MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
 
The Vermont men's basketball team begins a two-game road trip on Saturday night when it heads to New York's capital region to take on Albany in the Great Danes' annual 'Big Purple Growl.' Tipoff is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. from SEFCU Arena.
 
The game will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports (ch. 323 for TW customers) throughout New York State with a FREE live stream available on AmericaEast.TV. Local radio coverage begins at 6:30 on ESPN 101.3 FM with AJ Kanell calling the action.
 
RELATED LINKS
Vermont Game Notes (.pdf)
Albany Game Notes
Albany Game Coverage: Live Video – Live Audio – Live Stats
Maine Flashback: Game Recap – CatamounTV Highlights
 
Last Time Out vs. Maine: On his 22nd birthday, Darren Payen turned in a career performance and the Vermont men's basketball began its second tour through the America East with an 85-68 win over the visiting Maine Black Bears on Wednesday night. Payen played his best game in a Catamount uniform notching his first career double-double with 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 13 rebounds – both career-highs. Ethan O'Day went for 23 points and eight rebounds to go along with four assists and three blocks. Dre Wills (11p/4r/4a), Trae Bell-Haynes (11p/8a) and Drew Urquhart (10p/4r) also reached double-figures for the Cats. It took Maine just over three minutes to storm back in front on a pair of threes from Aaron Calixte and Isaac Vann early in the second half. Over the next seven minutes, however, Vermont went on a 22-4 run that concluded with a pair of Urquhart free throws and a 63-49 Catamount lead. Wills scored nine of his 11 points in the midst of the run including a momentum-shifting two-handed slam to ignite the crowd and Vermont's defense.
 
About Albany: Albany - a team receiving votes in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 Poll - enters Saturday's matchup with an 18-6 overall record. The Great Danes are 7-2 in league play, one game ahead of Vermont for second place in the standings. Last time out, Ray Sanders fueled Wednesday's 79-73 win over UMBC with 21 points and seven assists. Peter Hooley finished 17 points and seven rebounds in the Albany win - its third straight heading into Saturday's Big Purple Growl. Hooley leads the three-time defending champs in scoring averaging 13.0 points per game. Evan Singletary scores at a 12.8 points per game clip while Sanders ranks third on the team with 11.3 points per contest. Albany ranks in the top-10 nationally in both free throws made and attempted. The Great Danes shoot 74.7% from the line as a team.
 
Series History: Vermont leads the all-times series with Albany 24-15 but the Great Danes have won the last four and five of the last seven. Vermont had an eight-game winning streak vs. Albany snapped in the 2013 America East title game at Patrick Gym. John Becker is 6-5 in his career vs. Albany including 3-2 in Albany (Last W: Feb. 1, 2014). The two teams have combined for 10 America East championships and are two of four America East teams to win three straight tournament titles (Northeastern, '84-'87; Drexel, '94-'96)
 
Last Meeting vs. Albany: Back on Jan. 9, Mike Rowley scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Albany handed Vermont its first home loss of the season, 69-57. Trae Bell-Haynes and Kurt Steidl combined for 37 points of Vermont's 57 points. Bell-Haynes finished with 19 points, four rebounds and four assists while Steidl wrapped up the afternoon scoring 18, one shy of his career-high. The Albany lead hovered around ten for the first nine minutes of the second half before UVM showed its most promising stretch of the game. Ernie Duncan went coast-to-coast following a steal and then Ward found O'Day slicing to the rim for a bucket that cut the Albany lead to six, 46-40, with 10:10 to play. From there, Albany found an answer and the lead was back to 12 just three minutes later.
 
On the Road Again: Since the 2011-12 season, Vermont is 26-10 in road regular season games vs. conference opponents. The Cats are 4-0 this season, were 5-3 last season and 7-1 during the 2013-14 season (won Regular Season Championship).
 
Double-Trouble: After registering just one double-double as a team in 2014-15 (Drew Urquhart vs. SVC), the Cats have posted eight this season by six different players.
 
Go Darren, It's Your Birthday: On his 22nd birthday, Darren Payen turned in a career game vs. Maine scoring 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds - both career-highs. The 6-8 big man is one of seven Catamounts averaging over six points per game and ranks second in blocks (24).
 
Off the Pine: Vermont's bench players have been key to the 6-3 start to league play. UVM's bench players outscored their Stony Brook counterparts 22-3 and against Maine, UVM had the edge 24-14. In nine conference games, the Cats are outscoring the opposing bench by an average of 5.1 points per contest (23.8-18.7).