It beginning to look at lot like Vermont basketball.
Vermont rode a scorching first half to their third straight win and put together the best 40 minutes of the season. Vermont dominated Dartmouth in every facet of the game and received contributions from everyone in a nice team win. The chemistry is starting to show with better defensive rotations and some beautiful interior passing on offense. Vermont played their trademark physical defense and made the Big Green work for every basket. After struggling to finish around the rim against Merrimack, Vermont attacked the rim relentlessly and got layup after layup, scoring most of their points in the paint. This three game stretch really demonstrated some mental toughness, surviving the marathon road trip and using the experience against tough physical opponents to come together as a team. Vermont has always used a tough non-conference schedule to prepare them for the shift to conference play and these last two games are demonstrating that even though the Cats experienced some low lows on the road trip, they had the belief and mental toughness to stay the course and trust the process.
Dylan Penn got Vermont off to a hot start with 10 of the first 12 Catamount points. He finished with 14 points and is giving Vermont the bursts of offense they were hoping for. Aaron Deloney led Vermont with 17 points, back in his 6th man role yet again. He really thrives providing Vermont with a quick hitting offensive spark. With Deloney leading the way the Vermont bench was the big story in this game. Sam Alamutu and Perry Smith Jr. provided big time contributions in their minutes off the bench. Sam Alamutu continues to get better with each game, finishing with 8 points and a team high 8 rebounds. His physicality is impressing on both ends of the floor and he has found his offensive fit as a cutter to the rim. Smith Jr had his best game as a Catamount finishing with 8 points and 5 rebounds. He had a nice stretch late in the second half with some big buckets to go along with physical rebounding and defense. It looks like he is starting to adjust to the speed of the college game and flashed his potential tonight. Robin Duncan passing out of the middle of the floor has been tremendous over the last few games. He is playing out of the high post against the zone and driving to the middle off the dribble before finding cutters for easy buckets. He finished with 4 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds in another gritty all around effort.
Vermont took care of business against the lower tier teams on their non-conference schedule. Now it is back to the big boys with Colgate, Toledo, and Miami FL to finish up. Colgate is one of the best shooting, most efficient offensive teams in the country. Toledo and Miami FL are efficient offensively as well so Vermont's defense will be tested once again. Vermont has built up the momentum they needed to have confidence going into these matchups as underdogs ready to surprise.
