BU Pounds Maine, Vermont Claims Share of First Place

As if the Boston University Terriers owed the Vermont Catamounts a favor.

But that's what they gave the Cats Tuesday night, beating Maine 88-78 in Boston. Maine's loss means they are now tied for first place with UVM at 8-2 in the conference. It also means BU has emerged as a legitimate contender in America East, improving to 6-4, despite being perhaps the toughest team in the conference to really figure out. They have especially struggled on the road. On Janurary 9th, of course, BU beat UVM in Boston. BU's next seven games went like this (note: the commentary provided is without any amount of research concerning what actually happened in the game, in other words, it is a pure gut reaction to the result):

@ Albany, W 70-67

(Commentary: A decent road win. Albany is a tough place to play. This is also their only road win of the year).

@UMBC, L 67-71

(Bad Loss. UMBC is 3-19 overall and 2-7 in conference. But hey, you can't win them all on the road. Or any).

vs. Stony Brook, W 67-62

(A team they should beat at home, and they did).

@Hartford, L, 55-59

(Maine also lost to Hartford. Despite UVM's dominance over Hartford, I guess this isn't a terrible loss, but it proves BU struggles on the road).

vs. Binghamton, W 71-66

(Not much to say here, again, a team they should beat at home).

@New Hampshire, L 48-60

(Bad loss. And scoring 48 points shows just how bad BU is on the road).

We shall see which BU team shows up for the rest of America East play, but considering four out of their next five games are at home versus the likes of UMBC, Hartford, Albany, and Canisius (out-of-conference), it is entirely possible that they will get on a roll down the stretch in America East and compete with UVM and Maine for first place.

Looking ahead, Vermont's last three games of the regular season will be pivotal: they play Maine in Orono, the College of Charleston on Bracketbuster Saturday, and then they host Boston University to close out the season. The first and last games could be a big factor in where they are seeded for the conference tournament.

For now, Cats fans can rest assured that their team is back atop the America East standings. It feels so right.