Louisville 86 Vermont 78
Vermont really struggled coming out of halftime and then got back into the game with a big second half run before falling to Louisville. This game was a perfect encapsulation of the wide variance with which this team can play. It is very jarring for Vermont fans because the teams of the last few years were such a consistent machine that seeing a team who has such large swings in performance is strange to watch. Vermont came out strong and then had some tough luck to end the half. Then they came out flat and got down big as their offense completely stalled with Anthony Lamb in foul trouble. When Lamb came back in at the 8 minute mark everything changed and the Cats were able to make it interesting. Lamb looks better and better every game. He did it all tonight even in his limited minutes. He is noticeably quicker and the work he put in in the offseason is paying off big time. Lamb finished with 25 points on 9-16 shooting. He is showcasing his entire offensive repertoire in the early going this season and is also becoming a strong leadership presence. Stef Smith has been an absolute revelation through the first part of the season. The thought process going into this season was that he would be able to provide another scoring option as a complementary player. Through the first part of the season he has looked like Vermont's' second best player next to Lamb. He has an effortless shooting stroke and has been an assassin from deep. He finished with a career high 24 points, knocking down 4-7 from three. That brings him up to 50% (11-22) from three on the season. He is lightening fast to the rim and has been knocking down his free throws, which was an area of difficulty last season. Everyone else really struggled in this one as there was no one else in double figures. A big part of that is a credit to Louisville's length on defense as they really guarded tight on the perimeter. I liked the mental toughness of not just mailing it in down big in the second half and this young team taking their lumps and getting right back up. Becker played a lot of guys in this one and is trying to let them make their mistakes, talk to them, and get them back out there to try again. They can certainly take away a lot from this game and have a big two game homestand coming up. Yale and Bucknell come to Patrick and both are going to be tough matchups. Now that Vermont has got some big time mid majors to come to Patrick it is time to win these games at home. This will be a crucial week for this young team.
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