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VERMONT MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
The Vermont men's basketball team opens an eight-day, five-game road trip on Sunday when it travels to face Rutgers (1-0, 0-0 Big East) at 4 p.m. as part of the 2009 Legends Classic. The game marks the first of two straight against Big East opponents, as it will also be the first meeting in men’s basketball between the Cats and Scarlet Knights. Vermont (1-1, 0-0 America East) will look to carry over the momentum from its first victory of the season at Buffalo last Sunday.

Sunday's game can be heard live on 96.7 DOT-FM, The Zone 960 AM and WSTJ-1320 AM (Randolph), and on the internet at www.UVMathletics.com with the audio stream provided by SportsJuice.com.

LAST TIME OUT: Senior Marqus Blakely hit one of two free throws with 9.5 seconds left to lift Vermont to a 58-57 victory over Buffalo on the road on Sunday night. Blakely finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists as the Catamounts pick up their first victory of the season. With the game tied at 57-57, Blakely was fouled underneath the hoop and went to the line for two. After missing the first, he sunk the second to give UVM the lead. Buffalo had one last chance as they drove the ball up the court but senior Nick Vier came up with a big steal and raced the other way as time expired. Vermont limited Buffalo to shoot only 30.9 percent from the floor for the game.

RUTGERS: The Scarlet Knights are 1-0 this season with a game vs. Drexel before taking on the Catamounts on Sunday. Rutgers defeated Marist 74-67 in its opener on November 13 at home behind three players in double figures. Mike Rosario led the way with 17 points, while Gregory Echenique added 13 and 10 rebounds. The Scarlet Knights were picked to finish 15th in the Big East Preseason Poll after going 11-21 overall last year and 2-16 in league play. Sunday will be the first meeting between the two teams in men’s basketball.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Marqus Blakely was named the first America East Player of the Week for the 2009-10 season. For the year Blakely is averaging 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 4.0 blocks and 3.0 steals per game, as he leads the Catamounts in each category. Blakely has now been named the league’s player of the week five times during his career. He is currently the league’s active leading rebounder (736) for his career and ranks 26th all-time in the history of the conference. With 1,311 points he is second among active scorers in the America East, behind only Boston University’s Corey Lowe (1,338).

SENIOR DAY: In Vermont’s victory over Buffalo seniors Marqus Blakely, Maurice Joseph and Nick Vier combined to score 41 of the team’s 58 points (70.1 percent). The trio are the three top scorers for the Catamounts this year as they have tallied 72.6 percent (90 of 124) of Vermont’s points. Blakely and Joseph are the only two Cats to register double figures in each of the first two games.

AGAINST THE BIG EAST: Vermont is 10-64 all-time against teams currently in the Big East. Of those 10 wins only one has come since the Big East was formed, as the Cats knocked off fourth-seeded Syracuse in overtime in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, 60-57.

HEADING HOME: Sunday’s game will be a homecoming of sorts for Catamount seniors Nick Vier and Marqus Blakely, as both call the Garden State home. Both had success in their only other appearance in New Jersey as Vermont defeated the New Jersey Institute of Technology 91-71 on November 20, 2007. In that game Blakely had 14 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, while Vier came off the bench to score seven and hand out a pair of assists.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK: Nick Vier recorded one of the best games of his career against Buffalo, scoring 12 points with three boards. Even more impressive was the zero turnovers in 33 minutes of action at the point guard position. Vier is averaging 9.5 points per game through the first two, after entering the year averaging 4.5 for his career.

ON THE GLASS: Maurice Joseph matched a career-high with seven rebounds in the win over Buffalo. Joseph also pulled down seven in a 77-65 win over UMBC on February 17 of last season.

NARROW WIN: Vermont’s 58-57 victory over Buffalo in its last time out marked the first time that the Catamounts have won a one-point game since they defeated Maine 67-66 on January 8, 2005. UVM had lost its eight previous games that were decided by one point (5 in overtime) prior to the Buffalo win.

MOVING UP THE LIST: With a game-high 17 points against Buffalo, Marqus Blakely moved up to 13th all-time in scoring at Vermont, passing Clyde Lord ‘59. He now has 1,311 points for his career and is only three points shy of 12th place on the list and 25 behind Jeff Brown ‘82 who is 10th.

LEGENDS CLASSIC: The 12-team field for the 2009 Legends Classic men’s basketball tournament was announced in September. Vermont will open the regional round on November 22 on the road against Rutgers starting at 4 p.m. The Cats will also play Drexel, Cornell and Toledo in the sub-regional round in Philadelphia, Pa. on November 27-29.

DOUBLE-TROUBLE: Marqus Blakely earned his first double-double of the season against Buffalo, going for 17 points and 12 rebounds. As a sophomore Blakely recorded 10 straight double-doubles during a stretch, which was the most in the modern era for the Cats, and he now has 28 for his career. Trevor Gaines ’02 holds the school single-season record with 17 double-doubles.

