Dartmouth at Vermont 1/14/15

Vermont 55 Dartmouth 52

Sometimes you have to win ugly. That is the impression that I was left with following the game on Wednesday. The game had very little flow and neither team imposed their will. Vermont had the look of a team still basking in the glow of their big weekend victory. Many of the players looked like they were sleepwalking through the game. The one huge positive was to execute enough down the stretch to win a close game. So far this season Vermont has struggled to win close games. The Cats were able to ratchet up the defense and made enough plays on offense to win. The individual performances left something to be desired. Dre Wills was the best player on the floor and was his usual stat-stuffing self. His rebounding ability is a thing of beauty and several times in this game he was able to get key offense rebounds in big spots. Wills also made several key defensive plays (forgetting about the massive blunder of losing Alex Mitola in the corner) that swung the momentum Vermont's way. He is the best defender in the league and is starting to make a case for conference first team consideration. Other than that there were very few positive moments. The biggest shot of the night was Zach McRoberts throwing up a desperation three while trying to draw a foul and hitting nothing but net. That stretched the lead from one to four and took the wind out of Dartmouth's sails. Ethan O'Day and Kurt Steidl both had nightmare games. O'Day was in foul trouble all night and each time he reentered the game he tried to force the ball inside and struggled to finish. Kurt Steidl looked tired and did not have any pep in his jump shot. He didn't score as a result and also did not grab a single rebound. He, like O'Day, ended his night with four fouls. The Drew Urquhart Ryan Pierson switch also took a step back as Drew U got completely lost on defense several times, forcing Becker to bench him. Sigh, so close. The team will need to regroup and prove they can win on the road when they travel to UMBC on Saturday. UMBC has only 8 players dressing for games but has been playing with a lot of heart and energy. It would be a mistake to take them lightly and considering Vermont's struggles on the road, it could be a tough game.