UVM aims to continue run in CBI tournament

More than a week has passed since the University of Vermont men’s basketball team lost in the America East championship game.

But the Catamounts’ season isn’t over yet. And that should be enough motivation to solider on.

“As the sting of (the league championship) gets a little bit farther away, I’m hoping we can bounce back and mentally be a lot better,” UVM coach John Becker said.

After a lackluster performance in last week’s 79-74 win over Western Carolina, Vermont (22-13) returns to the court Monday to face host Seattle (15-16) in the quarterfinal round of the College Basketball Invitational. Game time is slated for 10 p.m. eastern and can be streamed online at www.wacsports.com/live.

“Going into Monday, we’ll be back to normal and ready to play,” Trae Bell-Haynes said. “We are going to have to find a way to overcome it.”

UVM has a number of goals in sight as it chases a deep CBI run:

•Monday will mark the Cats’ 36th game this season, tying for the most in program history (UVM also played 36 games in Becker’s first season as head coach, going 24-12).

•UVM can better last year’s run to the CBI semifinals.

•If UVM captured the CBI, it would be the program’s first postseason championship. And the additional four wins needed to do so would give UVM a school-record 26 victories (the 2004-05 and 2009-10 teams are tied at 25).

“There are a lot of things out there. There is a lot to play for — more than just postseason experience,” Becker said. "All these games are really valuable. It’s an opportunity to get quality wins and to build off what we’ve done this year. Hopefully we get re-energized here.”

Vermont, though, will remain shorthanded. While both Ernie Duncan and Ethan O’Day made the trip to Seattle, only Duncan (concussion) has been cleared to return following a one-game absence. O’Day, as of Monday afternoon, was listed as day-to-day with a knee sprain suffered in the league title-game loss to Stony Brook.

Duncan improving, O’Day doubtful for CBI quarterfinals

The Seattle Redhawks, a Western Athletic Conference program, are also searching for a second straight CBI semifinal appearance. In Seattle’s first-round win over Idaho, guard Brendan Westendorf, the team’s leading scorer this season, picked up a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds, one of four players in double figures.

Seattle presents size in 6-foot-11 starter Jack Crook (10.0 points a game) and 7-3 redshirt freshman Aaron Menzies, a bench player who averages 16.5 minutes a game.

“It will be another opportunity for our frontcourt,” to step up, Becker said.

The game will also serve as a homecoming for UVM sophomore Drew Urquhart, a Vancouver native who spent his final year of high school at Eastside Catholic in Sammamish, Washington. Urquhart didn’t play that season due to transfer eligibility issues.

“I haven’t seen my family for a while now. It will be fun to see people who haven’t seen me play basketball for a year now, just only on TV,” said Urquhart, who expects about two dozen family and friends to attend the game.

Tip-ins: Seattle’s coach is Cameron Dollar, who was a key member of the 1995 UCLA national championship team. … Urquhart and Seattle’s Jadon Cohee played together on the Canadian national team that competed at the FIBA U19 world championships last summer in Greece. … Morehead State-Duquesne, Ohio-North Carolina at Greensboro and Nevada-Eastern Washington are the other quarterfinal matchups. The semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday.

This story was originally published on March 20, 2016. Contact Alex Abrami at 660-1848 or aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aabrami5