(Photo Credit: Brian Jenkins)
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The University of Vermont men's basketball team returns home on Monday to host UMBC at 8 p.m. in a game that will be televised on Comcast Sports Net New England. The Catamounts (11-6, 2-2 America East) have rebounded from an 0-2 start in league play to win their last two games, both coming on the road. Vermont is 5-2 at home this season and will face a UMBC (8-8, 2-2 America East) squad that defeated the Cats three times last season.

CSNNE is channel 40 for Comcast subscribers throughout Vermont. CSNNE is also located on channel 435 on DISH Network and channel 630 on DirecTV. The Catamounts will play on TV a minimum of 12 times this season. The game can be heard live on WEAV-AM 960 and DOT-FM 96.7, and on the internet at www.UVMathletics.com with the audio stream provided by SportsJuice.com. The game will also be broadcast live on the Internet via B2 Networks on a pay-per-view basis of $7.

PROMOTIONS: Vermont Youth Basketball Day: Wear your team jersey or UVM Basketball Camp t-shirt and get in free!

LAST TIME OUT: Junior Marqus Blakely scored 20 points, including the 1,000th of his career, as Vermont defeated Stony Brook 83-72 on the road on Saturday afternoon at a sold out Pritchard Gym. Five Cats reached double figures in the win. The Cats put the game away after Stony Brook cut it to a single digit, as Vermont used a 16-3 push to extend its lead back to 13 at 73-60. Five different Cats scored in the run, as Blakely and senior Mike Trimboli each had four. In a physical contest, Vermont shot 47 free throws in a game that saw a combined 60 fouls and the Cats held a 30-22 edge on the glass.

UMBC: The Retrievers are 8-8 overall this year and 2-2 in America East play after defeating Hartford 69-60 at home on Saturday night. UMBC also has a league win over Maine this year, while falling to Stony Brook and New Hampshire. Like the Catamounts, the Retrievers also have a victory over a Big 12 Conference school this year as they knocked off Nebraska on the road 66-64. The reigning America East Champions, UMBC was picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll. Darryl Proctor leads the team in scoring at 19.3 points per game and also tops the league in rebounding at 8.9 per contest. Jay Greene averages 11.5 points per game and is fifth in the nation in assists per game at 6.8. Vermont is 9-4 all-time against UMBC, but the Retrievers took all three meetings last year including ending the Cats season in the America East Semifinals.

LAST MEETING WITH UMBC (3/9/08): Ray Barbosa scored a game-high 29 points, including going a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line to help top-seeded UMBC earn a come from behind 73-64 victory over the fourth seeded Vermont men’s basketball team in the America East Semifinals. A jumper from Mike Trimboli gave Vermont a 60-55 lead with 4:36 to go in the contest. UMBC would answer with a deciding 12-0 run and score 18 of the final 22 points in the game to pull out the win.

1,000 POINT CLUB: Junior Marqus Blakely scored a game-high 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor in Vermont’s win over Stony Brook on Saturday as he topped the 1,000-point mark in the process. Blakely needed 19 going into the game and is the 28th Catamount in the history of the program to surpass the 1,000-point plateau. Vermont now has two current players with over 1,000 as senior Mike Trimboli went over the mark four games into his junior season.

MANY OPTIONS: Vermont has a balanced attack this year as it is one of the top scoring and shooting teams in the nation. Eight different players have reached double figures in a game this season and seven of those have put up 15 or more points in a game at least once. Five Catamounts have led the team in scoring in a game this season as well.

BACK ON TRACK: After a 0-2 start in America East play, the Cats have now won two straight and are only a half game out of first place in the league. In a tightly contested conference, in the early going eight of the nine teams have at least two wins and only New Hampshire has just one league loss (2-1).

SCORING THREAT: Sophomore Joey Accaoui netted a career-high 15 points on Saturday against Stony Brook, which included 10 in the first half. He went 4-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-5 from three as he also matched a career-high with three assists on the day. Accaoui’s previous high was 14, which he tallied last year as a freshman in a win over Hartford on February 20. Vermont is now 5-1 when Accaoui reaches double digits for his career, with the only loss coming at Pittsburgh.

FINDING HIS MOJO: Junior Maurice Joseph gave the Cats a boost off the bench on Saturday in their win over Stony Brook as he connected on 4-of-5 from three for 12 points. The four three’s matched the most in a single game for a Catamount this season. Saturday marked his fifth double-digit performance this year, as Vermont is now 4-1 when he scores 10 or more. For the season he leads the America East in free throw percentage at 91.1, and has made 27 of his last 28 overall.

GETTING TO THE LINE: In a physical contest at Stony Brook on Saturday Vermont matched a school-record by making 35 free throws, as it marked the fourth time the Cats had done so with the last occurrence taking place on February 20, 1986 against Saint Michael’s. The Cats went to the line 47 times, which was just six shy of the most in program history as Vermont attempted 53 at Hartford on January 24, 1998. Mike Trimboli stepped to the line 17 times during the game, making 12 as it was the most attempts and makes for a Catamount since teammate Marqus Blakely went 14-for-22 in a win over Hartford last season.

