SPORTS

Purdue holds off UVM's upset bid in NCAA tournament

Alex Abrami
Free Press Staff Writer
Purdue center Isaac Haas (44) is sanwhiched between Vermont forward Anthony Lamb (3) and guard Kurt Steidl (34) during their first round game of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball tournament Thursday, March 16, 2017 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wis.

MILWAUKEE - The University of Vermont men’s basketball team’s winning streak —  and its season — are over.

But not without a valiant upset bid.

The 13th-seeded Catamounts pushed No. 4 Purdue from start to finish before falling 80-70 in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday night.

The Catamounts finish an historic season at 29-6. After 21 straight victories, the nation’s longest active streak, UVM was dealt its first defeat since losing at Butler on Dec. 21.

"We were right there the whole game and I thought we were going to turn the corner right there in the second half, but just didn’t get enough breaks," redshirt sophomore Ernie Duncan said. "You have to be kind of lucky to pull off an upset at this level."

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Junior forward Payton Henson: "Three months without a loss was extremely special but I think any one of us would trade that in for a win tonight."

But this Catamount run in March Madness, despite setting program and America East Conference records, couldn't withstand a mighty Purdue side that used its inside strength and dagger 3-pointers to finally put away Vermont.

"This could have gone either way," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "Vermont is a really good basketball team. They made some tough shots. They made some tough plays. We obviously made a little bit more.

"One of the best teams we've faced all year. This was a huge win for us."

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The Catamounts trailed by one at the half, 37-36, fell behind further in the second half before cutting it to 68-63 with 4:27 left. But the Boilermakers, having suffered first-round NCAA tournament meltdowns in each of the past two seasons, survived behind national player of the year candidate Caleb Swanigan (16 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, three blocks) taking over late and Vincent Edwards dropping 15 of his 21 points after intermission.

Freshman Anthony Lamb struck for 20 points and nine rebounds while Trae Bell-Haynes (15 points), Henson (13) and Duncan (11) also hit double figures for the Catamounts, who close with the most wins in program history after tearing through their league opponents without a setback in 19 games.

"Obviously, Swanigan, you know, he's going to give you the numbers he gave again tonight," UVM coach John Becker said. "But Edwards really played well and then their shooters made shots when they needed to.

"But, you know, we've had a great, magical season. It hurts to have it come to an end. But, you know, I'm a proud coach up here with the way our guys played all year and how they competed tonight in the NCAA tournament."

The bright lights of the program's first Big Dance bid in five years didn't faze the Catamounts. After falling behind 7-2 early, the Catamounts surged in front with a 13-0 run highlighted by two Henson 3s sandwiched around a Bell-Haynes transition bucket.

Denying entry passes to Purdue's big men and forcing eight turnovers in the first half, UVM had come to play the style it needed to negate the Boilermakers' size and outside shooting ability.

"We executed the game plan exactly how we wanted," said Henson, in the first half.

Purdue climbed back and took a 28-26 lead on a P.J. Thompson triple. And then UVM responded with their own deep shots, Lamb and Kurt Steidl knocking down treys for 32-28 advantage with 2:51 to go in the half.

Then, less than a minute later, Steidl landed awkwardly on his left knee as he was coming down from contesting a shot. The senior did not return.

Purdue took a one-point lead into the halftime break and Edwards, 10 of 16 from the floor for the game, found space in the second half without the 6-foot-6 Steidl to contend with.

Minus Steidl, the team's minutes leader, UVM was forced to play different lineups. But more than that, Becker said, he felt for his player.

"It's just devastating, you know, a kid like Kurt that means so much to our program, that works so hard and just made all the sacrifices he's made in his career," Becker said. "Regardless of what it did and didn't do to us as a team and game plan and how it made it more difficult, as a person, I feel terrible for Kurt because I know how much this meant to him or how important this was to him."

Purdue, though, couldn't shake free of UVM.

The Boilermakers extended their lead to seven or eight points on several occasions, and UVM kept coming back. Down 59-52 after a Edwards triple, Bell-Haynes gathered a long outlet for Lamb for a fastbreak layup.

Bell-Haynes and Lamb hooked up again on a similar play following a Thompson bucket, trading baskets to trail 61-56 with 7:27 to play. After a Marcus Haas tap-in, Lamb stroked a baseline jumper to slice the margin to 63-58, but Dakota Mathias knocked down a 3-pointer on the other end for a 66-58 Purdue advantage.

The back-and-forth continued, and UVM had it down to 68-63 after Duncan buried a long 3 with 4:27 to go, and then 70-65 on a Lamb jumper with 3:43 to play.

Purdue then summoned a game-sealing spurt. Carsen Edwards and Thompson drained 3-pointers and the Purdue lead grew to double digits for the first time, 76-65, with only 1:57 left. And the Boilermakers wrapped it up from there.

"It’s very hard to beat teams once they got going, especially this type of team, one of the top teams in the country," UVM senior Dre Wills said. "We went out there and did all we could and unfortunately we came up short.

"We competed for 40 minutes and that’s all you can really ask for. Unfortunately we didn’t make enough plays down the stretch like we usually do."

Lamb finished 8 of 12 from the floor to go along with three assists and three steals, while Bell-Haynes' 15-point night included six of UVM's 21 assists and just one of his team's nine turnovers.

"The kid is unbelievable," said Becker of Lamb.

UVM finished 27 of 61 from the floor, including 10 of 27 on 3-point attempts, while Purdue made 31 of 60 of its shots and gained a 42-24 scoring edge in the paint.

When the time comes, the Catamounts will look back on a season they'll never forget.

"It’s tough right now and when this pain goes away, we will go back and reflect on just how good we were," Duncan said. "Right now, obviously, it hurts."

.Free Press Staff Writer Alex Abrami is in Milwaukee for UVM's NCAA tournament. Follow his coverage of the Catamounts at BurlingtonFreePress.com, on Twitter at @aabrami5 and in the print editions of the Free Press. Contact Abrami at 660-1848 or aabrami@freepressmedia.com.


Vermont forward Payton Henson (35) shoots during their first round game of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament game against Purdue Thursday, March 16, 2017 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee.