Looking to make it four straight wins, the Vermont men's basketball team takes on America East rival Albany Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gym. Tipoff against the three-time defending America East champion Great Danes is scheduled for 12:02 p.m.
 
The game can be seen on ESPN3 and the ESPN App with Eric Frede and Frank Sullivan on the call. AJ Kanell will have the radio call on ESPN 101.3 FM.

RELATED LINKS
Vermont Game Notes (.pdf)
Albany Game Notes
Albany Coverage: ESPN3 -- Live Audio -- Live Stats
Maine Coverage: Game Recap -- CatamounTV Highlights
 
Last Time Out at Maine: Trae Bell-Haynes scored 27 points, Ethan O'Day became the 34th Catamount to eclipse the 1,000 point plateau and the Vermont men's basketball team opened America East play with 90-72 win over the Maine Black Bears. Bell-Haynes pumped in 17 of his 27 in the first half and shot a sizzling 10-of-14 from the floor. O'Day put together his most complete game of the season finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and a career-high five assists. His free throw with 9:18 to play in the second half was the 1,000th point of his career. Cam Ward also finished in double figures for the Catamounts with 10 points. Vermont established a grinding tempo to start the second half and found O'Day inside for five straight points. A Nate Rohrer layup put the Catamounts ahead 62-52 with 12:04 to play. Maine got as close as seven thanks to a bucket by Devine Eke but Ward and O'Day combined to score the next six points to stretch the lead to 13 with 9:18 remaining. Over the final six minutes, Vermont outscored Maine 20-12 en route to its 17th win over Maine in the last 20 tries.
 
About Albany: The Albany Great Danes picked up right where they left off last season and enter Saturday's matchup with a 12-4 record. The Danes have been even better in league play having won straight games vs. America East opponents. Albany is coming off a 73-59 win over UMBC on Wednesday. Five Great Danes scored in double figures led by Ray Sanders' 16 points. Through 16 games, Albany has four players averaging 10+ points - Evan Singletary (12.4 ppg), Peter Hooley (11.8 ppg), Sanders (11.1 ppg) and Joe Cremo (10.8 ppg). Albany went 11-4 through the non-conference portion of its scheduled and was tested by the likes of Kentucky, South Florida and Yale. Will Brown, in his 15th year at Albany, has won five America East titles and is the reigning America East Coach of the Year.
 
Series History: Vermont leads the all-times series with Albany 24-14 but the Great Danes have won the last three and four of the last six. All-time against Albany inside Patrick Gym, Vermont is 12-5 (Albany has won two of the last three in Burlington).
 
Last Season vs. Albany: The Great Danes swept the season series with Vermont last year – the first time that's happened since 2008. In the first meeting in Burlington, Evan Singletary drained a 3-pointer with two seconds left to break a 44-44 tie and lift the Great Danes to a 47-44 win over Vermont. Ethan O'Day scored a team-high 10 points and added six rebounds five blocks to lead the Catamounts. In the regular season finale for both teams, the Great Danes came back from seven down in the second half to beat the Catamounts 79-73 in Albany. O'Day led Vermont with 19 points and added a game-high eight rebounds.
 
Top Cats in America East: Since the start of the 2002-2003 season, Vermont has 186 America East wins. That is the most in the league and 65 more than the next team (Albany - 121).
 
Cats in January: Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Vermont has gone 31-7 in the month of January. The Cats were 7-3 last season and 8-1 in 2013-14.
 
TBH on a Tear: Over his last three games, Trae Bell-Haynes is averaging 18.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting 61.3% (19-of-31) from the floor. When Bell-Haynes scores 15+ points this season, Vermont is 5-3.
 
Mr. 1,000:  Ethan O'Day became the 34th Catamount with 1,000 career points when hit a free throw during the second half against Maine on Wednesday. O'Day currently sits just 18 rebounds away from 500 in his career, as well, and would be just the 13^th Catamount to join the 1,000 Point-500 Rebound club.

Tickets are still available for Saturday's game and can be purchased online at UVMathletics.com, in person at the Athletic Ticket Office located on the balcony in Patrick Gymnasium (Mon - Fri; 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.), over the phone during office hours at 802-656-4410, or one hour before game time in the lobby of Patrick Gymnasium.