Bears, Cats both feeling confident

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Tuesday’s North Atlantic Conference men’s basketball tournament quarterfinal between Maine and Vermont is your typical 4 vs. 5 matchup, which is to say both teams are confident they can beat the other.

“It’s a good matchup for both teams,” said Vermont head coach Tom Brennan Monday as his fifth-seeded Catamounts prepared for the 4 p.m. clash with the No. 4 Black Bears at the Hartford Civic Center. “We’ve both had success against each other, so we both feel we can beat each other. That kind of situation usually makes for a great game.”

Greatness is in the eye of the beholder. But judging by the immediate history of the rivalry, this game should be nothing if not close. The two teams split their regular season series, each winning on the other’s home court. One game went into overtime. In a combined 85 minutes of play against each other this season, two points separated Maine and Vermont.

Take the rivalry back two seasons, and Maine and Vermont are 2-2 against each other with a total separation of nine points.

The fact Vermont enjoys the point edge in that span is one reason Maine head coach Rudy Keeling has great respect for the Catamounts.

“They’re very good shooters and they always seem to play well against us,” Keeling said. “I think they figure we’re one of the teams they can beat, so they play with a lot of confidence. We expect a tough ballgame.”

Maine is looking to concentrate defensively on stopping Vermont from the outside in, out of respect for its perimeter shooters. And with good reason. In the Cats’ 77-74 win in Bangor Jan. 10, they connected on 8 of 19 three-point shots. The guard trio of Matt Johnson, Kenny White, and Brian Tarrant combined for 40 points in that game.

“We’ve got to exploit their inability to take it to the hole,” Keeling said, noting the Bears will play more man-to-man than usual and will extend their matchup zone. “So if we crowd them and make them take it to the hole,

it works to our advantage.”

Vermont may be perimeter-oriented, but it still has a good big man in 6-foot-7 sophomore center Kevin Roberson. He scored 20 points and blocked 5 shots in Vermont’s win.

Vermont’s problem, according to Brennan, is stopping Maine’s inside game. Black Bear big men Curtis Robertson, at 6-10, 250 pounds, and Coco Barry (6-8, 250) averaged a combined 23 points and 18 rebounds in the two games with the Catamounts. Barry in particular hurt Vermont, scoring 19 points with 8 rebounds in Maine’s 74-73 OT win.

“Coco kills us. And with Robertson, Maine has two big guys who wear Roberson down physically. We’ve got to deny them the ball and hope we can get them in foul trouble,” Brennan said.

Vermont feels good about the success it has had defending Maine’s Dean Smith, the Bears’ leading scorer at 19 points per game. Catamount forward Rich Tarrant, a 6-5 junior, has held Smith to an average of 14 points in the two games this year.

“We can’t let Smith get nuts. Rich has done a good job and matches up well with him,” said Brennan.

Both Maine and Vermont will be looking to improve their tournament histories.

Maine enters with a 3-9 NAC tourney record and hasn’t won a game since 1984. Vermont is 2-6 and hasn’t won since 1983. Neither program has advanced past the second round in the 11-year history of the league.

Men’s College Basketball

No. 4 MAINE vs. No. 5 VERMONT

Time, site: Tuesday, 4 p.m., Hartford Civic Center

Records: Maine 6-6 NAC (11-16), Vermont 4-8 NAC (11-16)

Head to Head: Split two games, Vermont winning 77-74 in Bangor Jan. 10, Maine winning 74-73 (OT) Feb. 10 in Burlington

Coaches: Maine, Rudy Keeling, 20-35, 2 seasons (13-17 NAC); Vermont, Tom Brennan, 25-84, 4 seasons (13-53 NAC)

Key Players: Maine – Dean Smith F (19 ppg), Derrick Hodge G (12.7 ppg), Shelton Kerry F (6.2 ppg), Marty Higgins G (8.3 ppg), Coco Barry C-F (7.6 ppg), Curtis Robertson C (6.1 ppg), Guy Gomis F (5.2 ppg); Vermont – Kevin Roberson C (14.2 ppg), Matt Johnson G (14 ppg), Rahim Huland El (10.9 ppg), Rich Tarrant F (5.4 ppg), Kenny White G (7.7 ppg), Brian Tarrant G-F (7.9 ppg)

What to Watch: Teams mirror each other, as scores indicate. Both like to play man-to-man defense but often end up switching to 3-2 or matchup zone. Maine will move sophomore Kerry into the starting lineup in place of Hodge, who will play the role of sixth man. Kerry scored a career-high 22 points as a starter in Maine’s regular season finale at Eastern Illinois.

No. 3 HARTFORD vs. No. 6 COLGATE

Time, site: Tuesday, 7 p.m., Hartford Civic Center

Records: Hartford 8-4 (17-10), Colgate 3-9 (7-20)

Head to Head: Hartford swept, winning Feb. 3 at Colgate 98-72, and winning 73-57 Feb. 21 in Hartford

Coaches: Hartford, Jack Phelan, 109-143, 9 seasons (48-35 NAC, 4 seasons); Colgate, Jack Bruen, 7-20, first season, (3-9 NAC)

Key Players: Hartford – Lamont Middleton F (18.9 ppg), Ron Moye G (15.2 ppg), Larry Griffiths C (11.3 ppg), Al Jones G (6.9 ppg), David Thompson G (4.1 ppg); Colgate – Jon Stone C (11.7 ppg), Darren Brown F (11.3 ppg), Dave Goodwin G (10.9 ppg), Jay Armstrong G (10.2 ppg), Devin Hughes F (9.5 ppg)

No. 2 BOSTON UNIVERSITY vs. No. 7 NEW HAMPSHIRE

Time, site: Tuesday, 9 p.m., Hartford Civic Center

Records: Boston U. 9-3 (15-11), New Hampshire 3-9 (5-22)

Head to Head: BU swept, winning 67-51 at UNH Jan. 27 and 85-77 at BU Feb. 28

Coaches: BU, Mike Jarvis, 98-50 five seasons, (62-22 NAC); UNH, Jim Boylan, 5-22 first season (3-9 NAC)

Key Players: BU – Steve Key G (16.7 ppg), Ron Moses C (10.5 ppg), Bill Brigham F (10.5 ppg), Reggie Stewart G (10.2 ppg), Mark Daly G (7.8 ppg); New Hampshire – Pat Manor F (13.4 ppg), Eric Thielen F (11.3ppg), Keith Carpenter F (7.9 ppg), Tommy Hammer G (6.9 ppg), Bob Cummins G (6.7 ppg)

No. 1 NORTHEASTERN, First-round Bye

Time, site: Wednesday, 5 p.m., Hartford Civic Center, vs. Maine-Vermont winner

Record: 9-3, 16-11

Head to Head: Split with Maine, losing 74-61 in Bangor Jan. 17, winning 78-58 in Boston Feb. 3; swept Vermont, winning 76-73 in OT Jan. 25 in Boston, won 76-58 Feb. 21 in Burlington

Coach: Karl Fogel, 75-42, four seasons, (49-16 NAC)

Key Players: George Yuille G (14.2 ppg), Steve Carney F (13.9 ppg), Lamont Hough G (11.2 ppg), Walter Abercrombie C (9.1 ppg), Marcellus Anderson F (8.8 ppg), Dexter Jenkins G-F (8.6 ppg)