BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Catamounts fell in their home opener on Saturday to Drexel 59-46 and now return to the road as they are away from home for seven of their first eight contests this season. Vermont has alternated wins and losses through its first four games this year. Michigan State is coming off a trip to the finals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, where it fell to Maryland 62-60 on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. The two teams last met in the second round of the 2005 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. The Spartans ended Vermont's 'Cinderella' run after the Catamounts had stunned fourth-seeded Syracuse two days before.
MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans opened the season with four straight wins over Brown, Youngstown State, the Citadel and #18 Texas before being nipped by Maryland last Friday. Michigan State hosted one of the four regionals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and defeated Brown and Youngstown State to advance to the semifinals at MSG. The Spartans are coming off a 22-12 campaign last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they fell to George Mason in the first round, 75-65. MSU's top three scorers from last year are all now playing in the NBA, as both Shannon Brown (#25 to Cleveland) and Maurice Ager (#28 to Dallas) went in the first round while Paul Davis (#34 Clippers) went early in the second round. Junior Drew Neitzel leads three Spartans in double figures this season with 15.4 per game. Freshman Raymar Morgan is second on the team in both points (12.2 pg) and rebounds (5.4 pg).
LAST TIME OUT:Behind a strong defensive effort and a solid second half Drexel defeated Vermont 59-46 on Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gymnasium. The Dragons used a 14-1 run to end the first half and held off the Catamounts in the second to improve to 2-0 on the year. Vermont falls to 2-2 as Saturday was also the home opener for the Catamounts. Freshman Joe Trapani led all scorers with 13 points and added nine boards for Vermont, while senior Martin Klimes tallied nine points and six rebounds. Senior Chris Holm pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for his third straight double-digit rebounding effort.
LAST MEETING WITH MICHIGAN STATE (3/20/05): T.J. Sorrentine scored a game-high 26 points including the 2,000th of his career but the fifth-seeded Michigan State Spartans pulled away from Vermont, 72-61, at the DCU Center to move on to the regional semifinals in Austin, Texas. Four Spartans reached double figures, led by Maurice Ager's 19. Michigan State shot 48.2 percent from the floor (59.1 percent in the second half alone) compared to only 31.4 percent for the Catamounts.
WHO'S LEFT: Only four players from the two teams last meeting are still on the current rosters, two from each squad. For the Catamounts Martin Klimes started the game as a sophomore and tallied 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and pulled down eight rebounds. Fellow 2006-07 Vermont co-captain Kyle Cieplicki came off the bench for the Cats in that game as a freshman. For Michigan State Drew Neitzel started at guard and had six points and six assists in the victory. Drew Naymick played 15 minutes off the bench, tallying three points and two boards.
COACHES VS. CANCER: Vermont and Michigan State were two of the 16 teams to compete in the 2K College Hoops Classic, benefitting the Coaches vs. Cancer this season. The Cats defeated New Orleans in their opener and then fell to regional host Maryland, who advanced to the final where it met up with Michigan State.
LINE IMPROVEMENT: Martin Klimes entered his senior year as a career 51 percent shooter from the foul line, a total that had dipped each season since arriving on campus. Last season the line was not friendly as he hit only 47.1 percent. Klimes has made big strides early on though on his free throws, sinking 73.3 percent (11-15) through the first four games of the season after going 5-of-6 against Drexel on Saturday.
OFFENSIVE STRUGGLE: The Catamounts struggled on offense in Saturday's loss to Drexel, tallying a season low 46 points after entering the game averaging 74 through their first three games. The 46 points were the lowest total for Vermont since February 18 of last season when the same Drexel team held the Cats to 42. UVM was also held to 24.5 percent (13-53) shooting and made only two field goals over the final 12:46 of regulation.
HOME OPENERS: The Catamounts loss to Drexel on Saturday marked the second straight season that they have dropped their home opener. Vermont lost its first contest at Patrick Gym last season to #22 Nevada 77-62, but won the previous three and five of the last six home openers prior to that.
LONG RANGE: The Catamounts as a team have hit 34.5 percent from three this season, but in their two wins they are shooting 50 percent (13-26) from behind line. Vermont went 8-for-15 from deep in the season opening win over New Orleans and hit 5-for-11 against Boston College on Monday. In the Cats loss at Maryland, UVM was 2-for-16 from three-point land and went only 4-of-13 against Drexel. Mike Trimboli and Joe Trapani have combined to make 13 of the team's 19 treys so far this season.
