FINAL SCORE: Vermont 88, Maine 60
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Senior guard Justin Mazzulla scored a career-high 23 points as Vermont earned it second straight weekend sweep with an 88-60 win over Maine on Sunday afternoon. The Catamounts extended their winning streak to five games and improved to 7-3 on the season. The Black Bears fall to 2-7 on the year and 2-6 in conference play.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score: Web | PDF
CatamounTV: Game Highlights | Postgame Press Conference
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"Today was another really good 40 minutes of basketball," said Cioffi Men's Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. "Justin took over the game on the offensive end and it was great to see. It was a great weekend and I thought our guys were focused and played well both days."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Catamounts netted seven of the first nine points of the contest but the Black Bears managed to trim the deficit to 12-10 by the first media timeout.
• Coming out of the timeout, UVM used six minutes of the game clock to build a double-digit lead, 24-14. Isaiah Powell hit a mid-range jumper and Tomas Murphy added four points off the bench to propel the offensive attack.
• With five and a half minutes left in the half, Maine's Vilgot Larsson banked in a triple near the home bench to cut UVM's lead back to single digits 31-22. The Cats answered with a three-point barrage of their own – Ben Shungu, Justin Mazzulla, and Bailey Patella each canned a triple in a three-minute span to stretch the margin to 43-23.
• Following Patella's corner three at the 2:42 mark, UVM and Maine traded scores down the stretch as the Green and Gold led 47-28 at the break.
• Vermont did not let up to start the second half. The Cats scored 10 straight points as a part of a 14-5 run to begin the period and stretched their advantage to 63-33.  
• In the second half, UVM held Maine to 9-of-27 (33.3%) shooting including 4-of-15 (26.7%) from long range. The Cats also outscored the Black Bears 36-16 in the paint in the final 20 minutes.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Mazzulla shot 7-of-9 from the field and made all seven attempts at the charity stripe to reach his 23-point outing. He also tallied five rebounds with an assist, a steal, and a block.
• Ryan Davis logged his seventh game with double figures. The junior racked up 17 points and pulled down five rebounds.
• Powell added 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting and collected two boards.
• Shungu was the fourth starter to score double digits. The South Burlington product had 10 points and made 4-of-6 shot attempts including two treys. He dished out five assists, recorded three steals, and gathered three rebounds.
• The Catamounts are off to a 7-3 start or better through the first 10 games of the season for the third time in the last five seasons. 
• With the weekend sweep, UVM has won the last 22 meetings with Maine.
• This season People's United Bank, N.A. will again be generously donating $25 to Sara Holbrook Community Center for every three-point shot that the Catamounts make during the regular season home games. With today's 10 3s, the total being donated is now up to $1,475.
• When the Cats Win, Community Wins. With each Catamount win, Vermont Mutual Insurance donates $100 to a local non-profit. For 2020, they donated $15,000 to Spectrum Youth and Family Services. A special thank you to Vermont Mutual Insurance for their support. Vermont Mutual Insurance, protecting Vermonters since 1828.

WHO'S NEXT
Vermont will visit Hartford next weekend for a two-game series. The conference foes will play on Saturday (Jan. 23) at 5 p.m. then again on Sunday (Jan. 24) at 3 p.m. The action will be streamed on either ESPN3 or ESPN+. Visit UVMathletics.com later this week for updates. Fans can also listen live on the Vermont Sports Network, from Learfield IMG College, on 101.3 The Game or online at Catamounts All-Access with Brian McLaughlin on the call.
 
Key Motors of South Burlington is the presenting sponsor of the 2020-21 Vermont men's basketball season