in the second half. I think that is due to Becker switching to a zone defense down the stretch and not trusting Lamb to play it effectively. This one is gonna sting for a while and it continues the notion that this Vermont team struggles to execute down the stretch in big games. They cant dwell on it too much as they welcome Yale on Saturday for what should he a very hard fought game. Yale has been playing extremely well and is going to be a very tough match up for Vermont. The Cats enter a very tough stretch of the schedule where they are going to be playing very good teams night in and night out. This is another in the long list of mental obstacles that this Vermont group has to overcome.