Scott McClurg/Journal-World PhotoAlways good for a witty one-liner, Vermont men’s basketball coach Tom Brennan approached reporters after Friday’s game glowing with pride and ready to entertain a crowd.
“I feel a little bit like coach Mangino,” Brennan quipped after his Catamounts lost a late lead to big, bad Kansas University and fell, 68-61, at Allen Fieldhouse.
Brennan was referring to KU football coach Mark Mangino, who made headlines after losing a late lead to No. 6 Texas last week, then saying the officials wanted the Longhorns to win. It cost him a fine and reprimand by the Big 12 Conference.
Vermont’s coach was only kidding, adding, “I ain’t got $5,000 to give anybody,” when asked tongue-in-cheek if he was willing to go that route.
But in all seriousness, Brennan was beaming after he saw the unfazed and poised Catamounts put a scare into the Jayhawks, the top-ranked team in college basketball.
Led by super senior Taylor Coppenrath, who carried Vermont with 23 points and seven rebounds, the Catamounts led 58-56 with less than four minutes to go before KU sluggishly pulled away.
Coppenrath, a finalist for the Wooden Award along with KU’s Wayne Simien and Keith Langford, scored 17 of his points in the second half.
Simien scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, making the showdown underneath the most intriguing aspect of Friday’s game.
“It was definitely a battle,” Coppenrath said. “We knew it was going to be a war with them. They’ve got tough players and great players, and when you combine them, you get a great team.”
Brennan — who will retire at the end of this season after 19 years on the job — had nothing negative to grumble about afterward, pointing out that Vermont actually had a bad day shooting and still came close to victory. The Catamounts’ top shooter, guard T.J. Sorrentine, finished with 13 points but was just 4-of-22 shooting.
For once, KU fans got their money’s worth in an early season nonconference matchup. Usually, the Jayhawks roll through November against lesser-known foes, but Vermont wasn’t having any of that Friday.
“I’ve had a lot of losses in my day,” Brennan said. “I ain’t had too many as exciting as that one.”
It was a promising start to what could be a big season for Vermont. The other high-profile, nonconference game on the schedule is at North Carolina on Dec. 21, but most games will be against teams like Binghamton, New Hampshire and Boston University — and most won’t compare to the atmosphere of Allen Fieldhouse.
If Friday was any indication, it could be a special season for the Catamounts — one that could unite the tiny New England state even more.
“Our program has come so far that a television station bought the game back in Vermont,” Brennan said. “There’s a half a million people in the state, and I kept thinking of how proud they must be.”
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