MEN'S NOTEBOOK
Vermont (7-5) will host Quinnipiac (3-8) in the final contest of the 2017 calendar year on Thursday (Dec. 21). The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. on the hardwood of Patrick Gym. Single game tickets are available for purchase at
UVMathletics.com/Tickets or at the Patrick Gym Box Office on gameday. All Vermont regular season games can be heard on 101.3 ESPN FM and online at
1013ESPN.com with Sam Hyman on the call.
CATS ON E3
Thursday night's contest will be streamed live on
ESPN3 and the watchESPN app by logging in with your television provider.
RELATED LINKS
Quinnipiac: Video | Audio | Live Stats | Tickets
CatamounTV: St. Bonaventure Highlights
Game Notes: Vermont | Quinnipiac
LAST TIME OUT | St. Bonaventure Highlights
St. Bonaventure senior guard Matt Mobley made a three-pointer as time expired and handed Vermont an 81-79 defeat at the Blue Cross Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Anthony Lamb poured in a game-high 27 points in his homecoming to Rochester, New York. The star sophomore approached a double-double with eight rebounds and made 13-of-14 attempts at the charity stripe.
Trae Bell-Haynes added 13 points and handed out four assists.
Everett Duncan was the third Catamount to reach double figures with 13 points after knocking down three triples.
AMERICA EAST ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman
Stef Smith was named America East Rookie of the Week on Monday. Smith averaged 9.0 points and 3.0 assists for the Catamounts in a 1-1 split last week. The Ajax, Ontario native dropped 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in an 81-57 win over Siena last Monday and gave UVM win No. 1 on Tom Brennan Court. He also hit two attempts from downtown and dealt a career-high five assists. In the tough loss at St. Bonaventure, Smith added six points and two more triples to Vermont's offense.
FROM ONE CAT TO ANOTHER
Redshirt junior
Samuel Dingba will be playing against his former team on Thursday night. Dingba played two seasons at Quinnipiac before transferring to Catamount Country prior to the start of last season. At QU, the Yaounde, Cameroon native saw action in 45 games and earned 11 starts.
PROTECTING THE HOME COURT
Vermont will be looking to keep its 15-game home winning streak intact. The Cats have not lost on the hardwood of Patrick Gym since Dec. 10, 2016 after falling to Northeastern 59-57.
SCOUTING QUINNIPIAC
Like the Catamounts, the Bobcats come into Thursday night as the victim of a game-winning three-pointer in the final seconds. Quinnipiac fell at Drexel 72-71 on Monday night after Kurk Lee drained a long ball with 2.4 seconds left on the clock. The Bobcats own the fourth-lowest scoring defense in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) after holding its opponents to 69.5 points per game. QU also sits fourth in the MAAC with 3.18 blocks per game. Cameron Young leads the team and he is currently tied for fifth in the conference with a 16.6 scoring average. The senior guard has tallied four of Quinnipiac's seven 20-point outings this season and the Los Angeles, California native has averaged 25.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in the last two games. During the two-game set, he has shot 53.3% (16-for-30) from the floor and 40.0% (6-for-15) from three-point land.
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Catamounts hold an 8-3 record over the Bobcats since the series began in 2006. UVM will be eyeing its third straight victory and fourth in the last seven meetings. Last year, the two foes opened the 2016-17 campaign in Hamden, Connecticut with Vermont reaching the win column 94-70. Lamb scored a game-high 23 points - the most by a Catamount rookie making his debut during the
John Becker era.
WHO'S NEXT
Vermont will open the new year at Ivy League rival Harvard on Tuesday, Jan. 2. The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. The contest will be nationally televised on NESNPlus and streamed online via the Ivy League Digital Network with a pay-per-view subscription. For NESNPlus, fans can contact their television provider for complete channel listings. Tickets are available for purchase at
Tickets.GoCrimson.com. All Vermont regular season games can be heard on 101.3 ESPN FM and online at
1013ESPN.com with Sam Hyman on the call.
Canon Solutions America is the presenting sponsor of the 2017-18 Vermont men's basketball season