Vermont at Northeastern 12/9/17

Northeastern 71 Vermont 67

The road weary Cats dropped their third straight game to a red hot Northeastern team. Vermont was playing without Trae Bell-Haynes and it showed. Bell-Haynes is the key cog in so much of what the Cats do offensively and defensively. As a result Vermont turned the ball over repeatedly and Northeastern scored 21 points off of those mistakes. Vermont's offense was completely one dimensional without Bell-Haynes. His ability to get by defenders and either score or kick out is difficult to replace. That one dimension was strong in this game as Anthony Lamb set a new career high with 32 points, but it was not enough. Lamb was a perfect 15-15 from the line and tried to will the Cats back into game. In both this game and the Bucknell game they had a possession to tie the game or take the lead late and could not convert. Earlier in the year Vermont was converting in those situations so I guess this is a swift correction. The defense was only marginally better and the struggles are similar to the struggles Vermont experienced 2 seasons ago (which incidentally they also played without Dre Wills. You think he was a special kind of defensive force?). During that season teams would work the ball around with quick passes and eventually, late in the shot clock, knock down an open three. That has happened to Vermont three games in a row and is definitely a concerning trend. The Cats also force very few turnovers and as a result they rely on forcing teams to shoot a poor percentage for their defense to be effective. They have to tighten up their rotations or this trend is going to continue. There is no time to hang their heads with a quick turnaround for the game on Monday night. It is court dedication night as Tom Brennan gets recognized for his tremendous contributions to the Vermont program. It is probably going to be a sellout and this losing streak adds another layer to what was already going to be a big game. If Bell-Haynes is forced to miss another game the Cats are going to be in trouble. It is hard to replace all of what Bell-Haynes does for Vermont. Siena has become an intense rivalry game and they play the type of defense that forces lots of turnovers. It is going to be another difficult game and Vermont will need to play significantly better if they want to end the losing streak.