Vermont at New Hampshire 1/18/18

Vermont 67 New Hampshire 56

Vermont won their 8th straight game by grinding out a victory over New Hampshire. Overcoming a poor first half the Cats were able to find their offensive rhythm due to the play of their guards. Cam Ward, Ernie Duncan, and Trae Bell-Haynes combined for 33 of Vermont's 42 second half points. Bell-Haynes led they way with 18 of his 20 points in the second half. New Hampshire denied Bell-Haynes the ball every chance they could and bodied him up on the perimeter. The Wildcats were able to force him into 7 turnovers but each time Bell-Haynes bounced back with tough physical finishes at the rim. The toughness sequence of the night was Bell-Haynes blocking a three pointer, tracking the ball down, and laying it in to seal the game. He is on quite the run with 18 plus points in four straight. Ernie Duncan bounced back from a tough game on Monday night, knocking down 4/7 from three en route to 17 points. It was his offense midway through the second half that tilted the game in Vermont's favor. His maturation as a player has been key to this winning streak. He has worked hard and made himself a threat to score off the dribble. This allows Vermont to switch up their late shot clock situations and run different sets to keep the defense on its toes. Cam Ward  continued his rise as he looks like the Ward from his first two seasons in a Catamount uniform. The swagger is back and he is knocking down big shots. Ward is up over 40% from three and has hit double figures in 3 of his last 4 games. Drew Urquhart was huge on the boards and had several beautiful blocked shots. He finished with 9 rebounds against one of the best rebounding teams in the country. This game was a perfect example of Vermont's ability to prevent rebounds. New Hampshire pulls down 41 rebounds per game and boasts a +9.6 rebounding margin. Vermont ended up even in rebounding allowing New Hampshire to grab only 28 rebounds.  The Cats offensive and defensive efficiency really shines through when you look at their ability to keep teams off the glass. This win comes with the news of another Vermont player dealing with an injury. Samuel Dingba suffered a groin injury, just when he was becoming a contributor off the bench, and is out indefinitely. Another blow to the Cats depth and as a result Ra Kpedi is now activated from his redshirt season. He played five minutes in tonight's game and scored the first points of his Vermont career on a couple of free throws. This season has become the epitome of the Cats' "next man up" mantra. It is unfortunate that Bailey Patella and Kpedi have had to sacrifice their redshirt seasons but exciting that they have an opportunity to contribute during this conference run. Now it is on to Sunday's game on the road against the surprising Hartford Hawks. They still shoot the three and have a post game to go with it this season which has led to a stretch of big wins. Every road game in conference is a battle and it will be no different on Sunday afternoon.