2019–20 Vermont Catamounts men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Vermont Catamounts men's basketball team represented the University of Vermont in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They played their home games at the Patrick Gym in Burlington, Vermont and were led by ninth-year head coach John Becker. They finished the season 26–7, 14–2 in America East play to win the reagular season conference championship. They defeated Maine and UMBC to advance to the championship game of the America East tournament. However, the championship game, along with all other postseason tournaments, were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

2019–20 Vermont Catamounts men's basketball
America East regular season champions
Conference	America East Conference
Record	26–7 (14–2 America East)
Head coach	John Becker (9th season)
Assistant coaches	Kyle Cieplicki Ryan Schneider Hamlet Tibbs
Home arena	Patrick Gym
Seasons ← 2018–19 2020–21 →

2019–20 America East Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Vermont	14	–	2		.875			26	–	7		.788
Stony Brook	10	–	6		.625			20	–	13		.606
Hartford	9	–	7		.563			18	–	15		.545
UMBC	8	–	8		.500			16	–	17		.485
New Hampshire	8	–	8		.500			15	–	15		.500
UMass Lowell	7	–	9		.438			13	–	19		.406
Albany	7	–	9		.438			14	–	18		.438
Maine	5	–	11		.313			9	–	22		.290
Binghamton	4	–	12		.250			10	–	19		.345
Note: The 2020 America East tournament was cancelled prior to the championship game due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous season

The Catamounts finished the 2018–19 season 27–7, 14–2 in conference play to finish in first place. In the America East tournament, they defeated Maine in the quarterfinals,^[1] Binghamton in the semifinals,^[2] where they advanced to the championship game against UMBC, in which they won,^[3] giving them the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 13 seed in the West region, they lost to No. 4 Florida State 76–69.^[4]

Roster

2019–20 Vermont Catamounts men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Stef Smith 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Bill Crothers Secondary School Ajax, Ontario G 1 Aaron Deloney 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Grant HS Portland, OR C 2 Daniel Giddens 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) GS Alabama Mableton, GA F 3 Anthony Lamb 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 227 lb (103 kg) Sr Greece Athena HS Rochester, NY G 4 Robin Duncan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Evansville Harrison HS Evansville, IN F 5 Duncan Demuth 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Oklahoma State Seminole, FL F 12 Bailey Patella 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Vermont Academy Lenox, MA G 13 Justin Mazzulla  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr George Washington Johnston, RI F 14 Isaiah Powell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Colonie Central HS Albany, NY F 15 Nick Fiorillo (W)  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Scarborough HS Scarborough, ME G 20 Eric Beckett 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Tilton School Ajax, Ontario G 21 Everett Duncan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Sr Evansville Harrison HS Evansville, IN G 24 Ben Shungu 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Rice Memorial HS Burlington, VT G 25 Kevin Garrison (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Burlington HS Burlington, VT F 32 Josh Speidel 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Columbus North HS Columbus, IN F 35 Ryan Davis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) So James B. Conant HS Schaumburg, IL G 55 Deng Adiang (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Vermont Academy Jericho, VT G Skyler Nash 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS So Gould Academy Chicago, IL	Head coach John Becker (Catholic) Assistant coach(es) Kyle Cieplicki (Vermont) Ryan Schneider (Marist) Hamlet Tibbs (West Virginia) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: September 15, 2019

