Vermont at UMBC 1/18/14

Vermont 73 UMBC 47

Defense again is the theme as Vermont has yet to allow a team to score 50 points during conference play. The Cats swarmed UMBC all afternoon and for the second straight game jumped out to a quick 20 point lead and never looked back. Candon Rusin continued his resurgence, leading the way with 22 points on 6-9 shooting, 4-5 from beyond the arc. He is certainly on a hot streak and looks better across the board. Rusin looks more confident at the free throw line and is making better decisions on the court. He the type of player where you can tell what kind of game he is going to have from the first few times he touches the ball. There is a certain swagger to his game when he is on and it has certainly been there over the last few games. It seems silly to write again about Ryan Pierson's play in garbage time but it is a point that needs making. He is finally looking like a competent basketball player and the Cats will really need him to be able to give 5-10 good minutes down the stretch. Call them the "Pat Bergman minutes". Ethan O'Day only played 9 minutes in the game and I hope Becker was just giving him a rest in a game that was never in doubt (please no injury). Vermont is flat out rolling right now and I dare say this is the best I have ever seen this group look. They have gone on streaks before but this one is different. Even in the championship year, this group often played down to the competition (which resulted in a horrific loss to a previously winless Binghamton team). Blowouts were rare and even if they did pull away it was always in the second half. Right now Vermont is winning these games in the first half and not looking back. The key will be to maintain this high level of play throughout the rest of the season. Now it is time for the obligatory Brian Voelkel is amazing section of the write up. I would imagine that rebound and assists double doubles are rare, but it seems like Voelkel is close to getting one every game. Today Voelkel had 10 rebounds and 9 assists, just amazing production out of a great player. Throw in 4 steals and you have the instructional video on how to affect the game without scoring. With the 10 rebounds, Voelkel is now 5 shy of breaking Kevin Roberson's record and becoming the all time leading rebounder at UVM. I will be attending the game Monday where he will be a virtual lock to break the record against New Hampshire. That will be an amazing moment and a great accomplishment.