Vermont overcame a sluggish start with a gutsy second half and closed the game on a 10-0 run to advance to the semifinals. In the first half the Cats were a bit tentative and New Hampshire was ready and raring to go. The Wildcats exploded out of the gate and took the fight to Vermont. The action was pretty choppy on both sides of the ball, but New Hampshire rode hot shooting from three to an eight point halftime lead. In the second half the Cats defense really dug in and took away the Wildcats perimeter scoring. Eventually Vermont's own perimeter shots began to fall and they battled their way back to emerge victorious. The big storyline was the three point shooting. First half: UNH 7-15, Vermont 1-10 from three. Second half: UNH 1-11, Vermont 6-12 From three. Honestly that pretty much sums up the difference between the two halves. Vermont's defense was tough throughout, holding New Hampshire to 36.4% shooting, finishing with a 36-24 advantage on the boards , and blocking 8 shots. New Hampshire was very physical on the defensive end and were determined to take TJ Hurley out of the game. The Wildcats played their hearts out and executed their game plan for much of the game. The difference in this game was Vermont's mental toughness and belief in themselves. All of the adversity faced this season challenged Vermont to be mentally tougher and learn how to win close games.
Hurley was tremendous in the second half, scoring 14 of his 18 points. When Vermont needed a big play on offense, he was there. He opened the second half with a personal 7 point flurry. His offensive rebound and bucket gave Vermont their first lead of the night and he had a quick 5 point spurt to take the lead for good. Big time performance in the face of relentless defensive pressure. Ileri Ayo-Faleye also made clutch shot after clutch shot and finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. In the second half, he switched on to New Hampshire's leading scorer Sam Pissis and kept him from scoring the rest of the game. Nick Fiorillo knocked down the dagger three to give the Cats a two possession lead and stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points (3-6 from three), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. He has become the Cats physical enforcer in the post and isn't backing down from anyone. Sam Alamutu struggled at times with the defensive pressure but finished with a solid 8 point, 7 rebound performance. Sean Blake had some nice moments and injected energy in the Cats, but had some freshman mistakes down the stretch that allowed New Hampshire to creep back into the game. Jace Roquemore finished with 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.
A gritty, gutsy performance to open the playoffs and now they await their opponent on Tuesday night. Playoff atmosphere at Patrick is the best.
They left a potential 6 points on the foul line on missed 1-1's down the stretch. Can't do that Tuesday and expect to win.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the solid wrap-up. I think you are right that this years nasty run of injuries has mentally touphened this bunch. It looked like they were more in control than us fans were...and they came through especially Ileri and TJ. Ileri's D and rebounding down the stretch was crucial and TJ was incredibly clutch on O ( and his usual stout D ). Sean was great and provided energy and production for the comeback, but I think Becker left him in too long- he was gassed ( they all were ) and started making serious mistakes. Not perfect, but a W.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to mention TJ's pass to Nick for the dagger three: driving the baseline hard without stepping out of bounds ( how?) and whipping a perfect pass- with his left hand- to Nick. Maybe the most important play of the game
ReplyDeleteHurley saved the day, what an offensive performance. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteKellen Tynes was great for Maine today. Will have to focus on shutting him down on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteIleri can shut down just about anyone in the AE.
DeleteBlake needs to handle the ball if Shamir is still out. Sammy is so valuable but had too many mishaps carrying the point yesterday!
ReplyDeleteBlake makes his own share of mistakes.
ReplyDeleteJust win is right. Playing a weak New Hampshire team at home was a fortunate draw. I'm not sure how many D1 teams Vermont would have beaten with that first half offense. I think they will need to play a lot better to advance to the conference final. They really need Bogues.
ReplyDeleteBTW- not only has TJ Hurley become an all around star and First team all AE, he is also all Academic AE with a 3.75 majoring in Math.
ReplyDeleteLee - is Odom getting a medical redshirt this season? If so, does he come back as a junior next year? With Ileri and Nick graduating will need some big men that can play!
ReplyDeleteNot sure we know Odom can play well if healthy from what we saw this yr
DeleteShy can play.
DeleteOdom showed me nothing this season. Overweight. Slow. No lift. An under sized big who wants to post up but can't get his shot off. And awful on defense. He had success at Howard. So hopefully what we saw was due to injury. But I wouldn't assume he can contribute. This team will be desperate for bigs next season.
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