Vermont has longest win streak

The longest winning streak in the 117-year history of Vermont basketball, 18 games, is now the longest current winning streak in all of NCAA Division I. The Catamounts (26-5) took over the top spot Saturday night after then top-ranked Gonzaga (29-1) lost to BYU.

Vermont defeated Stony Brook 66-51 on Saturday afternoon to finish its America East regular season at 16-0. Princeton, 12-0 in the Ivy League with two games to go, is the nation’s only other unbeaten team in conference play.

The second season for the Catamounts starts Wednesday when they host eighth-seeded Maine in the America East quarterfinals at Patrick Gym in Burlington. The conference tourney, all at home courts of the higher seeds, continues with the semifinals Monday and culminates with the title game March 11.

Tacking on three more victories to its already historic run would give Vermont its ultimate goal, a return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012 and its sixth overall. Vermont’s late-season run a year ago came up short in an 80-74 loss at Stony Brook in the America East title game. Since then, the Cats have been on a mission to return to the “big dance.”

“Our guys have had incredible focus, especially since last year’s Stony Brook loss,” said Vermont coach John Becker. “They have great commitment to the team and are very unselfish. Because of this, there is great chemistry on and off the court. There is also no drama this year, no one player is looking for more credit than the next guy.”

Becker, the unanimous choice as 2017 America East Coach of the Year, points to the Catamounts bench as a key to their historic run.

And eight different Catamounts have led the team in scoring during the 18-game win streak. They have one player in the top 15 in scoring in the conference, freshman forward Anthony Lamb, the America East Rookie of the Year, at 11.9 points per game. The league’s player of the year, junior guard Trae BellHaynes, is averaging 11.3.

“Our guys have bought in to a ‘whatever it takes to win’ attitude,” Becker said. “They take it one game at a time, but our goal is the NCAA tournament.”