Providence 80 Vermont 58
Vermont couldn't overcome a sluggish start and Providence pulled away in the second half to hand the Cats their first loss of the season. Providence dominated Vermont physically and kept the Cats from getting to the free throw line. This was an ugly one for sure. The one bright spot was Payton Henson. He looked very good for the second straight game leading the Cats with 21 points and 7 rebounds. He looked great off the dribble and fished strong around the hoop. He is going to be a matchup nightmare for opposing teams all season because of his versatility and athleticism. Dre Wills again looked like his old self and had some very good moments. It was good to see Josh Hearlihy on the floor and I really like his floor game and defensive versatility. Other than that it was kind of a train wreck. Vermont committed 17 turnovers, shot 5-20 from three, and consistently made poor decisions on both defense and offense. Trae Bell-Haynes had one of those games he has from time to time where he gets caught going too fast with nowhere to go. Anthony Lamb had a "freshman" game where he tried to force it on offense and put himself in some tough spots. I said that I wasn't concerned about Kurt Steidl after the opener and I am not ready to say concerned yet, but he has started the season about as poorly as possible. Missing shots, turning the ball over, and looking uncomfortable on the court, Steidl has got to get himself going in the right direction. The player I am deeply concerned about is Darren Payen. If Steidl has started out about as poorly as possible, then Payen has definitely started out as poorly as possible. He looks just awful at both ends of the floor which culminated in him getting stuffed by the rim on a wide open dunk in the waning moments of the game. A tough game all around but one the Cats can learn from and get better. I do want to mention that it looks as though the America East will not be as down as some prognosticators mentioned before the season. Albany and UNH already have a good win each and UMass Lowell just beat Wagner who just beat UConn. The Conference is starting to look as though it will be very competitive. Now it is time for Marist on Wednesday,
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