SURVIVE AND ADVANCE: Seattle University returns to the Connolly Complex North Court Monday night for the quarterfinals of the 2016 College Basketball Invitational, hosting the Vermont Catamounts of the America East Conference. Both teams reached the semifinals of last year’s CBI, but only one will be able to repeat that performance.
SCOUTING VERMONT: The Catamounts enter Monday’s game with a 22-13 overall record after defeating Western Carolina, 79-74, last Thursday in the first round. Vermont has won eight of its last nine games, with the only loss coming at Stony Brook in the final of the America East Tournament. The Catamounts finished in a tie for third place in the America East Conference with an 11-5 league mark. Vermont is 8-9 in true road games so far this season. The Catamounts are scoring 75.1 points per game and allowing 70.6 points per contest. As a team, Vermont is shooting 48.6 percent from the field, including 38.5 percent from behind the three-point line, and 70.8 percent from the free throw line. Trae Bell-Haynes leads the team in scoring and assists, averaging 11.9 points and 3.5 assists per game. Ethan O’Day is right behind Bell-Haynes at 11.8 points per game, plus he leads Vermont in field goal percentage (.553), rebounding (6.3 rpg), and blocked shots (2.0 bpg). Ernie Duncan (77 three-pointers) and Kurt Steidl (65 three-pointers) are the team’s top long-distance shooters, averaging 11.2 and 11.1 points per game respectively. This will be the first meeting all-time between Seattle U and Vermont.
CANADIAN REUNION: Monday’s game will feature two players on opposite sides who played together on the Canadian national team that competed at the FIBA U19 World Championships last summer in Greece. Sophomores Drew Urquhart of Vermont and Jadon Cohee of Seattle U earned the honor of playing for their national team at a world competition. Coming off that experience, Urquhart has appeared in 34 games for Vermont this season, averaging 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, while Cohee is averaging 8.0 points per game for the Redhawks.