Vermont at Maine 1/16/14

Vermont 83 Maine 46

Vermont continued to play at a high level as they demolished Maine on the road. This one was never really in doubt as the Cats quickly raced to a 20 point lead a never looked back. Maine is a very poor team but Vermont has struggled with inexplicable conference losses over the last several years and Maine was one of the teams that has beat them when they should not have. Also if Vermont is supposed to be the cream of the crop they should bury the bad teams much like they did in this game. I am going to continue to make the point that Ethan O'Day is crucial to this teams success. There is a lot of evidence that suggests that some of the non conference struggles can be directly tied to his absence. In the Maine game he once again showed a beautiful array of post moves and has been much more decisive this year when looking to score. The other piece of his return that is getting overlooked is that it allows Luke Apfeld to play less minutes. Apfeld has clearly lost a step this year and that was exacerbated by having to play 30 minutes a game. Now that Apfeld can play 15-20 minutes per game he looks more energized and has been able to increase his effectiveness as well. Every player saw action in the game and everyone except Nassir Williams scored. Ryan Pierson had 9 points which if nothing else should serve as a confidence booster. Even if it was in garbage time, Pierson just needs to get some reps after almost 2 years away from game action. The moment from the game that has everyone talking is a monster dunk by Clancy Rugg. Highlights here. Rugg's in game dunking ability continues to amaze me and it sure is fun to watch. Vermont has very clearly reestablished themselves as a contender and hopefully they will continue to build on this streak at UMBC on Saturday. Brian Voelkel will most likely become UVM's all time leading rebounded in the next two games. Voelkel is at 1,040 rebounds for his career, trailing Marqus Blakely by 4 and Kevin Roberson by 14. It would be nice to see him break the record at home on Monday night against New Hampshire.