Vermont vs Binghamton 2/9/22

Vermont 82 Binghamton 51

What more can you say about this team?

Vermont continued their torrid pace and demolished Binghamton for their 13th win in a row. Offensively the Cats are in rarefied air. Very few teams have ever posted the efficiency numbers that Vermont has during this win streak. Game in and game out they are making shots at an incredible pace. What has made it so beautiful to watch is that they so rarely take bad shots. That goes back to the chemistry that this team has. They all seem to have a collective brain out on the court. Every player making a pass to the right player at the right time for the best shot. Another 20 assists in today's game and the passing is a thing of beauty. One of the plays that stood out to me was that Ryan Davis was battling some kind of back injury and he was only one basket away from 1,000 for his career with the ball in his hands. He could have easily thrown up a shot but instead he found a cutting Robin Duncan for two. When the reigning player of the year is passing up shots to look for teammates, you know you are witnessing something special. I have never had so much fun watching a Vermont team. Every player is ready to execute when it is their turn and cheer for their teammates when it isn't. What we are watching this season is a once in a lifetime team. 

Justin Mazzulla led the balanced Vermont attack with 13 points and 8 rebounds. He set the tone early and was the leader on the court tonight. His cutting has been phenomenal lately and with Davis struggling he picked up the slack on the boards. Ben Shungu continued his hot shooting and chipped in 11 points on 3-4 shooting from three. Davis was battling what looked to be a back issue but gutted through the pain to stuff the stat sheet with 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. His passing was particularly good tonight. My favorite sequence of the night was the fastbreak layup followed by the corner three from the big man. Isaiah Powell and Nick Fiorillo had nearly identical nights with each player scoring 10 points, hauling in 4 rebounds, and dishing out 2 assists. Duncan and Aaron Deloney both played well off the bench. It was also nice to see Kam Gibson get some shots to fall in garbage time. 

Now the tough road trip begins. It is a tall task to play three road games in five days. The back injury for Davis is certainly an area of concern as they are notoriously finicky injuries. It is hard to put any limits on what this team can do and I can't wait to see what they do next.