Binghamton at Vermont 1/26/14

Vermont 72 Binghamton 39

Ethan O'Day was inserted into the starting lineup and responded with 21 points to lead Vermont to a convincing  victory over Binghamton. O'Day looked strong for the second consecutive game and gives the Cats another dimension on offense. The improvement from last year to this year by O'Day is phenomenal. At times last year, O'Day was indecisive and it took his post moves too long to develop. This year he is making quick, aggressive decisions. Candon Rusin hit 4 of 5 threes and scored 16 points to break out of a mini shooting slump. The fact the Kurt Steidl is playing so well should help motivate Rusin and keep him from getting complacent as the season goes on. The fact that the Cats are able to blow out the teams they are supposed to crush is a refreshing change from years past. This group often struggled with putting teams away and it is nice to see that as seniors they are taking care of business. It does help that the league is the weakest I have ever seen it. I hope the league can attract some young talent because if not some of the top teams are certainly going to be looking for a new conference in the next few years. One other point I would like to make is that Hector Harold is really coming on strong. The box score from last nights game wont show any huge stats and he was actually held scoreless. However, watching the game it is refreshing to see Harold affect the game without scoring for the first time this year. Harold played tough defense and had several nice passes in the post. It looks like he is starting to get comfortable in the system and may have finally shaken off some of the transfer rust. If Harold can continue to do the little things that will allow him to stay on the court, he will have a positive effect on the seasons outcome. Having his offensive ability on the court stretches the opposing teams defense and allows Voelkel to pick them apart with his passing. After last nights game Voelkel is 10 assists from becoming the all time assists leader at UVM and Carissimo is 17 points away from 1,000. Now it is on to Hartford for another quick turnaround Wednesday night.