Vermont 80 Coastal Carolina 67
Vermont overcame another sluggish first half by ratcheting up their defense and Ernie Duncan put Coastal Carolina away with a big second half run. Duncan was incredible down the stretch and finished with 19 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds. He drove hard to the rim and had some beautiful finishes and dump offs to teammates. It was great to see him use the fear of his three point shot to get by defenders and get to the rim. Drew Urquhart turned in another incredible performance setting a new career high with 15 points. He is attacking the rim with authority and looking to dunk the ball every chance he can. He also pulled down 5 rebounds and has improved his ability to battle for the ball in traffic. What a great start to his senior year. Trae Bell-Haynes finished with 15 points as well and made 6 out of 9 from the free thrown line to get himself headed in the right direction. He also dished out 5 assists as Vermont assisted on 17 of their 25 made shots. Everett Duncan knocked down a couple threes and did a lot of little things to help the Cats win. I really like the court sense he possesses. Payton Henson continued to be his consistently good self. Henson hit some big shots and has looked even better on the boards thus far this season. Becker went with his "no mistakes lineup" down the stretch after the freshman let Coastal Carolina back into the game with some bad turnovers. Anthony Lamb also did not play much down the stretch, as for the second straight game he looked lost out on the court. It is so strange to see him struggle so much. He is definitely not playing with confidence right now. Opposing teams are throwing a lot of different looks at him, especially immediate double teams and he is having a hard time adjusting. He is the focal point of opposing defenses and there is going to be an adjustment period for him. So far in every game this season Vermont has been better in the second half, particularly on defense. They are making good half time adjustments but tomorrow night they are going to have to get off to a better start. Because I love patterns I am going to continue to reference how similar this tournament is unfolding when compared to last years tournament. In the second game of the tournament last year Vermont found their offense and won by double digits with, you guessed it again, Ernie Duncan as their leading scorer. Totally irrelevant but fun. It will be a battle tomorrow night for the championship as both Iona and Northern Kentucky will be difficult matchups. The three teams left in this tournament field all made the NCAA tournament last season. Can't wait to see how the Cats some out in tomorrow nights game with a chance to bring home the championship.
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