Vermont at Quinnipiac 11/12/16

Vermont 94 Quinnipiac 70

Now that is a season opener.

Vermont dominated an overmatched Quinnipiac squad from start to finish and picked up their first win of the season. Quinnipiac was very weak and is going to struggle this season but the Cats first game against a Division I opponent could not have gone better. The script remained the same from the exhibition games. Anthony Lamb and Payton Henson are going to have a tremendous impact for Vermont. Lamb again looked like Vermont's best player. Finishing in traffic, hitting perimeter jumpers, knocking down free throws, and going all out on every play. Lamb led the Cats with an efficient 23 points and 9 rebounds in only 24 minutes. The eye test is even better as he made several beautiful plays that don't show up in the box score including a sequence where he stole an inbound pass and immediately threw a home run pass to Henson for a dunk. He is a very special player. Henson was just as impressive in his Catamount debut. Transfers ability to impact the game right away is notoriously difficult to predict but this time it is clear right away that Henson is going to be very good for Vermont. Henson contributed 19 points and 7 rebounds in 26 minutes. Henson too showcased his ability to score inside and out and run the floor to get easy buckets in transition. Adding two polished scorers to an already potent offense is very exciting. Vermont can spread the floor and attack the rim from almost any position when Henson and Lamb are on the floor together. Trae Bell-Haynes looked great dishing out 8 assists to go along with 16 points. Ernie Duncan added 13 points and looked much quicker going to the hoop. Dre Wills did some very nice Dre Wills things including a stretch in the second half where he had a steal on three consecutive possessions. Vermont was without Josh Hearlihy and Nate Rohrer and they were still very deep and able to use several different effective combinations. Kurt Steidl really struggled to get into rhythm but that is no cause for concern as he has proven that he bounces back. The only player who had some concerning minutes was Darren Payen who looked all out of sorts on both ends of the floor. He is definitely one of the players most in danger of losing minutes. The Hearlihy situation concerns me a little and I hope it is nothing serious because it is in games against teams like Providence on Monday where they could really use his versatility. Vermont has the capability to pull off a few upsets in the non-conference schedule because of their ability to score the ball. What a great way to open the season and get the ball rolling. Now on to Providence Monday night for what will be a great test.

P.S. It looks like they will after all redshirt Ben Shungu as planned because I did not see him on the bench (redshirts don't travel with the team). It is great that it worked out that way because he could benefit from a redshirt year.