SHORT LIST: Marqus Blakely is one of only 18 returning players in the nation who averaged at least nine rebounds a game and double figures in scoring last season. Of the 18, Blakely and Niagara’s Bilal Benn were the only players in the group that were under 6-foot-6, as both stand in at 6-foot-5.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Catamounts begin this season with 10 straight games on the road after opening the regular season at Loyola (Md.) on November 13 and will play in seven different states before their home opener on December 13 vs. Quinnipiac. Dating back to the end of last season Vermont will play a total of 14 straight games, not including preseason contests, on the road and that stretch extends to 18 out of 21 overall before welcoming a three-game homestand starting against Boston University on January 17. Two years ago the Cats started the season with eight of their first nine away from Patrick Gym. Last season Vermont ended the year by winning eight of its final 10 road contests, with the only two losses during that stretch coming in overtime.

STEPPING UP: After scoring 16 points in the season opener against Loyola and 12 in the Cats’ last time out at Buffalo, Maurice Joseph is now averaging 14.5 points per game over the last four contests dating back to last season. The Montreal native poured in a career-high 23 points against Wisconsin-Green Bay in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational last season. Joseph’s four-point play against Loyola was the first for a Catamount since Kyle Cieplicki accomplished the feat against Stony Brook on February 17, 2008.

AROUND THE RIM: All 11 Catamounts have played in both games this season ... Marqus Blakely has the sixth most blocks in the nation for his career among active players ... Blakely is the only two-time conference play of the year in the nation to return this season ... Vermont is averaging 20.9 wins per season over the last eight ... Blakely is the first player to lead the league in rebounding in back-to-back seasons since Malik Rose of Drexel (1994-96).

WHO'S NEXT: The Catamounts are next in action on Tuesday when they travel to face Providence starting at 7 p.m.

CAT'S DEN: Tune in Monday nights when the men's basketball team is in town for the Cat’s Den, the weekly radio interview with Vermont men’s basketball head coach Mike Lonergan, which takes place live at the Upper Deck Pub at the Windjammer in South Burlington. The Cat’s Den begins at 7:00pm and is hosted by Rob Ryan, the voice of Vermont men’s basketball. Each week coach Lonergan joins Ryan in a 30-minute segment that recaps the previous week and talks about the upcoming games. Fans are welcome to attend and ask coach Lonergan questions. Questions are also welcome by email at: robryan@967dotfm.com. Fans in attendance will also have a chance to win UVM men’s and women’s basketball tickets during each show.

BUS WITH US: The men's basketball Bus with Us trip is set for Sunday, January 10, 2010 for the game against the University at Albany. The day trip leaves Burlington on Sunday from the front of Gutterson Fieldhouse at 12:00 p.m. and will return following the game. The trip includes tickets to the game against the Great Danes at SEFCU Arena with tip-off set for 4:00 p.m. Subway will be providing lunch and all travelers will receive a t-shirt sponsored by Select Design. Be sure to book your trip today as seats are limited! The cost of the trip is $75 with Victory Club Members receiving a 10% discount. To register please email Rallycatamount@uvm.edu. Please include your preference for shirt size and also type of sandwich for lunch (veggie, Italian, ham or turkey). For more information please contact Mike Marfione at Michael.Marfione@uvm.edu or 802.656.8454.

FOLLOW OR FRIEND THE CATAMOUNTS ON FACEBOOK & TWITTER: The UVM Athletic Department has a Facebook page. Click here to become a friend of the department to keep up with all the happenings in Catamount Country. Fans can also follow the Catamounts via Twitter. The department has a general Twitter account @UVMAthletics and the men’s basketball team also has a Twitter account @UVM_M_Hoops. Follow @UVMAthletics for general news on the department and/or follow @UVM_M_Hoops for more in-depth coverage of the team, including in-meet updates throughout the season.

CATAMOUNTS ALL-ACCESS: Visit the Catamounts All-Access page at UVMathletics.com for information on how to get results of your favorite Catamount teams minutes after the conclusion of the meet via a text message on your cell phone via eScores. The feature is available to anyone with a cell phone, regardless of cell phone service provider. Also, stay up-to-date with the Catamounts. Sign up for the Vermont men’s basketball eNews, offered free of charge by the Athletic Communications Office. Receive all the latest news and notes, as well as complete game summaries for every contest via your personal e-mail account. Catamounts All-Access also includes links to UVM's other social networking sites like Flickr and YouTube, Vermont's television schedule, live stats, live audio streaming and wallpaper for your computer.

PHOTO STORE: Catamount faithful can purchase athletic pictures at www.UVMathletics.com via the Vermont Photo Store. Pictures make great gifts for holidays, home wall art, or office decorations. Powered by Replay Photos, the website will feature pictures of all 18 sports, including meet action photos from the 2009-10 season once they become available.

GET YOUR GEAR: The UVM athletic department, in conjunction with TeamFanShop, has launched its first-ever merchandise and apparel store through the school's official athletic site at UVMathletics.com. The new online store includes hats, polo shirts, shorts, t-shirts, gifts and much more from several leading manufacturers.