Vermont at Yale
Sunday, Dec. 1, 3 p.m.
Lee Amphitheater
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Yale Game Notes | Vermont Game Notes
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – They are two of the most successful programs in New England. They both are coming off NCAA Tournament appearances last year and both are off to strong starts in 2019-20. Yale and Vermont meet on Sunday at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. ESPN+ has the video.
 
Yale (5-3) has won three of its last four games, including two dominant performances at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney in the NIT Season Tip-Off. In dismantling Western Michigan and Bucknell to win the Orlando bracket, the Bulldogs had an average margin of victory of 21 points, shot 51.9 percent from the field, limited their opponents to 32.7 percent and had a +16.5 rebounding margin.
 
There were contributions from a number of sources. Azar Swain averaged 15.0 points to lead the scoring, Paul Atkinson shot 66.7 percent from the field, Jordan Bruner averaged a double-double (13.5 points, 11.0 rebounds), Eric Monroe had 15 assists, including a career-high eight in the win over Western Michigan, while committing only three turnovers and Jalen Gabbidon was stellar at the defensive end, limiting Michael Flowers, Western Michigan's top scorer, to just 4-of-16 shooting from the field. Off the bench, Matthue Cotton averaged 9.0 points, and Jameel Alausa scored a career-high 10 points in the win over Bucknell.
 
Monroe, the point guard, has done an outstanding running a Yale offense that leads the Ivy League in scoring at 76.8 points per game. He is averaging a league-best 4.9 assists.
 
The Bulldogs also have excelled at the defensive end of the floor. Through games of Nov. 27, they are fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (34.4 percent). Only San Francisco (.414) and Oklahoma State (.400) have shot 40 percent or better from the field against Yale this season.
 
In addition, the Bulldogs are seventh in the nation in defensive rebounds per game and 14^th in blocked shots. Bruner is Yale's leader in those categories. He is seventh in the nation with 23 blocks and 11^th in total rebounds with 78.
 
The Bulldogs are 2-0 in the friendly confines of Lee Amphitheater this season, a 57-point drubbing of Oberlin on Nov. 8 and a thrilling triple overtime victory over Siena on Nov. 20.
 
After Sunday's game, Yale won't return to Lee until Jan. 12, 2020.
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale and Vermont have played in every season since 2007-08, and there have been some memorable games. In 2014, Matt Townsend's jumper from the top of the key with three seconds left lifted the Bulldogs to a 57-56 win in Burlington. Two years later, Vermont's Ernie Duncan hit a driving layup with one second left to lift the Catamounts to a 67-65 victory. UVM has won the last two meetings and leads the all-time series 17-13.
 
SCOUTING VERMONT
 
The Catamounts (6-2) are coming off a 93-44 win over Gallaudet on Thanksgiving Eve. UVM also has wins over Bucknell (66-63) and St. John's (70-68) on its resume. Anthony Lamb (16.8 ppg., 8.0 rpg.) leads the team in scoring and rebounding. Last season, the Catamounts posted a 27-win campaign to match the second-highest single-season win total in school history and captured the program's seventh America East Championship.