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America East Basketball: Vermont and Stony Brook battling for league supremacy

By Daniel Benjamin

MILWAUKEE, WI - MARCH 16: Vermont
MILWAUKEE, WI - MARCH 16: Vermont /
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LOUISVILLE, KY – NOVEMBER 16: Ernie Duncan #20 of the Vermont Catamounts rebounds against Dwayne Sutton #24 of the Louisville Cardinals in the second half of the game at KFC YUM! Center on November 16, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville won 86-78. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY – NOVEMBER 16: Ernie Duncan #20 of the Vermont Catamounts rebounds against Dwayne Sutton #24 of the Louisville Cardinals in the second half of the game at KFC YUM! Center on November 16, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville won 86-78. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Vermont Catamounts

The Catamounts have won seven of their last eight contests. One of the wins during this stretch was a 73-52 victory over the Seawolves in Stony Brook as Ernie Duncan and Everett Duncan combined for 45 points and 12 rebounds. Star forward Anthony Lamb did not play in the game.

Both of  Vermont’s conferences losses have been to UMBC, losing 74-61 and 65-56.  The Cats will close out the regular season at home with UMass-Lowell after hosting Stony Brook. The Cats defeated UM-Lowell 74-65  earlier this month. Vermont is 11-2 at home this year — 39-5 over the last three seasons — and would not have to leave the state if they earn the No. 1 seed.

Vermont has a nice mix of young and older players. Coach John Becker likes to play a physical brand of basketball that focuses on defense while offensively, he implores patience and good shot selection as well as protecting the basketball. He typically uses an eight-man rotation.

The Catamounts are averaging 74.5 points a game as they are a very good shooting team. They rank in the top third of the country in shooting percentage and the top half of the country in 3-point shooting percentage. But the Cats do two things well, which is getting to the foul line and not turning the ball over. Vermont ranks 26th nationally in free throw percentage and 37th in total turnovers.

Defensively, the Catamounts rank 41st in the nation in defensive rating. The Catamounts lead the AEC in scoring (58.6) and are 26th in the nation (64.4). They are holding opponents to a 42.7 percent shooting, although they don’t defend the three-point line particularly well. Vermont also does a good job on the defensive glass.

Lamb, who is an NBA prospect, is a force on both ends of the court. He leads the conference in points per game, rebounds per game and blocked shots per game. Ernie Duncan, who is the conference leader in 3-pointers and 3-point percentage, along with Stef Smith are also scoring in double figures.

Vermont’s BPI of 56 is pretty good. Their simple ranking system ranking of 114 is not bad as is KenPom’s ranking of 82. Plus, they have a decent NCAA Net ranking of 86.

Vermont does not have a signature win. The Catamounts let a game slip away against a quality Bucknell squad but were also handled quite easily by Lipscomb, Louisville, and Kansas.

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