Hartford at Vermont 1/18/20

Vermont 74 Hartford 57

Vermont used another balanced attack to wear down the Hawks on the way to their third victory in a row. Another true team win and the stat that jumps out at me is 18 assists on 30 made baskets. That is an incredible ratio and a tremendous example of how this team has responded to their conference opening loss. The Cats know that teams are selling out to take Anthony Lamb out of the game and now they are ready for it. For three games in a row Vermont has been able to pull away from teams by remaining patient and working to get open shots and the best shot on as many possessions as they can. With Lamb as a facilitator they are forcing teams to think twice and that hesitation is creating openings for the other Cats. Lamb finished with 8 points and on the surface it may look like he had an off game but that is far from reality. Lamb controlled the game despite the fact that he only took five shots and focused more on staying tough on the defensive end and facilitating to get his teammates open looks. He added 8 rebounds and 4 assists while playing a team high 32 minutes. His willingness to do whatever it takes for the team to win has put Vermont in a perfect position. They are winning games where they do not have to rely on him to take over. If the rest of the Cats can continue to produce, opposing defenses are going to be forced to second guess the double and triple teams. When that happens.......watch out because Lamb will make them pay. Speaking of facilitators, Robin Duncan continues to raise his level of play. He led Vermont with 11 points and chipped in 4 rebounds and 4 assists. He is creating match-up nightmares for opposing guards and is setting the tone on both ends of the floor. Another player who is showing tremendous growth is Bailey Patella. He continues to be a spark-plug on both ends of the floor and really shined in this afternoon's game. Patella finished with 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, and was again a disruptive force on defense. Ryan Davis and Aaron Deloney also played great as the Vermont bench poured in 35 points. Also a shot out has to go to Daniel Giddens for finally getting some feel good plays. He threw down three big dunks that electrified the sellout crowd and it was nice to see some positive energy go his way. The Cats play continues to trend in the right direction as they prepare for Maine on Wednesday night.