FINAL SCORE: Vermont 76, NJIT 55
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Vermont (13-5, 3-0 AE) recorded its nation-best 18th-straight conference win on Saturday when it defeated NJIT (4-11, 0-3 AE) 76-55 in a dominant, wire-to-wire victory.
 
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COACH'S QUOTE
"Great way to end the three-game home stand here to start league play," Cioffi Men's Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. "A good win against NJIT and I thought it's getting a lot closer to what we're hoping it can be. Although, the last six minutes they hit six threes late in the game like UMBC where it's not clean a finish, but you know great performances by Aaron Deloney, who I thought was terrific, and Jace Roquemore, who probably had his best game as a Catamount. Hurley and Long continue to play consistent, good basketball and so you know, it was a good win on the back end of this quick turnaround."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Catamounts drained five of their first eight field goal attempts, including a 4-for-6 clip from beyond the arc to take a quick 14-2 lead. TJ Long and Matt Veretto sparked the early offense with three-point makes on three of Vermont's first four possessions.
• Roquemore scored seven straight points in a span of 3:08 matching a season-high output for the guard. His seventh point of the afternoon came when he showed off nifty footwork on a putback layup to give the Cats a 16-4 lead with 13:49 left in the half.
• Deloney contributed to points on back-to-back possessions minutes later when he found Sam Alamutu on the pick-and-roll, and hit Nick Fiorillo in transition to grow the UVM lead to 20-6.
• The Highlanders answered with a brief 8-2 run to cut the lead to single digits. Four different scorers contributed to the run as NJIT trailed 22-14 with 7:07 to go.
• Deloney added his third assist of the half when he drove to the basket and kicked out a pass to Ileri Ayo-Faleye in the corner who drained a three pointer to go back up by double digits. Ayo-Faleye threw down a dunk on the following possession to put Vermont up 27-15 with 5:59 left on the clock.
• Roquemore set a new season high with 4:17 remaining in the opening frame when Deloney found him in the corner for his second trey of the afternoon to go up by 15 points.
• The Catamounts took their largest lead of the opening half with the 0:03 to go on a TJ Hurley three pointer in front of the NJIT bench for the 37-21 lead at the break.
• UVM made its first two field goals coming out of the locker room. Long gave Vermont its first 20-point lead of the afternoon early in the second half when he drove to the rim in transition and finished a layup while getting fouled to go up 41-21. The junior knocked down the and-one to finish off the three-point play.
• Elijah Buchanan and Sebastian Robinson combined for eight straight points for NJIT to cut the UVM lead to 13 points with 14:48 remaining.
• Vermont responded with a 15-5 run, led by Deloney who produced seven points in a span of 5:32. Deloney put the Cats back up by 20-points during the run when he drove to the rim and converted a layup. The UVM guard found Fiorillo under the basket on the following possession for his sixth assist of the day, and capped off the run with his first triple of the afternoon to take a 57-32 lead with 8:40 to go.
• The Highlanders and Catamounts traded baskets over the remainder of the contest, with Vermont maintaining a sizable lead. NJIT briefly cut the UVM lead to 19 points with 1:19 to go, but Seth Joba capped off the afternoon with a dunk in the final seconds.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Vermont recorded 20 assists in the victory – its most against a Division I team this season.
• The Catamounts finished the day shooting 52.1% (25-48 FG) from the field and 44.0% (11-25 3PT) from long range. The UVM defense held NJIT to 36.1% (22-61 FG) from the floor and 33.3% (7-21 3PT) from deep.
• Long led all scorers with 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting. The junior was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc and knocked down all four attempts at the line.
• Roquemore recorded a season-high 14 points in the victory. The UVM guard registered a game-high six rebounds and added four assists.
• Deloney was one assist away from tying a career high, dishing out seven helpers with zero turnovers. He also rounded out the Catamounts in double figures with 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field.
• With the win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to Vermont Children's Trust Foundation as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since its inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $94,000 to local non-profits through the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.

UP NEXT
The Catamounts hit the road for the first of three straight road games on Thursday (Jan. 18) at Binghamton. Tip-off is set for 6:07 p.m. ET at the Events Center in Vestal, N.Y. Tickets are available at BUBearcats.com.
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Thursday's game will broadcast live on ESPN+. An international stream will also be available on AmericaEast.TV. Fans can listen to the game for free on the Vermont Sports Network, from Learfield on The Game, which will air on 97.1 FM in Burlington, 105.9 FM in Plattsburgh, and 960 AM around the rest of the region. The radio broadcast is also available via the Varsity Network App with Brian McLaughlin on the call.
 
McGee Automotive Family is the presenting sponsor of Vermont men's basketball