Vermont 60 New Hampshire 40
Vermont used a dominant second half to open conference play in the win column. It is hard to believe but it was actually Vermont's first road win since their opener at UAB exactly two months ago. It all starts with the Catamounts trademark, best in the conference defense, which was incredible this afternoon. The coaching staff made several adjustments going to a kind of diamond 1-3-1 zone and bringing intermittent full court pressure. It was very effective with the Cats forcing 17 turnovers and finishing with 10 steals. That gave the Cats a 21-7 advantage in points of turnovers. Vermont is looking for ways to get easier shots at the rim and getting more live ball turnovers is one great way to do so. The first half was a slog that saw Vermont continue to struggle mightily from two point range, finishing the half 3-17 from inside the arc. In the second half the offense opened up and clicked on all cylinders. The were able to generate shots at the rim, hitting 12-20 from two point range in the second half. The Cats took good care of the ball, finishing with only 8 turnovers. A really big second half performance in a really big spot. Road wins are hard to come by, especially in conference play, and with the big road swing to start the conference schedule it was important to kick it off right.
TJ Hurley led the Cats with 17 points and also chipped in 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. He has really settled in as the Cats best offensive weapon and continues to score at all three levels. Nick Fiorillo is in the best stretch of his Catamount career and is sparking Vermont with energy and perimeter shooting. He finished with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and great defensive energy. Ileri Ayo-Faleye was aggressive going to the rim and finished with 12 points and 4 assists. He had some nice finishes and made some great passes as well. Sam Alamutu got the start with Jace Roquemore injured and finished with 4 points and 5 rebounds. Shamir Bogues continues to struggle with finishing around the rim (3-11 from the field) but was a spark defensively, finishing with 9 points and 4 steals. There was not a lot of production off the bench as Becker really shortened up the rotation in the second half.
A nice statement by the Cats to take care of business in the opener before the big showdowns next week with UMass Lowell and Bryant. Great measuring stick matchups to open the season and should make for exciting game action.
I-0, 15-0 still possible? Not likely, but winning this one with such a defense lets the others know you still have to go through Vermont.
ReplyDeleteNext two games will tell us a lot more but our defense has shown up against UML and Bryant before so don’t be too surprised if we get to 3-0 when we return home to Patrick.
First conference win; check! That looked a lot more like the catamounts we know they can be. I think the 3/4 court pressure is a great tweak by Becker. Make the other team work harder. That was a good win. Next!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t get too cocky just yet . Yes it was on the road but against arguably one of the weakest teams / programs in the conference. Let’s see what happens against Bryant and UML . While I think the current team has talented players I don’t feel there are any players of the I’ll of Shungu Davis Erinie Duncan level or even Finn Sullivan , Dylan Penn level .let alone Lamb TBH Henson etc . I’ll concede I know nothing about the rest of the league but we should know a lot about this years team by the time they finish this road trip .
ReplyDeleteHey it's a win so we'll take it. But no one can be happy with that offense. And New Hampshire is about as weak an opponent as anyone can imagine. The test is Thursday at Lowell. There's every indication that will be a rough night.
ReplyDelete20 point win because NH can't shoot and had their best players out. Nice win, but, yeah, don't get too cocky.
ReplyDeleteThey do stink and can’t shoot but their top players were playing. It was a big win against a bad team, not much to get excited about yet but not need to make things up just to sound more dramatic lol
DeleteAgreed the true tests come this week vs Bryant and Lowell, but was happy to see Becker try something different. We have athletes and some depth. Pick up, out pressure on. And also like the fact that we went big. Really only 3 guards playing (Bogues, Blake and Hurley). This could have been due to injuries, but like it.
ReplyDeleteLee,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the report! What's the status on TJ Long? He was at the game. I didn't see crutches. Thank you!
Reality- NH is one of the worst D1 schools in the entire nation who outplayed us in the 1st half. That said we made some shots in the 2nd half and got a W. Next 2 games will tell a lot .
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