DROPPING DIMES: Mike Trimboli led the America East in assists per game last season (5.5 pg) as a freshman and is at it again this year. The sophomore tops the league averaging 5.75 per contest after recording eight on two separate occasions already this year. He has 23 of the team's 45 assists this year.
CRACKING THE LINEUP: Freshman Joe Trapani made his first career for the Catamounts at Boston College on November 13, filling in for junior Kyle Cieplicki who came off the bench. Trapani poured in nine points and pulled down seven rebounds in 15 minutes of play before intermission and ended the contest with 13 points and eight boards. Trapani made his second career start against Drexel on Saturday. The lineup of Mike Trimboli, Kyle Cieplicki, Colin McIntosh, Martin Klimes and Chris Holm had started five straight games dating back to last season before Monday.
WINNING TRADITION: Dating back to the start of the 2001-02 season, Vermont has posted the most total men's basketball victories by any team in the America East with 104. The next closest is Boston University, who has tallied 97 during that stretch. The Vermont men's and women's basketball teams combined have won 186 games over that time frame which is also tops, just edging out the Terrier squads that have totaled 184.
RANKED OPPONENTS: Vermont's win over 14th-ranked Boston College on November 13 marked only the second time in school history that the Catamounts had taken down a team in the top 25. The Cats first win over a ranked team came against Syracuse in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament 60-57 in overtime. The Orange were #11 in the country at the time.
DEEPER BY THE DOZEN: On three occasions this season 12 different Catamounts have seen action in the first half. Prior to Saturday's loss, Vermont was 2-0 when this occurred. Head coach Mike Lonergan benefits from a deep bench this season and is able to throw different looks at opponents. Nine Catamounts are averaging at least 10 minutes a game this year.
FRESHMEN LEADERS: Freshman Joe Trapani has made an instant impact for the Catamounts early this season. The Madison, Conn. native led Vermont in scoring in each of its two preseason games and was the high-scorer in the season opener with 20 against New Orleans. Trapani joins T.J. Sorrentine '05, Tony Orciari '01 and Eddie Benton '96 as the last four Catamounts to lead the team in scoring in their first career game. The freshman has led Vermont in scoring in two of its four games this season, as he also netted game-high 13 in the loss to Drexel.
ROAD WARRIORS: Seven of Vermont's first eight games this season are on the road. The Catamounts only home contest during this stretch came on November 18 when they hosted old America East rival Drexel. Vermont only plays four home contests before the new year.
TOUGH STRETCH: Vermont has already played two teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference this season in Maryland and Boston College, played a tough Drexel team that is picked for third in the Colonial Athletic Association and now travels to Big Ten member Michigan State on Tuesday. The Catamounts remaining non-conference schedule also includes two more teams from the CAA (Towson and Delaware), as well as Iona who made the NCAA Tournament last season. Two of Vermont's non-conference opponents in Maryland and Michigan State met for the championship of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden last Friday, with the Terps pulling out a 62-60 victory.
HITTING THE BOARDS: Vermont, who finished second in the America East in rebounding average (36.8) and margin (+3.4) last season, has owned the boards in its opening four games. The Catamounts have out-rebounded their opponents, including two from the ACC, 178-136 this season for a +10.5 average. UVM leads the America East in rebounding margin, while Binghamton has the second best mark at +2.5. Vermont held a rebounding advantage over Maryland 49-38 and a big Boston College lineup 48-39. Senior Chris Holm leads the team in the category by averaging 9.8, after also leading the Cats last year at 6.5 per game. Holm has been a huge presence inside cleaning the glass this year as with 10 boards against Drexel he has now reached double figures in each of the last three games.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The game at Boston College marked the fifth straight game that the Catamounts played on television dating back to last season, which is a school record. Vermont took on Binghamton as part of the America East TV package in the semifinals of the conference tournament last March and then played Albany on ESPN2 in the championship game. The Cats started off this season on ESPNU in the first Division I college game of the year against New Orleans, then played Maryland on ESPN2 in the regional final before defeating Boston College on NESN.
AROUND THE RIM: Sophomore Rob Sisca netted a season-high five points in the loss to Drexel ... Chris Holm's double double (15 pts./10 reb.) against Boston College was the first for a Catamounts since Holm had 14 points and 12 rebounds against Binghamton on February 26 of last season ... Joe Trapani's nine rebounds against Drexel were a career high ... Martin Klimes has more offensive rebounds (13) then he does on the defensive end (9) ... Vermont was 1-3 through four games last season ... The game at Michigan State will be the Cats' second on a Tuesday this year, after not playing on a Tuesday once last season ... Vermont has had more turnovers then its opponents in each contest this year.
