MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
 
The No. 3 seed Vermont men's basketball team begins its quest for a sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday night with a quarterfinal matchup in the America East Playoffs against No. 6 Maine at Patrick Gym.
 
The 7:30 p.m. tipoff can be seen on ESPN3 and the ESPN App with Eric Frede and Frank Sullivan on the call. Local radio coverage begins at 7 p.m. on ESPN 101.3 FM with AJ Kanell and Bernie Cieplicki bringing you the action.
 
RELATED LINKS
Vermont Game Notes (.pdf)
Maine Game Notes
Maine Game Coverage: Live Video – Live Audio – Live Stats
Stony Brook Flashback: Game Recap – CatamounTV Highlights
 
Promotions: The first 400 fans that arrive to the game will receive a gold Vermont basketball t-shirt. The bookstore will also offer all of their gold apparel for 25% off which includes shirts, hats, wigs and foam fingers. We will also be handing out gold accessories at the promotions table in the lobby. 

Last Time Out at Stony Brook: Ernie Duncan matched a career-high with 23 points and Vermont wrapped up the regular season in style posting a 76-62 win at Stony Brook Saturday night. Duncan scored 16 of his game-high 23 in the first half and shot a blistering 8-of-12 for the game including 4-of-4 from downtown. Trae Bell-Haynes finished with 16 points and Ethan O'Day chipped in with 10 points and four rebounds while limiting three-time America East Player of the Year Jameel Warney to just 13 points. In two meetings this season, Vermont has held New Hampshire to just 30.1% shooting. Stony Brook got the 17-point lead all the way down to six in the second half after a Vermont turnover led to an Ahmad Walker transition dunk with 5:29 to play. A John Becker timeout calmed the troops and the Cats finished the game on a 15-7 run featuring a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays for Bell-Haynes to ice the game and put the Cats up by as many as 18 late in the contest.
 
About Maine: Maine enters Wednesday's quarterfinal with on overall record of 8-21 and the Black Bears went 4-12 in league play to secure the No.6 seed. After going 4-4 during the first run through the league schedule, Maine went 0-8 in the second half. Despite that, the eight overall wins this season are five more than last year and the most since the 2012-13 season. The No. 6 seed is also the highest postseason seed since that season, as well. Rookie Issac Vann leads the Black Bears in scoring averaging 15.8 points per game and was named to the America East All-Rookie Team. He ranks second on the team in rebounding behind fellow freshman Devine Eke (6.8 rpg). Maine leads the league in steals per game (8.3 spg) and turnovers forced per game (16.48).
 
Series History: Maine leads the all-time series against Vermont, which dates back to the 1949-50 season, 70-63. Since the 2006-2007 season, the Catamounts have won 18 of 21 meetings against the Black Bears. John Becker is 10-1 in his career vs. Maine, which includes a win in the America East Quarterfinals during the 2012 run to the NCAA Tournament. Maine's last win in Burlington came on Jan. 11, 2011 (72-58). Since then, Vermont is 5-0 at Patrick Gym vs. Maine.
 
Last Meeting vs. Maine: On his 22nd birthday, Darren Payen turned in a career performance and Vermont began its second tour through the America East with an 85-68 win over the visiting Maine Black Bears. Payen played his best game in a Catamount uniform notching his first career double-double with 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 13 rebounds – both career-highs. Ethan O'Day went for 23 points and eight rebounds to go along with four assists and three blocks. Dre Wills (11p/4r/4a), Trae Bell-Haynes (11p/8a) and Drew Urquhart (10p/4r) also reached double-figures for the Cats. Vermont went on a 22-4 run to take a 63-49 lead in the second half. Wills scored nine of his 11 points in the midst of the run including a momentum-shifting two-handed slam to ignite the crowd and Vermont's defense. The Cats held Maine to just 2-of-9 shooting during the run.

Tournament Notes: UVM has won the tournament title five times (2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2012). Vermont is 32-27 all-time in the America East Tournament. UVM has the most wins in tournament history (32) among the 2015 tournament field ... Since 2003, Vermont is 25-8 in the tournament. The Catamounts have reached the semifinals in 13 of the last 14 years and the title game in nine of the last 14 years. Head coach John Becker is 7-3 in tournament games as a head coach. Becker was the fifth America East coach to reach the championship game in each of his first two seasons at the helm of the program. The Catamounts are 16-17 overall in the quarterfinals in the America East Tournament, but 12-1 since 2003. For just the third time in the last 15 years, Vermont is not seeded No. 2 or better in the America East Playoffs.
 
Cats Sizzling: Over the last five games (all wins) UVM has averaged 83.6 points per game while shooting 53.2% from the field. Vermont has a scoring margin of +18 during the five-game win streak. The Cats have scored 90+ points four times this season which is the most since 2001-2002 when it was also done on four occasions.
 
Did it all for the Rookie: Averaging 15 points per game while shooting 55.6% from the field in two Vermont wins last week, Ernie Duncan earned Rookie of the Week honors on Monday. He also was selected to the AE All-Rookie team.
 
Three's Company: Three Catamounts landed on the All-Conference Third Team following the regular season - Ethan O'Day, Kurt Steidl and Trae Bell-Haynes. O'Day earns in second all-conference selection while Bell-Haynes and Steidl - both all-rookie selections following their freshman seasons - earned all-league status for the first time.
 
Second Half Surge: Vermont took a step forward during the second half of league play. The Cats are averaging 83.4 points per game in the last eight games with a rebounding margin of +8.5. During the first half of league play, UVM averaged 72.4 points per game and had a rebounding margin of +0.6
 
Bench Mob: Vermont's bench has been a key factor during the second half of league play. The Cats have outscored their opponents 250-112 off the bench, which is a +17.3 points per game average. Cam Ward averaged 10.5 points per game on the bench in the second half of league play - one of three Catamounts to average more than eight points during the same stretch.

Tickets are still available for Wednesday's game and can be purchased online at UVMathletics.com, in person at the Athletic Ticket Office located on the balcony in Patrick Gymnasium or over the phone during office hours at 802-656-4410.