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VERMONT MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
The Vermont men's basketball team returns to action on Friday as it will take on Drexel (4:30 p.m.) on the road in the first of three games in three days. The Catamounts will also meet Cornell (Saturday) and Toledo (Sunday) in Philadelphia, Pa. as part of the 2009 Legends Classic. Vermont will look to get back on track against the Dragons after falling to Providence in its last time out.

Friday will mark the fifth straight road contest for the Cats to open the season. All three games 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: Providence hit 15 three-points on its way to a 106-64 victory over Vermont on Tuesday night at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The Friars were led by 24 points from Marshon Brooks, as they improve to 4-1 on the year. The Catamounts were led by Marqus Blakely and his second double-double of the season, as he tallied 24 points to go with 10 rebounds. Providence finished the game 15-of-27 from three, held a 52-32 edge on the glass and forced the Catamounts into a season-high 23 turnovers. With a 35-20 lead, the home team closed out the first half on a 21-6 run to take a 56-26 lead into intermission.

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

DREXEL: The Dragons are 1-3 on the season and coming off a 58-49 victory over Penn on Tuesday. Drexel has losses at Saint Joseph’s, Niagara and Rutgers, but two were decided by seven points or less and the other went into overtime. Jamie Harris leads the team in scoring with 14.8 points per game, while Gerald Colds and Derrick Thomas each average 11.0 per contest. Drexel averages 62.5 points per game and holds a +2.2 rebounding margin on the year. A former America East foe, the Dragons are 20-7 all-time against Vermont with the last meeting coming in Burlington during the 2006-07 season as Drexel won 59-46.

CORNELL: The Big Red enter the weekend with a 2-2 mark and are coming off a pair of losses against Big East opponents. Cornell opened the year with wins on the road over Alabama and Massachusetts, before falling to Seton Hall at home and Syracuse on the road in its last time out. Four players average double figures, led by Ryan Wittman (17.5 ppg), while Jeff Foote averages 11.3 points and a team-high 9.0 rebounds per game. The Big Red average 74.2 points per game and shoot 78.6 percent as a team from the foul line. Saturday will be the 11th career meeting between the two teams, with Vermont holding a 6-4 edge. The first contest between the two teams took place during the 1900-01 season, while they last met in 2003.

TOLEDO: The Rockets are one of the youngest teams in the nation, as of the 15 players on their roster, 13 are underclassmen to go with a pair of juniors. Toledo is 0-3 on the season with losses on the road to Cincinnati and Michigan State. Stephen Albrecht leads the squad in scoring with 18.0 points per game, while Jake Barnett chips in with 12.7 per contest. The Rockets are shooting 44 percent from the floor in the early going and 45 percent from beyond the arc. Sunday will be only the second meeting between the two schools in men’s basketball, as the Rockets won the first match up during the 1983-84 season.

NEUTRAL FEELING: After playing Drexel on Friday, Vermont’s next two games will be on a neutral court against Cornell and Toledo. The Catamounts are 8-4 over the last five years in neutral site games. UVM went 2-1 last year at the Rainbow Classic, knocking off George Washington and Colorado.

COMING OUT PARTY: Freshman Brendan Bald had the best game of his young Catamount career against Providence, earning career-highs for points (12), rebounds (4) and steals (2). Bald entered the game having been held scoreless during the first three contests of the year, but came out in the second half against the Friars and went 4-for-7 from the floor with a two-handed put back and 4-for-4 at the line in nine minutes of action. The 12 points were a high for a Catamount freshman this season.

HIT THE BOARDS: In Vermont’s two wins this season it has won the rebounding battle, but in its two losses the opposition has controlled the glass. In the Cats’ season opener, Loyola out-rebounded Vermont by 12 and Providence held a +20 margin in the last time out.

THREE BALL: Vermont had only given up 18 three-pointers in the first three games of the season, but Providence hit 15 on its way to a win over the Catamounts on Tuesday. Vermont is last in the America East, allowing teams to shoot 44 percent from three this season. UVM has struggled from behind the arc on the offensive end as well, as it is connecting on only 21.7 of its attempts.

DOUBLE-TROUBLE: Marqus Blakely earned his second double-double of the season against Providence, going for 24 points and 10 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 29 for his career. Trevor Gaines ’02 holds the school single-season record with 17 double-doubles.

STAYING CONSISTENT: Senior Marqus Blakely continued his stat-stuffing senior year against Providence with 24 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, five steals and four blocks. Blakely leads the America East in scoring (21.0 ppg), rebounding (9.5 rpg), blocks (4.3 bpg) and steals (3.8 spg). Blakely has 17 blocks this season which is more than any other two players in the league have combined.

MOVING UP THE LIST: With 24 points against Providence, Marqus Blakely moved up to 10th all-time in scoring at Vermont, passing Jeff Brown ‘82. He now has 1,352 points for his career and is 50 points shy of Warren Prehmus ‘77 who is ninth. Blakely also ranks 48th all-time in scoring in the America East and is 26th in career rebounds (755).

STEPPING UP: After scoring 16 points in the season opener against Loyola, 12 at Buffalo, 17 in the win over Rutgers and 14 at Providence, Maurice Joseph is now averaging 14.8 points per game over the last six contests dating back to last season. He joins classmate Marqus Blakely as the only Catamounts to register double figures in all four games this year. 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.

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.

AROUND THE RIM: The last time that Vermont gave up more than 100 points in a game was in a 108-78 loss to Drexel on January 29, 1995 ... UVM will play its fifth game of the season on Friday against Drexel in its fifth different state ... The Cats scored 45 points in the second half against Rutgers after tallying only 66, 58 and 64 total in each of their other three contests this season ... Seven Catamounts are averaging double figure minutes this year 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.

WHO'S NEXT: Following the Legends Classic this weekend the Catamounts travel to face Dartmouth on Tuesday 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.