Vermont rode the UMBC rollercoaster and hit enough shots to pull out the victory. It was a wierd, hectic game with bodies flying everywhere and very few fouls called. Conference play is a different animal than the non-conference and this group is still finding itself, many going through that for the first time. UMass Lowell similarly struggled with last place NJIT at home this evening. Anything can happen in these hotly contested conference matchups. The Cats got off to a slow start and then caught fire, building a big lead. The pace became increasingly frenetic and UMBC did a great job getting the game to be played at their pace. Back and forth and up and down with shotmaking from all over. Vermont used a balanced team attack to respond to every run from the Retrievers. The Cats finished with 18 assists and only 5 turnovers and knocked down 12 three pointers. Right now there are just to many stretches where the Cats take their foot off the gas on the defensive end. I am sure that is really sticking in Becker's craw as this team is still searching for that locked in defensive identity. The ball movement, shotmaking, and unselfish play continue to propel the Cats to victories as they look for 40 minutes of consistent, locked in Catamount basketball.
TJ Hurley led the balanced attack with 14 points. He continues to provide an efficient offensive presence and does such a great job of letting the game come to him. Matt Veretto was right behind him with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Ileri Ayo-Faleye is becoming quite the second half hero as of late, going on a 8-0 run all by himself and finishing with 12 points. The leap he has made over the last week is impressive and he continues to come up big for the Cats. TJ Long rounded out the double digit scorers with 11 points. Long is in a bit of a slump as teams are putting a lot more defensive pressure on him but he still managed to knock down a big shot late. Jace Roquemore earned the start and ran the offense nicely. His calm presence and point guard mentality are are filling a great need for Vermont with Bogues out. Sam Alamutu played well off the bench scoring 8 points and leading the Cats with 7 rebounds. He is doing a great job learning on the fly with more and more nice cuts to the basket to compliment his physical defense. Aaron Deloney played a nice game off the bench with 8 points and a team high 6 assists.
Vermont will always get every team's best shot and today's game was no exception. This group continues to find a way to win and they get one more home game before a great early conference road trip that will give these Cats a huge test.
