MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Fresh off an appearance in the Gulf Coast Showcase title game, the Vermont men's basketball team returns to Patrick Gym on Saturday for the first of three home contests against Ivy League opponents. The Yale Bulldogs make the trip to Burlington for a 1 p.m. tipoff.

All of the action can be seen for free and in HD via AmericaEast.TV while local radio coverage begins on ESPN 101.3 FM at 12:30 p.m. with Sam Hyman on the call 
 
RELATED LINKS
Yale: Live Video – Live Audio – Live Stats
Gulf Coast Showcase Rewind: CatamounTV Highlights – Wofford | Hofstra | Houston
Game Notes: Vermont (.pdf) | Yale (.pdf)
 
PROMOTIONS
Three Brothers Pizza – Stay to the final buzzer and receive a Three Brothers Pizza coupon on your way out!

LAST TIME OUT
Vermont put together an impressive run to the title game of the Gulf Coast Showcase, going 2-1 in the pre-Thanksgiving tournament in Southwest Florida. The Cats started the week with a thrilling 60-59 win over Wofford thanks to a Trae Bell-Haynes game-winning floater in the finals seconds. UVM followed that with an offensive explosion against Hofstra, defeating the Pride 87-73. Ernie Duncan poured in a career-high 33 points including seven three-pointers. In the title game against American Conference foe Houston, Vermont erased an 11-point halftime deficit and led with four seconds to play before the Cougars hit a buzzer-beater to defeat UVM 72-71. UVM drilled 14 three-pointers – a season-high – in the contest.
  
SCOUTING YALE
An NCAA Tournament team a year ago, Yale is off to a strong start in 2016-17 coming into Saturday's post-Thanksgiving showdown with a 2-2 overall record. Yale upset Baylor in last season's NCAA tournament and then gave Duke everything it could handle in the second round. This season, the Bulldogs knocked off Washington on the road before nearly doing the same to the ACC's Pittsburgh earlier this week. Picked to finish third in a strong Ivy League, Yale has four players averaging in double-figures in scoring this season led by senior forward Sam Downey's 15.0 points per game. Meanwhile, freshman Miye Oni is already a two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week to start his career.
 
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 28th overall meeting between Vermont and Yale. The two teams have played each other every year since the 2007-2008 season and Vermont leads the all-time series 14-13. Yale has won the last two meetings but the Cats have won five of the last eight.

LAST MEETING vs. YALE
Last season in New Haven, Conn., Vermont trailed by just three at halftime but went ice cold from the field in the second half and Yale pulled away for a 72-54 win. Cam Ward notched a career-high 20 points in the losing effort and then-senior Ethan O'Day finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

DIALING LONG DISTANCE
The Vermont offense has been keyed by hot shooting from downtown over the last two games. UVM currently ranks second in the league in three-point attempts and first in both three-pointers made (57) and three-point field-goal percentage (38.3). The 57 three-pointers made also ranks 10th nationally. Over the last two games Vermont has made 24 three-pointers while shooting 46.1-percent (24-52).
 
WHERE THERE'S A WILLS, THERE'S A WAY
Dre Wills is back to his old ways causing havoc on the defensive end of the court. The senior captain leads the America East in steals with 11 through seven games while Vermont, as a team, leads the league with 45 total steals. Wills is also the active leader in America East in career steals (114) and blocks (59).