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BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Vermont men's basketball team, the defending America East Regular Season Champions, begins a four-game homestand hosting Hartford in the America East Conference opener on Wednesday (Dec. 3) at 7 p.m.. The Catamounts are also in the midst of playing three games in seven days.
Tickets are available online at UVMathletics.com, via the phone at 802-656-4410, in person at the UVM Athletic Ticket Office located on the balcony in Patrick Gymnasium or an hour before tipoff in the Patrick Gymnasium Lobby. Wednesday's 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 onilne for free in HD via CatamounTV.com.
LEAGUE OPENERS
The Catamounts are 13-2 in their last 15 America East openers, 2-1 under John Becker ... UVM is opening the league slate at home for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign.
RELATED LINKS
Game Coverage - Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video
CatamounTV Preview
Game Notes (.pdf)
Game Promotions - Cat Pride Club Appreciation Day - receive double points for checking in at promotions table
LAST TIME OUT - Quinnipiac 89, Vermont 73
Ousmane Drame posted a double-double with game-highs of 33 points and 13 rebounds to lead Quinnipiac to an 89-73 win over Vermont in Hamden, CT on Sunday ... Seniors Hector Harold and Ryan Pierson paced Vermont with 14 points each ... Freshmen Cam Ward and Trae Bell-Haynes also reached double figures, netting 12 and 10 points, respectively ... Quinnipiac jumped out to a 17-6 start after starting 7-for-12 from the floor ... UVM cut the lead to seven, but QU answered with an 18-3 run and led 43-24 at the break ... Quinnipiac maintained a double digit lead throughout the second half ... Vermont cut the lead to 11 several times, the last with 6:27 remaining in the game, but could not get the game into single-digits.
ABOUT HARTFORD
Hartford is 5-2 and coming off a 69-57 loss at Yale on Saturday, snapping a five game win streak ... The Hawks were picked to finish second in the America East Preseason Poll after posting a 17-16 record and advancing to the America East Semifinals a year ago ... Hartford is the most experienced team in the league, returning all five starters and nine letterwinners ... Yolonzo Moore leads the team in scoring (11.1 ppg), has a team-high 22 assists and is shooting 32.3 percent from the floor ... Mark Nwakamma, a two-time America East First Team performer and the active scoring leader in the conference, ranks second on the team in scoring at 9.4 points per game and is grabbing a team-high 5.0 rebound per contest.
THE SERIES
This is the 65th meeting between two schools ... Vermont owns a 41-23 advantage in all-time series ... UVM swept the Hawks last season, winning 67-60 in Hartford and 72-47 in Burlington ... Vermont has won 24 of the last 26 meetings against the Hawks ... John Becker is 6-1 versus Hartford ... Hartford's last win over the Catamounts was on March 2, 2013. Nate Sikma drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the Hawk's 15-game losing streak to Vermont with a 61-58 win ... Four of the last five meetings have been decided by seven points or less.
BECKER GETS WIN #70
Vermont head coach John Becker earned win No. 70 with the victory over Bryant ... He is the fifth winningest coach in UVM men's basketball history (70-37 - 107 games).
SHARP SHOOTING CATS
Vermont shot better than 50 percent from the field in both halves against Bryant ... The Catamounts have shot better than 40 percent from the floor in eight of 12 halves this season.
WARD-ING OFF TURNOVERS
Freshman Cam Ward has played in all six games, earned one start and averaged 17.2 minutes per game ... He has 13 assists on the season, second best on the team and just three turnovers ... He went through his first three collegiate games without a miscue.
HOME SWEET HOME
Vermont is 2-0 at Patrick Gymnasium this season ... UVM is 32-11 overall, 22-2 in league play, since John Becker took over the program (2011-12) ... Vermont is 123-31 at Patrick Gymnasium since the 2002-03 season and 64-15 at home over the last five years ... The Catamounts are 42-9 in America East games at Patrick Gymnasium since the 2008-09 campaign.
CATAMOUNTS DOMINATE AMERICA EAST
Since the 2002-03 season the Catamounts have totaled 173 America East wins ... UVM has advanced to the America East Championship game eight times in the last 12 years ... The Catamounts have won five America East Tournament Titles (last: 2012), including three straight (2003, 2004, 2005), and three America East Regular Season Titles (2007, 2011, 2014).
WHO'S NEXT
Vermont continues its homestand hosting Harvard on Saturday (Dec. 6) at 7 p.m. ... The Crimson are currently ranked fifth in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll ... Tickets are available online at UVMathletics.com, via the phone at 802-656-4410, in person at the UVM Athletic Ticket Office located on the balcony in Patrick Gymnasium or an hour before tipoff in the Patrick Gymnasium Lobby ... The game can be heard on ESPN 101.3 FM (online: 1013ESPN.com) ... It will also be streamed online for free in HD via CatamounTV.com.
