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HEMPSTEAD, N.Y - The Vermont men's basketball team faces former America East foe Hofstra in the first round of the CBI Tournament on Wednesday (March 18). Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Mack Sports Complex. 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 streamed for free via GoHofstra.com. UVM owns an 18-13 record, while the Pride enter the game with a 20-13 mark.
RELATED LINKS
Game Coverage - Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video
Game Notes (.pdf)
CatamounTV Preview
CBI Tournament Bracket (.pdf)
CBI Tournament Website
CATAMOUNTS & THE CBI
Vermont is making its seventh straight postseason appearance and 11th in the past 12 years ... The Catamounts are playing in the CBI for the third time ... UVM's first CBI appearance was in 2009, the Catamounts traveled to UW-Green Bay and defeated the Phoenix, 76-72, for the program's second postseason win in school history ... Vermont advanced to the quarterfinals where it fell at Oregon State, 71-70 in overtime ... The Catamounts were also selected to the CBI Tournament in 2013 ... UVM traveled to Santa Clara and fell to the Broncos, 77-67, in the first round ... The CBI will be using a 30-second shot clock in all tournament games in an effort to assist the NCAA in its research on pace of play and scoring.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
- Vermont is making its seventh straight postseason appearance and 11th in the past 12 years
- Vermont is unbeaten on Long Island this year, won at Stony Brook, 57-48 ... The Catamounts came back from down 17 points with 14 minutes left in the game to earn the win
- The Catamounts rank 11th in field goal percentage defense (38.3%) and 13th in scoring defense, allowing 57.7 points per game (a school record)
- Junior forward Ethan O'Day ranks 18th in the country in field goal percentage (57.4%)
- UVM owns two of the top-25 shooting performances in the country this season ... UVM shot 68.4 percent in the second game of the season at Siena (W, 87-64) and 66.7 percent versus UMass Lowell on Feb. 11 (W, 96-53)
- The Catamounts posted the best 3-point shooting performance by any team in the last five years in a 96-53 victory over UMass Lowell on Feb. 22 (per Matt Norlander, CBSSports.com) ... UVM made 16 3-pointers (tied for 15th among the most in an NCAA DI game this season) ... Set a new school record in single-game 3-point field goal percentage (76.2%), the second best 3FG% in an NCAA DI game this season ... shot 66.7% from the field, the 21st-best overall shooting performance this season
- Former Hofstra player Darren Payen transferred to Vermont during the summer ... He is sitting out this season per NCAA rules and will be eligible for the Catamounts in 2015-16
ABOUT HOFSTRA
Hofstra is 20-13 and posted a 10-8 mark in the CAA this season ... The Pride advanced to the CAA Semifinals where it dropped a 92-91 decision to William & Mary in double-overtime ... Hofstra boasts four players averaging double figures, led by Juan'Ya Green's 17.1 points per game ... He is also handing out 6.5 assists (9th in DI) and has made 58 3-pointers ... Green also gets to the foul line and ranks fourth in free throws made in DI (200) ... Ameen Tanksley ranks second on the team in scoring (16.3 ppg) and is shooting 41.5 percent from 3-point range, while also grabbing 5.6 rebounds per game ... Brian Bernardi is the third leading scorer for Hofstra (11.8 ppg) and has drained a team-high 93 3-pointers ... Green, Tanksley and Bernardi have started all 33 games this season ... As a team, Hofstra averages 78.3 points per game, while giving up 69.7 to opponents ... The Pride are shooting 44.9 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from 3-point range and 69.8 percent from the foul line this year ... Hofstra is out rebounding opponents 36.6 to 34.0 on the boards.
THE SERIES
The Catamounts are 9-10 in the all-time series against Hofstra ... The former conference opponents have not played each other since the Pride left America East for the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) following the 2000-01 season ... Former Hofstra player Speedy Claxton '00 is an assistant on the coaching staff ... He was a two-time America East Player of the Year (1998, 2000) and led the Pride to the America East Championship in 2000.
VERMONT'S POSTSEASON APPEARANCES
2014 - NIT First Round - Athens, Ga. - #2 Georgia 63, #7 Vermont 56
2013 - CBI Tournament First Round at Santa Clara - Santa Clara, 77, Vermont 67
2012 – NCAA Tournament First Four Round - Dayton, Ohio - #16 Vermont 71, #59 Lamar
Second Round - Greensboro, N.C. - #1 North Carolina 77, #16 Vermont 58
2011 – NIT First Round – Cleveland, Ohio - #2 Cleveland State 63, #7 Vermont 60
2010 – NCAA Tournament First Round – Buffalo, N.Y. - #1 Syracuse 79, #16 Vermont 56
2009 – CBI First Round – Green Bay, Wis. - Vermont 76, Wisconsin Green Bay 72
Quarterfinals – Corvallis, Ore. - Oregon State 71, Vermont 70 (OT)
2007 – NIT First Round – Manhattan, Kan. - #2 Kansas State 59, #7 Vermont 57
2005 – NCAA Tournament First Round – Worcester, Mass. - #13 Vermont 60, #4 Syracuse 57 (OT)
Second Round – Worcester, Mass. - #5 Michigan State 72, #13 Vermont 61
2004 – NCAA Tournament First Round – Buffalo, N.Y. -#2 Connecticut 70, #15 Vermont 53
2003 – NCAA Tournament First Round – Salt Lake City, Utah - #1 Arizona 80, #16 Vermont 51
WHAT'S NEXT
The Vermont/Hoftra winner will take on the Radford/Delaware State winner on Monday (March 23) at a place to be determined.
