UMBC at Vermont 1/6/18

Vermont 71 UMBC 56

The 2,734 fans that braved the cold were rewarded with a dominating performance by the Cats. Payton Henson led the way with 16 points and a career high 14 rebounds leading Vermont's domination in the post. Henson again got the Cats off to a hot start and took control underneath. He also threw down a highlight reel dunk to punctuate a strong first half. This was a really strong team win. Everyone that played made positive contributions. Ernie Duncan and Trae Bell-Haynes fought through tough physical defense to finish with 12 and 13 points respectively. Everett Duncan did all the little things and finished with 7 points and 6 boards (4 offensive). Drew Urquhart payed a strong first half including some beautiful assists from the high post. He finished with 6 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Cam Ward and Stef Smith hit big shots and played tough defense. Samuel Dingba came up with 2 huge blocks and Nate Rohrer threw down an impressive dunk of his own. Vermont looked like a team on a mission tonight. Their defense was incredible against a team that puts a lot of points on the board. UMBC leads the conference in scoring at 78 points pere game and struggled to reach 56 tonight. The defense on Jairus Lyles deserves special recognition. Lyles is the leading scorer in the conference at 21 points per game and he was held to 8 points on 2-12 shooting.  The Cats have certainly recommitted themselves to "Vermont" basketball over these last few games. They got some big wins this week and demonstrated that they are still the team to beat despite their injuries. One of the ways they are doing it is by limiting opponents chances at rebounds. They have actually allowed the fewest offensive rebounds and the ninth fewest total rebounds in the country. That is a testament to their strong defense and team rebounding. When a shot goes up guys are finding their man and putting a body on them. This makes up for the fact that they have the fewest steals in the country. This group takes everything thrown their way and moves forward, continuing to demonstrate that their best skill is their mental toughness. After a marathon week they get a little respite with only two games in the upcoming week. Next up is their last non-conference game at Dartmouth on Wednesday.