FINAL SCORE: Vermont 80, New Hampshire 51
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Vermont (16-10, 10-2 AE) extended its season-best winning streak to eight games, defeating New Hampshire (11-13, 6-6 AE) 80-51 on Wednesday night at Patrick Gym. The Catamounts have now earned wins against every opponent in the conference during the streak.
 
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COACH'S QUOTE
"Great game tonight, especially in the first half," Cioffi Men's Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. "We got up to that huge lead and I thought Dylan was really good in the first half, just setting the pace and kind of setting everything up. Robin again was incredible, with 13 rebounds, a career-high. Finn's on-ball defense was really good again, and I thought Ileri was really good off the bench. Aaron obviously was exactly what we needed him to be off the bench as a tough, tough cover. To pick up two wins against two teams that beat us, the only two teams that beat us in conference so far, kind of shows you what this team is about. We didn't really need to talk about it much. Those guys knew, and they had two dominant performances this week."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Catamounts and Wildcats traded buckets in the early minutes, with UNH taking the first lead of the game on an opening trey from Matthew Herasme. The basket marked the first time that UVM had trailed in the month of February.
• New Hampshire remained in front until 4:20 into the contest when Dylan Penn's layup gave Vermont a 9-8 lead. The basket was in the midst of a stretch of seven-straight points from Penn who led the Catamounts in an 11-0 that made the score 16-8 with 12:37 left in the half.
• UVM's lead grew to double digits with 5:45 remaining in the opening frame on Penn's 13th-point of the half. The fifth-year guard drove hard to the basket and converted a layup to go up 26-15. Penn's layup came in a dominant 20-2 run for the Catamounts that started just before the midway point of the opening half, and finished with a 38-17 lead with 4:15 to go in the frame.
• A three-pointer from Nick Johnson ended a 5:32 scoring drought for the Wildcats with 3:33 remaining, but the Catamounts countered with nine-straight points to close the half with a 47-20 lead.
• Kam Gibson opened the second half with back-to-back makes from beyond the arc to give Vermont its first 30-point lead of the night, up 52-20 1:05 into the frame.
• The Wildcats would cut the Catamount lead to 24 points with 14:32 remaining. Christian Moore scored 12 points over a 4:23 span as UNH outpaced UVM 15-7 during that stretch. Vermont would go back up by 30 points on a Matt Veretto triple with 9:45 left on the clock.
• UVM's largest lead of the night came with 2:31 left on a pair of free throws by Jorge Ochoa.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Catamounts held the Wildcats to a 33.9% (19-56) shooting percentage, their lowest percentage allowed in conference play this season.
• Vermont outrebounded New Hampshire 40-28, led by a career-high 13 boards from Robin Duncan. Duncan also had a game-high seven assists.
• Penn scored a team-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. The Evansville, Ind. native opened the game with makes on each of his first seven field goal attempts. Penn also pulled in six rebounds.
• Deloney was also in double figures with 15 points. The senior made 6-of-10 attempts from the floor, including a 2-for-3 clip from beyond the arc.
• Finn Sullivan tallied 14 points to reach double figures for the fourth-straight game. The UVM guard was 4-for-9 from the field, and knocked down 5-of-7 attempts from the free throw line.
• With the win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to King Street Center as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since its inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $80,000 to local non-profits through the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.  

UP NEXT
Vermont hits the road on Saturday (Feb. 18) when it visits NJIT in Newark, N.J. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. ET at NJIT Wellness and Events Center. The matchup between the Catamounts and Highlanders will broadcast live on ESPN 3. International fans can watch the game live on AmericaEast.TV. Fans can listen to the game for free on the Vermont Sports Network, from Learfield on The Game, which will air on 97.1 FM in Burlington, 105.9 FM in Plattsburgh, and 960 AM around the rest of the region. The radio broadcast is also available via the Varsity Network App with Brian McLaughlin on the call.

McGee Automotive Group is the presenting sponsor of Vermont men's basketball