Deloney scorches Brown for career-high 32 points in UVM basketball's season-opening win
From sixth man to leading man. At least that was the case on opening night for Aaron Deloney.
Deloney poured in a career-high 32 points to jump-start the University of Vermont men's basketball team's 2022-23 season with a 80-65 nonconference victory over Brown in front of 2,296 at Patrick Gym on Monday night.
Deloney drained 11 of 14 field-goal attempts, including a 4-for-5 effort on 3-pointers, to surpass his previous best of 24 points set last year, when the 6-foot guard from Oregon was named the America East Conference's top sixth man. Deloney also dished out five assists and struck for 18 second-half points as the Catamounts shot 57.7% from the floor out of the break to pull away from the Bears.
"He came back this summer and he was a different kid. He’s been playing great every day in practice, he’s been unbelievable," UVM coach John Becker said. "As a coach you’re hoping it translates into games. He was great tonight, scoring at all three levels. He’s a really smart kid and the game is moving really slow for him right now. He had it going tonight."
Finn Sullivan put up 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals and freshman TJ Hurley tossed in 11 points. Prized transfer Dylan Penn, returning from a broken hand suffered last month, added eight points while Nick Fiorillo (seven points, five rebounds, two assists) and Robin Duncan (eight boards, three assists) also contributed.
Vermont's defense scored 17 points off 16 Brown turnovers and held the visitors to a 6 of 18 effort on 3s. UVM also gained a 30-25 edge on the glass, and were visibly more physical Monday than against Middlebury in last week's exhibition finale, according to Becker.
"We made them the score over us … and work for everything," said Becker of his team's defensive work vs. Brown. "Give them credit, they made a couple tough ones. But for the most part we prevented any easy ones. That’s what we want to do, make guys work for it. Our big guys responded really well."
Monday's game was a homecoming for Brown associate head coach T.J. Sorrrentine, the former Catamount star guard who previously returned to Patrick Gym for a 2019 exhibition when his No. 11 jersey number was retired and hung from the rafters along with running mate Taylor Coppenrath.
"Having T.J Sorrentine back was great and I appreciate the fans’ standing ovation for him. I thought it was pretty cool and well-deserved, obviously," Becker said. "I know this was a hard day for T.J. because he still is a big fan of our program and a big part of our program even until this day."
UVM held a 37-28 advantage at the intermission. Deloney started his 18-point second half with a driving layup. He also canned a mid-range jumper, made a trio of free throws after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt and buried a step-back triple — each blow returning the Cats to a double-digit margin.
"I actually told one of my teammates in warm-ups that I was feeling it tonight," Deloney said. "And it showed up in the statsheet."
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Brown cut the deficit to 60-51 around the 10-minute mark before UVM. But Deloney re-entered to sink a layup and knock down another trey for a 69-55 advantage. Later, UVM put away Brown with an 8-0 run on the strength of Sullivan's corner 3, Hurley's transition dunk and 3-pointer for an 80-60 lead with 2:17 to play.
That final surge was built on UVM stiffening up defensively, Becker said.
"That was a good sign, that felt like Vermont basketball and it felt like a lot of games that we win — especially at Patrick Gym," Becker said. "To have so much newness and new guys, that was pretty cool."
Kino Lilly, Jr paced Brown with 18 points. Paxson Wojcik and Dan Friday each tacked on 13 points.
Vermont starts a three-game road trip to California with Thursday's contest at St. Mary's.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont men's basketball: Deloney powers Catamounts past Brown
