Vermont's first NCAA Tournament win may have been more dramatic and on a bigger stage but the Catamounts second victory in the Big Dance was just as sweet. The Catamounts (24-11) showed the nation that they were much than their individual pieces, as they ended Pat Knight's first season as head coach at Lamar (23-12) with an all-around effort.
Freshmen guard Four McGlynn punished the Cardinals with a game-high 18 points off the bench and Vermont won running away 71-59 in the 16 seed play-in game in the Midwest Bracket. With the win, the Catamounts will play top seeded North Carolina Friday at 4:10 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
McGlynn was a difference maker with all 10 of his first half point coming in a 15-4 Vermont run. He knocked down 5-of-9 shots on the night and connected on three 3-pointers. Senior forward Pat Bergmann added eight points off the bench, as the Catamounts bench outscored Lamar's bench 35-5.
UMass transfer Matt Glass added 11 points and two rebounds for the Catamounts, while former high school teammates Sandro Carissimo and Brian Voelkel also had big games. Carissimo poured in 10 points and Voekel finished with a typical stat line for him of three points and a team-high 12 rebounds and six assists.
Senior guards Mike James and Devon Lamb led the Cardinals with 16 points apiece but the duo combined to shoot 10-of-25. James tried to will the team back into the game but he hit just 6-of-17 shots before fouling out with four minutes to play in the game. Fellow senior guard Anthony Miles chipped in with 14 points and Stan Brown added six points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Vermont shot 50 percent (25-of-50) from the field and turned the ball over just five times in helping John Becker earn his first postseason victory in his first year at the helm in Burlington. Lamar was held to 33 percent (20-of-60) and 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) shooting from behind the arc.
After falling behind 8-4, the Catamounts used a 15-4 run to open up a 22-12 lead and never looked back. The Cardinals managed to cut the deficit to five in the first half and to seven once in the second half but trailed for the majority of the game by double-digits.