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BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Vermont men's basketball team faces Yale on Thursday (Dec. 18) in the final game of a four-game homestand. Tipoff is scheduled fro 7 p.m. The game can be heard on ESPN 101.3 FM (online: 1013ESPN.com) with A.J. Kanell calling the action. The game will also be streamed online for free in HD via CatamounTV.com.
TICKETS AND PROMOTIONS
Tickets can be purchased online at UVMathletics.com, via the phone at 802-656-4410, or in person one hour before tipoff in the Patrick Gymnasium Lobby ... Thursday is Toys for Tots Night, bins will be set up in the lobby and fans are encouraged to bring a new unwrapped toy for donate to the program.
LAST TIME OUT - Vermont 61, Wagner 47
Freshman Trae Bell-Haynes scored a team-high 16 points to lead Vermont to a 61-47 win over Wagner ... Bell-Haynes went 9-for-10 from the foul line and added six rebounds and four assists ... Dre Wills chipped in 11 points in 17 minutes and Brandon Hatton added a career-high 10 points and five rebounds off the bench ... UVM trailed 13-11 at the 7:22 mark of the first half, but used a 14-4 spurt to take an eight-point lead and led 27-22 at the half ... The Catamounts opened the second half scoring 10 straight points to push its advantage to 15 ... Wagner climbed back within three with 6:45 left, but Vermont out scored the Seahawks 18-7 to close the game and secure the win.
RELATED LINKS
Game Coverage - Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video
Game Notes (.pdf)
CatamounTV Highlights - Wagner
TD Bank Student-Athlete of the Week - Trae Bell-Haynes
ABOUT YALE
Yale is 8-3 on the year and ranked No. 15 in the CollegeInsiders.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll ... The Bulldogs were picked second in the Ivy League Preseason Poll ... The Bulldogs upset defending national champion UConn 45-44 on Dec. 5. Yale had won eight of their last nine before falling at Florida (85-47) on Dec. 8 ... Justin Sears and Javier Duren lead Yale in scoring at 13.8 and 13.0 points per game, respectively ... Sears is also grabbing a team-high 8.8 rebounds per game and is 32 points shy of the 1,000-point milestone ... He was an Ivy League First Team selection last year ... As a team, Yale is averaging 67.9 points per game, while giving up 61.8 to its opponents ... The Bulldogs are shooting 42.9 percent from the floor, 32.4 percent from 3-point range and 72.3 percent from the foul line ... Yale is out rebounding opponents by a +7.0 margin ... James Jones is in his 16th season as the head coach at Yale.
THE SERIES
This is the 26th meeting between Yale and Vermont ... The team teams are meeting for the eighth straight season and UVM owns a 14-11 advantage in the all-time series ... The Catamounts have won two straight and seven straight at Patrick Gymnasium over the Bulldogs ... Yale's last win in Burlington was 11/29/86 when Chris Dudley scored 29 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in an 82-80 win ... Last season, Candon Rusin led all scorers with 16 points as UVM held off Yale, 67-59 ... Sandro Carissimo added 14 points and eight rebounds and Clancy Rugg chipped in 10 points ... Brian Voelkel nearly added a triple double with nine points, seven rebounds and 10 assists ... Vermont lead by as many as 12 in the second half, but Yale came back to tie the game up at 53 with 4:48 remaining in the game ... A 3-pointer by Rusin and an 8-for-9 effort from the foul line over the four minutes allowed the Catamounts to pull away.
PLAYING THE IVIES
Vermont has won 13 of its last 20 games against Ivy League schools and is 5-2 vs. Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth in the last two seasons ... The two losses are versus the Crimson.
DRE DOING IT ALL
Sophomore Dre Wills has filled the role that former Catamount Brian Voelkel '14 played throughout his career ... Wills, the team's top defender, ranks fourth on the team in scoring (8.2 ppg), and leads the team in rebounding (5.3 rpg), assists (2.7 apg) and steals (14) ... In the America East opener versus Hartford, Wills posted a line of 11 pts, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 steals and 2 blocks.
WARD-ING OFF TURNOVERS
Freshman Cam Ward has played in all nine games, earned one start and averages 18.1 minutes per game ... He has 16 assists on the season, second best on the team and just five turnovers ... He went through his first three collegiate games without a miscue.
CATAMOUNTS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Vermont will travel to the Los Angeles area for a pair of games after the Christmas holiday ... On December 30, Catamount fans are invited to a reception at the Jonathan Club prior to the game versus USC ... Fans can join University of Vermont President Tom Sullivan and his wife Leslie Black Sullivan '77, as well as head coach John Becker at the gathering, which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ... The game between Vermont and USC will tip off at 8:30 p.m. (local time) at the Galen Center on the USC campus ... Tickets to the game are available for $20 and can be picked up at the reception until 7 p.m. or at "Will Call" at the Galen Center after 7:30 p.m. ... Please click here to register for the reception and purchase tickets to the game.
WHO'S NEXT
Vermont will play its next four games on the road ... UVM travels to St. Louis for the final game of the first semester on Sunday (Dec. 21) ... Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. (EST) ... The game can be heard on ESPN 101.3 FM (online: 1013ESPN.com) ... The game will also be broadcast on Fox Sports Midwest ... The Catamounts will break for the holiday and return to action on December 30 when they face USC in Los Angeles ... UVM will be in southern California for two games as Vermont also faces UC Sanra Barbara on January 2.
