| Follow @UVMmbbWEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Kurt Steidl led all scorers with 16 points to propel the Vermont Catamounts to a 65-46 victory over Hartford in America East men's basketball action at Chase Arena on Saturday.
Vermont improves to 12-10 overall and 7-2 in America East. The Catamounts move into sole possession of second place in the league standings. Hartford falls to 11-11 on the year and 4-5 in league play.
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Box Score (.pdf)
CatamounTV Highlights Steidl matched his career-high with four 3-pointers in the contest (4-for-9) and was one of four Catamounts to reach double figures.
Zach McRoberts pumped in a career-high 11 points, while
Dre Wills and
Hector Harold added 10 points each.
Cam Ward collected a career-high and game-high 13 rebounds, while chipping in eight points.
The Hawks, who played without leading scorer Mark Nwakamma after he was injured in the opening minutes of the game, were led by Jack Hobbs' 10 points.
The Catamounts trailed 7-4 to start the game, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Steidl and Ward pushed Vermont in front 10-7 at the 14:24 mark. Hartford came back to tie the game up at 10 on a 3-pointer by John Carroll, but UVM scored four straight points to regain the lead, 14-10 with 10 minutes left in the first half.
Hartford answered with a 6-1 run on 3-pointers from Hobbs and Corban Wroe, to take a 16-15 advantage with 8:30 showing on the clock.
The Catamounts out scored the Hawks 11-4 over the final eight minutes, limiting Hartford to one field goal, and went into the locker room with a 26-20 lead.
The Catamounts pulled out to a 10-point lead, 37-27, at the 12:38 mark of the second half. The Hawks trimmed the lead to five behind a 6-2 spurt, but that would be as close as Hartford would get the rest of the way.
Vermont put together a decisive 11-0 run, fueled by six points from Steidl and five points from Harold, over a four minute span to open up a 16-point lead on the Hawks, 50-34. The Catamounts would maintain the double-digit lead for the final 6:45 of the contest to earn the win.
UVM held Hartford to 25 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes and 22 percent for the game. The Catamounts finished the game shooting 45.3 percent from the field, including a 7-for-17 effort from beyond the arc.
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.
AMERICA EAST FEATURE ON 2004-05 TEAMPart 1 of a two-part feature on the 2004-05 men's basketball team aired during halftime of the ESPN3 broadcast.
Click here to watch the segment. Part 2 is scheduled to run during halftime of the Vermont/Stony Brook game on February 7 (7 p.m.) broadcast on ESPN3.
NOTES: Vermont has won 26 of the last 28 meetings against Hartford … UVM improved to 37-4 since 2012-13 when holding opponents under 60 points … The Catamounts moved to 9-2 when
Dre Wills scores 10+ points in his career … Vermont is 22-3 in its last 25 America East regular season games …
Ethan O'Day picked up two blocks in the game and has 123 for his career, he needs one more to move into a tie for fifth place with Scott Jones '04 among the all-time leaders at Vermont.