HIGH FIVE: For the first time this season Vermont had five players reach double figures on Saturday at Stony Brook. Marqus Blakely led the way with 20, while Mike Trimboli and Joey Accaoui each had 15. Maurice Joseph added 12 and Nick Vier rounded out the list with 11, as the Cats have now had five in double digits once in each of the last three seasons and they have won all three. The last time it took place was in Vermont’s 84-73 road win over UNC-Wilmington last year.

TOO MUCH OFFENSE: Saturday’s meeting between Vermont and Stony Brook featured the top scoring offense in the league in the Cats (77.8 ppg), against the team that gives up the fewest points per game in the Seawolves (59.1). Stony Brook had given up 65 or more on only four occasions this season before Vermont hung 83 on the board. The 83 points allowed by the Seawolves were the second-most they had given up this year, trailing only the 91 that Connecticut scored against them.

HELPING HAND: Mike Trimboli handed out a game-high five assists in the win over Stony Brook on Saturday and in the process passed T.J. Sorrentine ‘05 for second place all-time at Vermont. Trimboli handed out 166 assists in each of his first two seasons and for his career now has 552. Kenny White ‘92 is the all-time leader with 565. Trimboli has led the team in assists in each of his first three years on campus and is looking to try and become only the fourth Catamount to lead the team in assists for four straight seasons, joining White, Eddie Benton ‘96 and David Roach ‘00.

LEAGUE PLAY: Vermont has been the top team in America East over the last seven years in terms of wins, as the Catamounts are 88-32 in regular season league play. Boston University is second at 85-35. During the time frame Vermont has won three America East Championships and three regular season crowns.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: Starting with the Binghamton game on January 8, Vermont plays six straight games and seven of eight on TV. The Catamounts and Bearcats were on Time Warner 3 in central New York, while Vermont will appear on NESN three times, Comcast Sports Net New England twice and MSG once during the run.

GOING FOR 80 OR MORE: The Catamounts scored 83 points against Stony Brook on Saturday, as Vermont has won 52 of its last 54 games dating back to the 2000-01 season when scoring at least 80 in a contest. The Cats have topped 80 points eight times this year. UVM’s losses during that stretch came at Maine in overtime during the 2005-06 season when the Black Bears won 85-82 and 91-83 in overtime at Binghamton this year.

BOXING OUT: Vermont held a 30-22 rebounding edge against Stony Brook, marking the eighth time this season that the Cats have out-rebounded their opponent. UVM has outrebounded its last two opponents by a combined margin of 62-43. Vermont is now 42-12 in its last 54 when owning a rebounding advantage.

AROUND THE RIM: Vermont is 14-2 all-time against Stony Brook ... The Cats are 3-5 this year when shooting 16 or more three’s in a game ... Vermont has blocked at least three shots in every game this season.

WHO'S NEXT: Vermont is back in action on Thursday when it hits the road to take on Hartford at 7:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised on the New England Sports Network (NESN).

BUS WITH US: The University Of Vermont Department of Athletics has announced three new "Bus With Us" trips for the 2008-09 season. All the trips will provide Vermont fans an opportunity to cheer on their Catamounts on the road. Included in the package with all the trips is a ticket to the game, t-shirt, sandwich, and bus raffles. Catamount fans will not want to miss the "Bus With Us" event scheduled for the weekend of January 30, 2008. The overnight doubleheader trip will be to Durham, N.H. Fans will be able to see both the men’s hockey and men’s basketball teams play the University of New Hampshire. The final "Bus With Us" trip scheduled for 2008-09 will be a day trip to Albany to watch the Catamounts play the Great Danes in an America East contest. The bus will depart from Gutterson Fieldhouse on Saturday, February 7 at approximately 3:00 p.m., following the UVM women's basketball game versus Boston University. The men's basketball team will play Albany at 7:00 p.m. that night and the bus will return back to Burlington after the game. To register or for more information please contact the Victory Club Office at victory.club@uvm.edu or 802-656-0956.

eNEWS
It's easy to stay up-to-date with the Catamounts. Sign up for the Vermont men's basketball E-News, 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. Log on to www.UVMathletics.com to sign up today.

eSCORES
Get the results of your favorite Catamount teams minutes after the conclusion of the game via a text message on your cell phone. The eScores feature is available to anyone with a cell phone, regardless of cell phone service provider. Visit www.UVMathletics.com to sign up for the free service.

WALLPAPER
Vermont fans can now get wallpaper to put on their computer screens to show their Catamount pride. The wallpaper is offered for every team at Vermont and will be updated as the year progresses. Log on to www.UVMathletics.com to download your Vermont Athletics wallpaper.

VERMONT PHOTO STORE
Catamount faithful can purchase athletic pictures at www.UVMathletics.com via the Vermont Photo Store. Pictures make a great gift for holidays, home wall art, or office decorations. Powered by Replay Photos, the website will feature pictures of all 20 sports, as well as new game action photos from the 2008-09 season. Every image has been captured by a professional photographer and is reproduced in three sizes (9 x 12, 12 x16, 15 x 20) framed, unframed, or gallery wrapped on canvas. A custom on-line framing system allows visitors to construct a variety of matting and framing options and view their product prior to purchase. Visit www.UVMathletics.com to view all product offerings.