America East Basketball News & Notes: Vermont's West Coast Win and UNH's Epic Comeback Spark Conference

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Despite ranking near the bottom of national metrics, the America East (AE) Conference showed a pulse last week with two highly notable victories that could provide momentum as conference play approaches. With the AE’s overall record sitting below .500 and no team cracking the NCAA’s Top-150 NET rankings (Vermont leads the way at #177), signs of life were desperately needed.

Vermont Secures Road Win in Malibu

The Vermont Catamounts (6-5), the highest-ranked team in the conference, traveled to the West Coast and secured an important non-conference victory, defeating the Pepperdine Waves 65-56 in Malibu, California.

Double-Figure Duo: Vermont was spearheaded by TJ Hurley and David Simon, who each scored 18 points, combining for 36 of the team’s 65 total points.
Second-Half Dominance: In a contest that featured seven ties and three lead changes, the Catamounts pulled away decisively in the second half, outscoring Pepperdine by 11 points to seal the road victory.

UNH Stages Historic 25-Point Comeback

The biggest story of the week belonged to the UNH Wildcats (3-7), who pulled off a stunning, massive comeback victory over Boston University on Saturday night.

The Deficit: The Wildcats looked defeated, trailing by 25 points with just 10:42 left in the second half. With 4:30 remaining, BU was still up 19 at $70-51$ .
The Press and The Rally: Head coach Nathan Davis deployed a full-court press that completely unraveled the Terriers. The deficit was slashed to nine with 2:20 to play, and a seven-point gap became a one-point game at $72-71$ with only 28 seconds left.
The Overtime Push: After BU hit two free throws to make it a three-point game, KiJan Robinson nailed a clutch three-pointer to send the game to extra time. UNH dominated the overtime period, outscoring BU 14-8 to clinch the win.
Key Stats: UNH’s victory was powered by a huge advantage in fastbreak points (20-4) and points in the paint (52-26). Robinson finished with a career-high 21 points and four three-pointers.

Weekly Award Winners

The AE also recognized strong individual performances across the league:

Player of the Week: Jah Likal King (UMBC) earned the award, averaging 19.5 points for the week, including a 20-point performance in a win over Bucknell, where he shot 54% from the field. He also put up 19 points in a loss to Georgetown.
Rookie of the Week: Ty Tabales (Bryant) claimed the honor for the second consecutive week. He averaged $18.5$ points and four assists, highlighted by an 18-point, seven-assist outing in the Bulldogs’ win over Stonehill.

The America East conference faces another busy week with fourteen games scheduled, hoping to build on this sudden momentum before the start of league play.