MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
 
The No. 3 seed Vermont men's basketball team continues its quest for a sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament on Monday night with a semifinal matchup in the America East Playoffs against No. 4 New Hampshire at Patrick Gym.
 
The 7:30 p.m. tipoff can be seen on ESPN3 and the ESPN App with Eric Frede and Frank Sullivan on the call. Local radio coverage begins at 7 p.m. on ESPN 101.3 FM with AJ Kanell and Bernie Cieplicki bringing you the action.
 
RELATED LINKS
Vermont Game Notes (.pdf)
UNH Game Notes
UNH Game Coverage: Live Video – Live Audio – Live Stats
Maine Flashback: Game Recap – CatamounTV Highlights
 
Last Time Out vs. Maine: Vermont never trailed, scored 90+ points for the fifth time this season and dispatched of a pesky Maine squad, 99-82, in the America East Quarterfinals Wednesday night at Patrick Gym. For the eighth straight season, the Catamounts have won 20 games and head into Monday night's semifinal with a 20-12 overall record. Cam Ward matched a career-high with 24 points and hit six three pointers for the second time this season. Ward drilled five triples in the first half including one from halfcourt as the halftime buzzer sounded. Ethan O'Day posted a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five assists and five blocks in 32 minutes of action. Kurt Steidl finished with 14 points while Ernie Duncan and Trae Bell-Haynes each chipped in with 11. Lavar Harewood knocked down a pair from the line to cut the Vermont lead to 13 after it had ballooned to 24 early in the second half. The Cats answered with a 7-0 run of their own highlighted by two Bell-Haynes drives to the rim and a Steidl put-back dunk to push the lead back to 20 with under four minutes to play.
 
About New Hampshire: UNH enters Monday's semifinal with a 19-11 overall record and finished 11-5 in league play. The Wildcats have posted back-to-back seasons of at least 19 wins. The Wildcats advanced to Monday's semifinal by virtue of a 56-51 win over Binghamton in the quarterfinals. Daniel Dion matched a career-high with 23 points on 6-of-14 shooting. All-Conference First-Team selection Tanner Leissner registered a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. UNH shot just 27.1% from the field but shot 19-of-23 from the free throw line. Leissner leads the Wildcats in scoring at 15.5 per game while ranking second in rebounds grabbing nearly five per contest. New Hampshire is one of the top rebounding teams in the league. The Wildcats rank first in defensive rebounds per game and third in rebounding margin.
 
Series History: Vermont leads the all-time series with UNH, which dates back to 1906, 97-48. Since the 2001-2002 season, Vermont is 31-6 against the Wildcats. The Catamounts have also won 12 of the last 16 meetings. All six of the UNH wins came in Durham. John Becker is 10-2 in his career vs. New Hampshire. The Catamounts are 52-18 all-time and have won 16 in a row against the Wildcats in Burlington (last loss: Jan. 8, 2000 | 84-75)
 
Last Meeting vs. New Hampshire: Up by three with under three minutes to play, Cam Ward drilled a deep three-pointer as the shot clock winded down to put the Vermont men's basketball team up for good in a 73-67 win over New Hampshire on 'Senior Night.' Trae Bell-Haynes scored a game-high 16 points and connected on a career-best three 3-pointers. Kurt Steidl chipped in with 13 points and six rebounds and Ethan O'Day, playing in his final regular season home game, went for eight points and eight rebounds in the winning effort. After Vermont pushed the advantage back to six late in the second half, Jaleen Smith connected on a deep three to make it 67-64 with just 2:45 to play. That set the stage for Ward's triple and Vermont hit its free throws down the stretch to pick up its 16th straight victory over UNH at Patrick Gym.
 
Tournament Notes: UVM has won the tournament title five times (2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2012). Vermont is 33-28 all-time in the America East Tournament. UVM has the most wins in tournament history (33) among the 2015 tournament field ... Since 2003, Vermont is 26-8 in the tournament. The Catamounts have reached the semifinals in 14 of the last 15 years and the title game in eight of the last 13 years. Head coach John Becker is 8-3 in tournament games as a head coach. Becker was the fifth America East coach to reach the championship game in each of his first two seasons at the helm of the program. The Catamounts are 17-17 overall in the quarterfinals in the America East Tournament, but 13-1 since 2003. For just the third time in the last 15 years, Vermont is not seeded No. 2 or better in the America East Playoffs.
 
Cats Sizzling: Over the last six games (all wins) UVM has averaged 86.2 points per game while shooting 55.3% from the field. Vermont has a scoring margin of +17.8 during the six-game win streak. The Cats have scored 90+ points five times this season which is the most since 1997-98 when it was done six times.
 
Cats vs. Cats This Season: Vermont has played some of its best defense of the season in the two regular season meetings against New Hampshire. Vermont held UNH to 30.2% shooting in the pair of matchups including just 9-of-41 from beyond the arc. Offensively, the two regular season meetings have been a lesson in balance as no player averaged more than 14 points and five averaged 7+ points per game
 
Streaking into March: During Vermont's six-game win streak, seven players are averging more than eight points per contest led by Cam Ward's 14.5 per game clip. UVM has 89 assists on 187 field goals during the stretch (47.5%).
 
Second Half Surge: Vermont took a step forward during the second half of league play. The Cats are averaging 85.1 points per game in the last nine games with a rebounding margin of +7.8. During the first half of league play, UVM averaged 72.4 points per game and had a rebounding margin of +0.6
 
Bench Mob: Vermont's bench has been a key factor during the second half of league play. The Cats have outscored their opponents 283-131 off the bench over the last nine games, which is a +16.9 points per game average. Cam Ward averaged 12.0 points per game off the bench in the second half of league play - one of three Catamounts to average more than eight points during the same stretch.
 
Three's Company: Three Catamounts landed on the All-Conference Third Team following the regular season - Ethan O'Day, Kurt Steidl and Trae Bell-Haynes. O'Day earns in second all-conference selection while Bell-Haynes and Steidl - both all-rookie selections following their freshman seasons - earned all-league status for the first time.
 
Did it all for the Rookie: Averaging 15 points per game while shooting 55.6% from the field in two Vermont wins in the final week of the regular season, Ernie Duncan earned Rookie of the Week honors on Monday. He also was selected to the AE All-Rookie team.
 
Tickets are still available for Monday's semifinal game and can be purchased at the UVM Ticket office in the upper lobby of Patrick Gym or online at UVMAthletics.com.