Vermont at George Washington 11/28/18

Vermont 69 George Washington 53

Vermont used strong three point shooting to go on a 16-0 second half run and opened their three game road trip with a win. The three pointers were falling all night as Vermont finished 11-19 from three. The hot shooting came from some unexpected sources as Ben Shungu was 3-3 from deep on his way to a career high 13 points. Considering Shungu was 2-5 from three for his career before this game, I would call his production a nice surprise. Isaiah Moll was shooting 2-18 on the season before he knocked a big shot during that run. It was great to see Everett Duncan get some shots to fall as he had been struggling over the last few games. The big story was some significant lineup changes for this game. Robin Duncan and Ryan Davis started for Vermont and Ben Shungu saw significant minutes throughout the game. The rotations are very fluid at this point as Becker tries to get the most out of these young players. I though Becker again really struggled with substitution patterns when Vermont's offense was stalled out to start the second half. Robin is the key to the Vermont offense running smoothly. As soon as Robin came back into the lineup in the second half, the Cats went on their big run. He led the team with 6 assists and is quickly becoming Vermont's best facilitator. Anthony Lamb hit some big shots and led the Cats with 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 more blocks. He is fast becoming quite the rim protector. Stef Smith struggled with decision making in the second half but really got on the boards finishing with 9 rebounds to go along with his 10 points. This continues an encouraging trend of a big improvement in his rebounding this season. Vermont is still trying to find their identity and players are still figuring out what their roles will be. The defense looked better and looked more like Vermont basketball. This game was a great example of how explosive this offense has a chance to be. This group can put points up in a hurry and they can get even better. This was a good win to kick off the road trip but they have a quick turnaround before their game against Towson on Friday. Becker is going to have to continue to find creative ways to motivate and educate these players as they navigate the early part of this season.