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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The Vermont men's basketball team begins the second round of conference play at Hartford on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. from Chase Arena. The game can be heard on ESPN 101.3 FM (online: 1013ESPN.com) with A.J. Kanell on the call. The game will also be broadcast online via ESPN3.com.
The Catamounts stand at 11-10 overall and are in second place in the league standings with a 6-2 record. UVM is coming off a 47-44 loss to Albany at Patrick Gymnasium on Wednesday. The Great Danes drained a 3-pointer with two seconds left to pull out the win. Hartford owns an overall record of 11-10 and is 4-4 (5th place) in America East. The Hawks have lost three straight, including a 72-66 defeat at Stony Brook on Wednesday.
RELATED LINKS
Game Coverage - Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video
Game Notes (.pdf)
CatamounTV Highlights - Albany
LAST TIME OUT - Albany 47, Vermont 44
Evan Singletary drained a 3-pointer with two seconds left to break a 44-44 tie and lift the Albany Great Danes to a 47-44 win over Vermont in a battle for first place in America East at Patrick Gymnasium on Wednesday ... Albany led by seven, 43-36, with 2:08 left in the game ... UVM freshman Trae Bell-Haynes answered with a 3-pointer to slice the lead to four and Kurt Steidl made a pair of free throws with 42 seconds left to bring UVM within two, 43-41 ... UVM's full-court press forced an Albany turnover with 33 seconds left ... Bell-Haynes was fouled on a drive to the hoop and made one of two free throws with 30 seconds left to cut Albany's lead to one, 43-42 ... Singletary was fouled after the miss at the line by Bell-Haynes and made one of two free throws to give Albany a two-point cushion with 28 seconds left ... Following an Albany timeout, Dre Wills cut to the basket, got a feed from Ethan O'Day and dunked to tie the game up at 44 with 16 seconds left ... Albany came down the court, Singletary dribbled to the left win and drained the game-winning shot.
ABOUT HARTFORD
Hartford is 11-10 overall, 4-4 in America East and coming off a 72-66 loss at Stony Brook and has dropped three straight ... Hartford is the most experienced team in the league, returning all five starters and nine letterwinners, while Vermont is the 23rd least experienced team in the country and is the second youngest team in America East ... Mark Nwakamma, a two-time America East First Team performer and the active scoring leader in the conference, leads the team in scoring (13.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.3 rpg) ... He is also shooting better than 50 percent from the field ... Yolonzo Moore II is one of three Hawks averaging nine points per more at 9.9 points per game ... Corban Wroe (9.6 ppg) and Taylor Dyson (9.4 ppg) are two 3-point threats for Hartford ... Wroe has drained 36 three's (38.7%) and Dyson has nailed a team-high 47 shots from beyond the arc (39.2%) ... As a team, Hartford is averaging 62.3 points per game, while allowing 62.9 to its opponents ... The Hawks are shooting 41.2 percent from the field, 33.4 percent from 3-point range and 70.3 percent from the foul line ... Hartford is being out rebounded 33.5 to 30.4 on the boards.
THE SERIES
Saturday is the 66th meeting between two schools ... Vermont owns a 42-23 advantage in all-time series ... UVM swept the Hawks last season, winning 67-60 in Hartford and 72-47 in Burlington ... The Catamounts posted an 81-69 win over the Hawks in the league opener this year in Burlington back on December 3 ... Vermont has won 25 of the last 27 meetings against the Hawks ... John Becker is 7-1 versus Hartford ... Hartford's last win over the Catamounts was on March 2, 2013 ... Nate Sikma drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the Hawk's 15-game losing streak to Vermont with a 61-58 win ... Four of the last six meetings have been decided by seven points or less.
LAST TIME vs. HARTFORD (12/3/14) | CatamounTV Highlights
Cam Ward came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points and Dre Wills added 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals to lead the Vermont Catamounts to an 81-69 victory over Hartford in the America East opener for both teams at Patrick Gymnasium ... Hartford trailed by three with 2:25 left in the first half, but Vermont rattled off six straight points to close the half and took a 36-27 lead into the break ... The Catamounts extended the run to 17-2, outscoring Hartford 11-2 to start the second half, to open up a 47-29 lead with 16:14 remaining in the game ... Taylor Dyson hit a pair of three's in the final 30 seconds to close the lead to eight, but Vermont went 4-for-4 from the line to secure the win.
10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF "FROM THE PARKING LOT"
At halftime of the game against Hartford, America East will air part one of a two-part special on the 2004-05 UVM men's basketball team ... The 2014-15 marks the 10 year anniversary of arguably the biggest win in UVM men's basketball history, when the No. 13 Catamounts stunned No. 4 Syracuse in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. ... UVM defeated the Orange 60-57 in overtime ... Germain Mopa-Njila scored a career-high 20 points ... T.J. Sorrentine hit the famous long 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to help seal the win ... He finished the game with 17 points and Taylor Coppenrath added 16 points ... Sorrentine is now the Associate Head Men's Basketball Coach at Brown and Coppenrath is in his 10th season playing overseas in Spain.
MAGIC NUMBERS
Vermont is 36-4 since the 2012-13 season when holding opponents under 60 pts ... UVM held Yale to 57, St. Louis to 58 pts and Albany to 47 ... UVM is 81-4 since 2000-01 when scoring 80+ points (last loss: at #6 Duke - 11/24/13 - L, 91-90) ... Vermont is 8-2 when Dre Wills scores 10+ pts in his career ... The Catamounts are 7-1 when Ethan O'Day shoots 61% from the field.
NCAA NUMBERS
Vermont ranks 35th in scoring defense (59.6 ppg) ... Is 50th in field goal percentage defense (39.5%) ... Dre Wills is 17th in the country in steals (44) and 22nd in steals per game (2.2) ... Ethan O'Day ranks 46th in blocks (40) and 50th in blocks per game (2.0).
WHO'S NEXT
Vermont hosts Maine on Tuesday (Feb. 7) at Patrick Gymnasium ... Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ... Tickets can be purchased online via UVMathletics.com in person at the UVM Athletic Ticket Office (M-F: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.), via the phone at 802-656-4410, or in person one hour before tipoff in the Patrick Gymnasium Lobby ... The game can be heard on ESPN 101.3 FM (online: 1013ESPN.com) with A.J. Kanell on the call. The game will also be steamed online for free in HD via CatamounTV.com.
