The Vermont men's basketball team opens up the 2015-16 regular season on the road at Eastern Michigan Friday morning at 11 a.m. It will be the first college basketball game in the country between two Division I teams.
 
Friday's regular season opener can be seen on ESPN3 and heard locally with pregame coverage starting at 10:30 a.m. on 101.3 ESPN. AJ Kanell will have the call.

RELATED LINKS
Vermont Game Notes (.pdf)
Eastern Michigan Game Notes (.pdf)
Live Game Coverage: Live Video (ESPN3) -- Live Audio -- Live Stats
Burlington Free Press: Trae Bell-Haynes Speeds into Sophomore Season
 
Last Time Out: Ernie Duncan played 30 minutes and scored 17 points to lead Vermont past St. Michael's in preseason finale, 85-56. Duncan shot 5-of-11 from 3-point range while adding four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Darren Payen pumped in 14 points and five rebounds as the Vermont bench outscored its Purple Knight counterparts, 48-16. Drew Urquhart also scored in double figures for the Catamounts who shot 51.6% for the game while holding St. Michael's to just 33.8% shooting.
 
About Eastern Michigan: After its second straight 20-win season in 2015-15, Eastern Michigan was picked fourth in the Western Division of the 2015-16 Mid-American Conference preseason poll. Redshirt-junior guard Raven Lee, the team's leading scorer in 2014-15 (16.7 ppg) was also named to the preseason all-conference team. He finished last season ranked second in the MAC and earned All-MAC Third Team honors.  Head Coach Rob Murphy is in his fifth season at the helm and has an overall record of 73-65 in his first four seasons. EMU advanced to the postseason for the second straight season in 2014-15. The Eagles played in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) just a year removed from an appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
 
Series History: This will be just the second meeting all-time between the two schools. The only prior meeting between the Catamounts and Eagles was back in November of 2002. Vermont won that game at a neutral site in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., 71-64.
 
Vermont vs. The MAC: Vermont is 7-1 all-time vs. current members of the Mid-American Conference. The only loss was against Toledo during the 1982-83 season.
 
Common Ending: Both Vermont and Eastern Michigan saw their 2014-15 seasons come to end against the same team - Louisiana-Monroe. The Eagles fell to the Warhawks in the first round of the CBI while the Catamounts were bounced by ULM in the CBI semifinals.
 
Preseason Poll: The University of Vermont was picked to finish third in the 2015-16 America East Men's Basketball Coaches Poll, while Ethan O'Day was named to the preseason all-conference team. Vermont has been picked in the top-four of the preseason poll in each of the last five years. The last time UVM was picked third was in 2011-12. That season saw Vermont finish the season in second place and go on to win its fifth America East title.
 
Postseason or Bust: Vermont has advanced to a postseason tournament in each of the last seven seasons and 11 of the past 13. Included in that 13-year span are five trips to the NCAA Tournament and three each to the NIT and CBI. UVM's most recent trip to the Big Dance in 2012 saw it defeat Lamar in the First Four before taking on top-seed North Carolina. Last season, the Catamounts advanced to the semifinals of the CBI taking down Hofstra on the road and Radford in the program's first-ever postseason home game before the season came to an end at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
 
Catamounts in New England: Since the 2002-2003 season, Vermont has amassed 281 wins, which is the second-most among Division I basketball programs in New England. The only team with more is UConn. Additionally, Vermont is the only school in New England with a current streak of seven-straight 20-win seasons.
 
Stingy D: Defense has been a point of pride for Vermont teams in recent years. Under John Becker, Vermont has held opponents to 59.9 points per game. In fact, UVM held opponents to 59.18 points per game in 2014-15, which is the fewest since 1950-51 when Vermont held opponents to 53.7 points per game.
 
Sixty for Sixty: In the four years with John Becker at the helm, Vermont is 60-8 when holding opponents to 60 points or less.  UVM was 17-0 in 2013-14 and 16-4 last season.
 
Diaper Dandies: With the 17th youngest team in the country last season, Vermont finished ranked first in 12 team statistical categories in America East including: scoring defense, scoring margin, field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, free throws attempted and made, 3-point field goal percentage defense, blocked shots, total steals and assists.