Providence 70 Vermont 49
It is hard to believe that you can find positives in a blowout loss, but that is how the season is going right now. Providence is a Big East opponent and a tough match up on the Cats best day. The Catamounts lost by 21 points, but the difference between this game and the Bryant game is that they fought hard and battled. There were some bad turnovers and continued stretches of ineffectiveness by the offense, but there was some light shining through. The Catamounts defense was much better and they displayed more hustle as well. This loss was about missed shots. The Cats flat out could not buy a bucket in the first half. Not from the field and not from the line. Against any opponent a team will not win if they don't make shots. In no way is Vermont a knockdown shooting team, but they are not as bad as they showed in the first half. Vermont will shoot better moving forward. Both Apfeld and Carissimo are very good career free throw shooters so it is safe to say that they will not continue to miss at the pace they are so far this season. Tonight this team fought hard. Even when faced with the worst shooting performance of their careers, they kept fighting. Vermont came out in the second half and at least for a moment got back into the game. That showed something that had not been there since the opener. Just when it looked like they had nothing left to give they rose up and gave it a shot. Right now that is what this team needs to do to show improvement. They need to work harder and play tougher to survive the non conference schedule. Clancy Rugg battled all night and finished with a hard fought 10 point 14 rebound double double. Luke Apfeld shook off ineffectiveness from the line and gutted out a 14 point performance. Brian Voelkel moved into fourth place all time at UVM in assists, passing Howard Hudson. If the Cats can bring this fire into the game at Wagner on Thursday, they will come out victorious.
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