BURLINGTON, Vt. - Maine heads to Burlington for the fifth straight postseason, as they'll take on the juggernaut Catamounts in the first round of the postseason. Maine gave Vermont a run for their money in the first meeting this season in Maine, as the Cats prevailed by a 59-57 final that saw Andrew Fleming's buzzer beater attempt sail wide. The second meeting in Burlington was more to form of the recent history in this matchup, with UVM controlling the game end-to-end in a 77-52 victory.
 

#8 Maine at #1 Vermont

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GAME NOTES

Date: Saturday, March 7th

Time: 7:00 PM

Site: Patrick Gymnasium, Burlington

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LAST TIME OUT
Maine picked up a significant win to wrap up their regular season on Tuesday night, taking down Hartford on the road by a 71-65 final score.
This one featured 10 different lead changes, but all in the first half. A Nedeljko Prijovic three-ball sent Maine into the break with a 35-30 advantage that they never gave up, cruising through the second half to seal up their first win over Hartford since 2017.

Nedeljko Prijovic set the pace in this one, scoring 16 of his game-high 22 points in the first half. He finished with six rebounds, five assists, three steals, two blocks, and a blistering 8-10 mark from the field overall.

The second half belonged to Sergio El Darwich, as the senior dropped in 18 of his 20 points in the second half shooting 6-8 from the field in the final half, alongside a perfect 6-6 mark at the free throw line down the stretch.

Andrew Fleming and Stephane Ingo each dropped in ten points to round out the double-digit scorers, with Ingo completing his second straight double-double with ten boards on the evening.

Maine shot over 50% from the field for the sixth time this season, going 28-54 (51.9%) altogether.

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MAINE LEADERS
A pair of All-Conference selections lead Maine, starting with Andrew Fleming, who has registered double-digit scoring totals in 21 of his 29 appearances, ranks among the league leaders in points per game (14.4, 10th), rebounds per game (6.2, 13th), and assists per game (2.7, 8th). He also ranks in the top-ten in field goal percentage, minutes per game, and blocks per game.

Sergio El Darwich joins Fleming in double-figures, leading the team and ranking ninth in the conference with 14.9 points per game overall and has been even better in conference play, ranking seventh with 17.1 points per conference game. He also ranks fourth in assists per game with 4.1 and second in steals with 1.8.

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A LOOK AT THE CATAMOUNTS
The premier player in the conference, now two-time America East Player of the Year Anthony Lamb leads Vermont, sitting seventh in the conference in scoring (16.5 ppg), fifth in rebounds per game (7.3), third in blocked shots per game (1.3), and fourth in free throw percentage (81.1%).

Stef Smith is the second option on the Catamount roster, averaging 14.2 points per game on a 46.4/44.5/75.3 shooting line. He's eleventh in the conference in scoring and eighth in field goal percentage.

As a team, Vermont leads the conference in assist to turnover ration (1.22), fewest turnovers, opponents field goal percentage (37.8, fifth nationally), scoring margin (+12.3, tenth nationally), and scoring defense (59.3, fifth nationally).

Of the five major conference awards, Vermont took home five. Player of the Year (Lamb), Defensive Player of the Year (Shungu), Sixth Man (Davis), and Coach of the Year.

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MOVE THE BALL
Maine ranks first in the America East and seventh in the nation in assist to field goal percentage, registering an assist on 61.8% of their field goal makes this year. The next closest America East team is Albany, who sits at 56th overall with an assist on 56.4% of their field goals.

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BIG WINS BACK ON THE MENU
In the second year of Coach Richard Barron's tenure, Maine has two 20+ point wins against America East foes in one season for the first time since 2003-04 with Saturday's 26-point win over UMBC and January's 23-point victory over Binghamton.
 

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