By Adam Aucoin
THE RUTLAND HERALD
The University of Vermont men’s basketball team has its dancing shoes on. These shoes are a bit worn in now given how often the Catamounts have gone to the Big Dance.
UVM will be making its fourth Division I NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven seasons, a number that could have been five of seven if not for COVID-19 forcing the cancellation of the 2020 America East final and national tournament.
The Catamounts are seeded No. 15 in this year’s tournament and drew No. 2 Marquette for their opening round matchup in the round of 64.
Vermont locked up its spot in NCAAs with a 72-59 win against UMass Lowell in the America East championship game on Sunday at Patrick Gymnasium.
UVM, like a lot of conference champions, is rolling going into the tournament. The Catamounts have won 15 straight games, dating back to their Jan. 11 loss to the Riverhawks, which was UVM’s second straight conference loss at the time.
UVM (23-10) sputtered out of the gate, losing seven of its first 11 games, but closed non-conference play strong to set itself up for a successful run in the America East.
The Catamounts cruised in their first two games of the America East tournament, beating NJIT 84-57 and Binghamton 79-57.
UVM boasts a pretty balanced offensive attack. Fifth-year player Dylan Penn has been an instant impact player for the Catamounts in his first year in Burlington after a four-year career at Bellarmine University.
Penn averages a team-high 13.5 points per game. That mark puts him 10th in the America East.
Finn Sullivan follows with 11.9 points per game and Aaron Deloney chips in 11.6 per game. Matt Verreto, Robin Duncan and Kam Gibson are all capable scorers as well.
Marquette, as evidenced by its No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, is a powerhouse and was the class of what was a very competitive Big East Conference this winter.
The Golden Eagles (28-6) were 17-3 in Big East play in the regular season. They fended off a pair of upset bids in the opening two rounds of the conference tournament, beating St. Johns and UConn by two points apiece. Marquette didn’t have to sweat as much in the Big East finals, beating Xavier 65-51.
The Golden Eagles are enjoying one of the best years in program history. Their 28 wins so far this season ties a program record and their conference tournament victory is their first since their 1996-1997 Conference USA championship.
You don’t rack the kind of wins Marquette has without loads of talent and the Golden Eagles have plenty. Tyler Kolek was the Big East Player of the Year and also was the Most Outstanding Player in the conference tournament.
Kolek scored 20 points in the championship win against Xavier. He averages 13.3 points per game and is a great distributor, leading the Big East in assists by multiple helpers. He leads the team in steals as well.
Kam Jones leads Marquette in scoring with 15 points per game. Other very strong scorers are Olivier-Maxence Prosper (12.4), Oso Ighodaro (11.4) and David Joplin (9.3).
The Golden Eagles are coached by Shaka Smart, who thrives this time of year. During his 12-year run coaching at Virginia Commonwealth, he led the Rams to eight NCAA Tournaments, including a magical Final Four run in 2011. He went on to coach at Texas as well, where he led the Longhorns to three NCAA Tournament appearances.
One of the assistants on Smart’s staff is Cody Hatt, who was a four-year starter at Springfield High School (Vermont) and went on Springfield College (Massachusetts), before transferring to Norwich University, where he was part of the Cadets’ 2005-2006 GNAC championship team.
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adam.aucoin @rutlandherald.com
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