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LOS ANGELES - The Vermont men's basketball team closes out 2014 with its first-ever matchup against the USC Trojans on Tuesday (Dec. 30). Tipoff is scheduled for 11:30 p.m. (EST) and the game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network (click here to find the channel on your cable/satillite system). The game can also be heard on ESPN 101.3 FM (online: 1013ESPN.com) with A.J. Kanell calling the action.
The Catamounts enter the game with a 5-6 record and have lost two straight by a total of four points. UVM closed out the first semester with a 58-55 loss at Saint Louis on December 21. USC owns a record of 7-4 and has won six of its last seven games, including a 75-71 win at Boston College on December 21.
LAST TIME OUT - Saint Louis 58, Vermont 55
Ethan O'Day and Trae Bell-Haynes combined for 35 points for Vermont, but Saint Louis used a 10-4 run late in the game and held on to post a 58-55 win. O'Day went 8-for-11 from the field and finished with 18 points, two shy of his season-high. Bell-Haynes added 17 points, 12 in the second half, to match his career-high. The Billikens held a 12 point lead with 49 seconds to play. UVM scored 11 points in the final 36 seconds, including six from Bell-Haynes, but ran out of time.
RELATED LINKS
Game Coverage - Live Stats | Live Audio | TV - Pac-12 Network
Game Notes (.pdf)
CatamounTV Saint Louis Highlights
CatamounTV - Practice Report
WCAX Interview - Darren Payen
Big Apple Buckets Interview - Ernie Duncan
#TBHTakeover
Trae Bell-Haynes has taken over the UVM Athletics Instagram account ... Follow his posts throughout the team's trip in California at instagram.com/vermontcatamounts
ABOUT USC
USC enters the game with a 7-4 record and has won six of its last seven games, including a 75-71 win at Boston College on December 21 ... The game versus the Catamounts marks the final non-conference game for the Trojans ... The Trojans were picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll ... Jordan McLaughlin is one of three USC players averaging double-digits with a team-high 13.7 points per game ... He has a team-high 59 assists and 17 3-pointers ... Nikola Jovanovic leads the team in rebounding (8.5 rpg) and is chipping in 11.7 points per game ... Katin Reinhardt is chipping in 10.8 points per game and has made 16 3-pointers, second on the team ... As a team, USC is averaging 68.5 points per game, while giving up 67.0 to its opponents ... The Trojans are shooting 42.6 percent from the floor, 32.4 percent from 3-point range and 61.4 percent from the foul line ... USC is out rebounding opponents by a +2.5 margin ... Andy Enfield is in his second season at the helm of the Trojans.
THE SERIES
This is the first-ever meeting between the two schools ... Vermont is 1-5 versus current Pac-12 members, the lone win came against Colorado when the Buffaloes were a member of the Big 12.
Vermont vs. Pac-12 Opponents
0-1 vs. Arizona - 3/20/03 - Tucson - L, 80-51
1-0 vs. Colorado - 12/30/08 - Honolulu - W, 84-59 (member of the Big 12 at time)
0-2 vs. Oregon - 1/2/77 - Eugene - L, 76-57 & 12/16/78 - Burlington - L, 74-61
0-1 vs. Oregon St. - 3/23/09 - Corvallis - L, 71-70 (OT) (CBI Quarterfinals)
0-1 vs. UCLA - 11/29/03 - Los Angeles - L, 68-67
HOMECOMING GAME PART II
The Catamounts are playing a second straight "homecoming game" ... Senior Hector Harold is a native of Pasadena, Calif. ... He attended Renaissance Academy in La Canada, Calif. then prepped at Northfield Mount Hermon in Massachusetts ... Harold transferred to Vermont from Pepperdine following the 2011-12 season ... He sat out 2012-13 per NCAA rules and saw his first action as a Catamount in 2013-14 ... Harold leads Vermont in scoring but has missed the last three games with a foot injury suffered against Harvard ... UVM's last game at Saint Louis was a homecoming game for Vermont senior Ryan Pierson ... Pierson is from St. Louis and earned his first career start at UVM in the game.
SECOND TRIP TO THE GOLDEN STATE
The Catamounts are California for the second straight season ... Last year UVM competed in the Golden Gate Challenge hosted by the University of San Francisco and went 3-2 in the tournament.
SHARP SHOOTING
Vermont leads America East in field goal percentage (47.1%) and field goal percentage defense (39.2%) ... Ethan O'Day and Trae Bell-Haynes rank 1-2 in field goal percentage, shooting 60.2 and 58.1 percent from the floor, respectively.
M.A.S.H. UNIT
Coach John Becker has used six different starting lineups through 11 games and has not had a full compliment of players available all season due to various injuries.
WHO'S NEXT
Vermont closes out its California tour and will ring in 2015 facing UC Santa Barbara on Friday (Jan. 2) at 10 p.m. (EST) ... The Gauchos are receving votes in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll ... The game is scheduled to be streamed onilne via BigWest.org/tv ... The game can also be heard on ESPN 101.3 FM (online: 1013ESPN.com) with A.J. Kanell on the call.
