Kurt Steidl scores his 1,000th point

Vermont 90 Maine 77

Kurt Steidl scored the 1,000th point of his career as part of a monster game to lead Vermont to victory. Steidl finished with a stat stuffing line of 20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals, and no turnovers. He was good in every facet of the game and is hitting his stride at the right time. He has put together a great career and has been a great leader for the Vermont program. He has a chance to become the first Vermont player with 1,000 career points, 500 career rebounds, and 200 career three pointers. His accomplishments represent how a player can impact a team in so many different ways. Steidl has always found a way to help the team even when one part of his game may not be working. Congratulations to him and I can't wait to see what the rest of the season brings. As for the rest of the game, Darren Payen continues to provide a tremendous offensive spark. He is in quite a groove right now. Anthony Lamb really asserted himself in the second half and is quietly becoming a very consistent player. Ernie Duncan hit some big shots when the Cats needed offense late in the second half, and Trae Bell-Haynes bounced back from some offensive difficulties over the past few games. Maine played a very strong game and pushed Vermont hard. The Cats are still struggling with second half lulls and that is something they are going to have to fix before the end of the season. The high offense/no defense style Maine plays is much like the way several other teams in the America East play. This is the type of game Vermont is going to have to win as several of the second tier teams have great individual shooters/scorers like Wes Myers from Maine. In fact Vermont's next opponent Hartford plays a very similar style of basketball. A good win on the road to start conference play for Vermont. The early results from the other games around the league confirm what I had already thought after the non-conference schedule. The league is wide open and there is really no dominant team this year. Vermont has a chance to be that dominant team if they fix some of the things that they struggled with in tonight's game. Stony Brook beat New Hampshire on the road and Albany lost at UMass Lowell. Stony Brook has been playing better since a difficult start to the season and I am always afraid of UMass Lowell. They are such and interesting team and they are so efficient offensively that it forces the opposition to play perfectly to win. UMBC beat Binghamton to continue their hot start as they look to prove that they are the real deal. They are another efficient offensive team who are going to give teams difficulties. Vermont is going to have to really commit to the defensive side of the ball, much like they did down the stretch last year in order to get wins against these efficient offensive teams. I really think it is going to be a topsy turvy year in the America East where anything can happen. Vermont will have to carry momentum and maintain their focus game in and game out.