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 26, 2019* 7:00 pm		Brown	W 70–59		Patrick Gym (3,228) Burlington, VT
November 3, 2019* 4:00 pm		Saint Michael's	W 84–48		Patrick Gym (2,838) Burlington, VT
Non-conference regular season
November 8, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at St. Bonaventure	W 61–59	1–0	Reilly Center (4,489) St. Bonaventure, NY
November 10, 2019* 2:00 pm		at Bucknell	W 66–63	2–0	Sojka Pavilion (2,321) Lewisburg, PA
November 13, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Boston University	W 62–47	3–0	Patrick Gym (1,463) Burlington, VT
November 16, 2019* 4:00 pm, FS2		at St. John's Hall of Fame Tip Off campus-site game	W 70–68	4–0	Carnesecca Arena (4,054) Queens, NY
November 19, 2019* 7:00 pm, ACCNX		at No. 7 Virginia Hall of Fame Tip Off campus-site game	L 55–61	4–1	John Paul Jones Arena (13,913) Charlottesville, VA
November 23, 2019* 7:30 pm, ESPN3		vs. Central Connecticut Hall of Fame Tip Off Springfield semifinals	W 81–49	5–1	Mohegan Sun Arena (7,862) Uncasville, CT
November 24, 2019* 8:30 pm, ESPN3		vs. Rider Hall of Fame Tip Off Springfield championship	L 67–72	5–2	Mohegan Sun Arena (5,822) Uncasville, CT
November 27, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Gallaudet	W 93–44	6–2	Patrick Gym (2,819) Burlington, VT
December 1, 2019* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Yale	L 52–65	6–3	John J. Lee Amphitheater (812) New Haven, CT
December 3, 2019* 7:00 pm, CBSSN		at Cincinnati	L 73–82	6–4	Fifth Third Arena (10,220) Cincinnati, OH
December 7, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Towson	W 55–38	7–4	Patrick Gym (2,970) Burlington, VT
December 18, 2019* 7:00 pm		UNC Greensboro	L 53–54	7–5	Patrick Gym (2,592) Burlington, VT
December 20, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Lipscomb	W 86–63	8–5	Patrick Gym (2,641) Burlington, VT
December 31, 2019* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		George Washington	W 76–51	9–5	Patrick Gym (3,228) Burlington, VT
January 2, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Dartmouth	W 77–68	10–5	Leede Arena (1,800) Hanover, NH
America East Conference regular season
January 8, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Stony Brook	L 77–81	10–6 (0–1)	Patrick Gym (2,847) Burlington, VT
January 11, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at UMBC	W 74–50	11–6 (1–1)	UMBC Event Center (2,004) Baltimore, MD
January 15, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Binghamton	W 72–53	12–6 (2–1)	Binghamton University Events Center (1,556) Vestal, NY
January 18, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Hartford	W 74–57	13–6 (3–1)	Patrick Gym (3,266) Burlington, VT
January 22, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Maine	W 59–57	14–6 (4–1)	Cross Insurance Center (929) Bangor, ME
January 25, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		UMass Lowell	W 92–62	15–6 (5–1)	Patrick Gym (3,228) Burlington, VT
January 29, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at New Hampshire	W 56–43	16–6 (6–1)	Lundholm Gym (888) Durham, NH
February 1, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Albany	W 86–75	17–6 (7–1)	SEFCU Arena (4,219) Albany, NY
February 5, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Maine	W 77–52	18–6 (8–1)	Patrick Gym (2,901) Burlington, VT
February 8, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Hartford	W 69–68	19–6 (9–1)	Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (1,734) West Hartford, CT
February 12, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		New Hampshire	W 74–50	20–6 (10–1)	Patrick Gym (2,899) Burlington, VT
February 15, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Binghamton	W 76–48	21–6 (11–1)	Patrick Gym (3,266) Burlington, VT
February 20, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Stony Brook	W 63–54	22–6 (12–1)	Island Federal Credit Union Arena (4,009) Stony Brook, NY
February 22, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		UMBC	L 64−66	22−7 (12−2)	Patrick Gym (3,266) Burlington, VT
February 29, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at UMass Lowell	W 94–77	23–7 (13–2)	Tsongas Center (2,821) Lowell, MA
March 3, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Albany	W 85–62	24–7 (14–2)	Patrick Gym  Burlington, VT
America East tournament
March 7, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+	(1)	(8) Maine Quarterfinals	W 61–50	25–7	Patrick Gym (3,266) Burlington, VT
March 10, 2020 12:00 pm, ESPN+	(1)	(4) UMBC Semifinals	W 81–74	26–7	Patrick Gym (3,266) Burlington, VT
March 14, 2020 11:00 am, ESPN2	(1)	(3) Hartford Championship	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic		Patrick Gym  Burlington, VT
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Source^[5]

References

1. "Men's Hoops Advances Past Maine 73-57 in America East Quarterfinal". University of Vermont Athletics. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
2. "Smith's Record-Setting Performance Pushes Cats into America East Championship Game". University of Vermont Athletics. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
3. "Men's Hoops Headed Back to Big Dance; Cats Knock Off Retrievers 66-49". University of Vermont Athletics. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
4. "UVM's Upset Bid in NCAA Tournament Falls Short". University of Vermont Athletics. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
5. "2019-20 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Vermont Athletics. Retrieved September 15, 2019.