Vermont at UMass Lowell 1/4/18

Vermont 88 UMass Lowell 77

Ernie Duncan was red hot and Drew Urquhart continued his incredible senior season as Vermont braved the storm and won their conference opener at UMass Lowell. Duncan finished the night with 32 points (20 in the second half) on 10/11 shooting including 5/6 from three. Several of his makes were with a high degree of difficulty. It felt like he could have had even more tonight as most of his shots were nothing but net. His willingness to go to the rim is really opening up his offense as teams can no longer close him out hard at the three point line. Drew U looks better and better every game and is absolutely seizing the moment in his senior season. He was a monster in this game, using his size advantage to dominate the paint. In his second start replacing Anthony Lamb he finished with a career high 19 points and tied a career high with 12 rebounds. Seven of those rebounds were on the offensive glass. Seven! He also stroked another three pointer and is shooting with a tremendous amount of confidence. His put back plus the foul after a missed free throw with 1:30 to go was the play that sealed the game. Payton Henson got the Cats off to a hot start and finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds. Cam Ward also played very well finishing with 8 points in his best effort of the season. The defense is still a work in progress but a great win to open conference play none the less. UMass Lowell is a very pesky team that has given Vermont fits. Jahad Thomas just destroys the Cats every game and is an incredibly versatile player. With a quick turnaround and a storm preventing an easy trip home, Vermont has some work to do before Saturday's home opener against UMBC. The Retrievers are a difficult matchup for Vermont and have played them tough over the last few years. They love to shoot the three and it is really going to test Vermont's defense. They also like to play small so Vermont is going to have to mix and match lineups to keep pace. It is going to be a cold walk up the hill to Patrick on Saturday night but I am ready to brave the elements.