FIRST OF THE SEASON: Vermont's game against New Orleans was the first contest of the 2006-07 Division I men's basketball season. Men's basketball is the third UVM team this season to play in the opening Division I game of the 2006-07 season for its particular sport. The men's hockey team took part in the first Division I college hockey game by taking on Colgate on October 6 as part of the Ice Breaker Invitational in Oxford, Ohio, while women's hockey played Clarkson on October 10 on the first day of the action on the women's side.
AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL: The University of Vermont was picked to finish third in the 2006-07 America East Men's Basketball Coaches Poll and sophomore Mike Trimboli was named to the preseason all-conference team. The conference released the poll and all-conference team prior to its coach's media teleconference on November 1. Albany, the reigning America East Champion, was a unanimous selection to repeat in the vote by the league's head coaches. The Great Danes received all eight first place votes (coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team) and totaled 64 points, while Maine (49) came in second just one point ahead of the Catamounts (48). New Hampshire (45) rounded out the top four followed by Boston University (42), Binghamton (30), Stony Brook (22), UMBC (15) and Hartford (9). Boston U. was the only other school to receive a first place vote. Vermont and Albany are the only two to have two America East All-Conference selections return in Trimboli and senior Martin Klimes. Trimboli, the only sophomore on the preseason all-conference squad, became the fifth Catamount to be named America East Rookie of the Year last season as he led UVM in scoring (14.0 ppg) and was tops in the league in assists per game (5.3). Last year he was the only freshmen in the league named to an all-conference squad earning second team honors. In 12 of the last 13 seasons, UVM has equaled or exceeded the coaches' preseason choice in either the final standings or by its finish in the conference tournament.
CATS ON TV: At least 10 University of Vermont men's basketball games will be televised this season on local and cable television stations. The television schedule was announced by the UVM Department of Athletics on October 19. Vermont will be featured again on the New England Sports Network (NESN) when it travels to take on Quinnipiac on December 23 (1:00pm). Two Catamount home games at Patrick Gymnasium will be broadcast on Comcast's CN8. The first will take place on December 17 when Vermont will host Harvard at 3:00pm. The second CN8 broadcast is scheduled for January 31 when the Catamounts take on America East rival New Hampshire at 7:00pm. Vermont also plays four games as part of the America East television package. The first will take place on January 13 against reigning America East Champion Albany in Burlington and will be on NESN and Time Warner Cable in Albany, N.Y. In the month of February the Cats will make three straight television appearances starting on Valentines Day at Maine (NESN), at home against Binghamton (NESN, MSG, ESPNFC) on February 18 and then at Boston University (NESN, ESPNFC) on February 22.
YOUNG AND RESTLESS: Last season's edition of the Catamounts tied Central Michigan as the least experienced in the nation as 12 of the 14 players were sophomores (five) or freshmen (seven). The two others, Martin Klimes and Chris Holm, were just juniors. Heading into 2005-06, the Vermont returnees started a combined 43 career games, one of the lowest totals of games started in the nation. Klimes, the lone returning starter from the previous year, accounted for 38 of the 43 starts.
BIG VENUES: Trips this year to Maryland's Comcast Center, Boston College's Conte Forum and Michigan State's Breslin Center continue a recent Vermont trend of playing in the top arenas in the nation. Since 1998, the Catamounts have played at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee (Tulsa and Cornell, 1998), Gampel Pavilion (UConn, 1999), Joyce Center (Notre Dame, 2000), Value City Arena (Ohio St., 1999), Crisler Arena (Michigan, 2002), the Dunkin Donuts Center (Providence, 2002 and 2005), the Dean Smith Center (UNC, 2002 and 2004), the Huntsman Center (Salt Lake City, 2003 NCAA West Regional), UCLA's Pauley Pavilion (2003), Buffalo's HSBC Arena (2004 NCAA Phoenix Regional), Phog Allen Fieldhouse (Kansas, 2004), Worcester's DCU Center (2005 NCAA Austin Regional) and Pittsburgh's Peterson Events Center (2005).
WHAT, WHERE IS UVM? The University of Vermont is commonly referred to as UVM, short for the Latin name, Universitas Viridis Montis (the University of the Green Mountains). Since 1926, UVM's athletic teams are known as the Catamounts, after a legendary mountain cat found in the state. Burlington, UVM's location, in 2005 ranked third among America East cities, trailing only big-league cities (#1) Boston and Baltimore, in The Sporting News' Best Sports Cities in America.