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Men's Hoop: Catamounts Win Sixth Straight, Top Hartford 82-56

Details: Created on Sunday, 05 February 2012 00:51; Written by George Commo

Carissimo scores 16 points and adds eight rebounds

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

BURLINGTON – Sophomore Sandro Carissimo scored 16 points and added a career-high eight rebounds as the Vermont men's basketball team cruised to an 82-56 victory over visiting Hartford in America East action on Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gym. The win is the sixth straight for the Catamounts, who improve to 15-10 overall and 9-2 in league play.

Vermont led by as many as 32 in the first half to earn its ninth win in its last 10 games and a season sweep over Hartford (4-19, 4-7 America East). Carissimo was one shy of matching his career-high for points and surpassed his old high for rebounds by two. Freshman Four McGlynn was the only other Cat in double figures with 14, while sophomore Brian Voelkel added six points, six rebounds, nine assists and four steals.

“Another big home win today against a feisty Hartford team,” said Vermont head coach John Becker. “I thought in the first half we were very good for a long stretch defensively and got a little loose in the second half, but made enough plays to win. Good balanced effort, Sandro shot it well and Brian was great on the glass. I am happy with the win and we are looking forward to Monday.”

Both teams started the game off sluggish, with each hitting only two of their first 15 attempts from the floor. A layup by Hartford's Oren Faulk cut Vermont's lead to 15-8 with 9:46 remaining in the first half, but the Catamounts responded by opening the game up with the next 25 points to make it 40-8 with 3:11 to go. After the slow start, the Catamounts hit eight of their next 12 attempts which included Carissimo making a trio of 3-pointers.

Hartford ended the half on a 10-3 run to cut it to 43-18 Vermont going into intermission. The Hawks made only three of their first 21 attempts, and 2-of-7 at the line, before finishing the frame by making their final three shots, which included a pair of 3-pointers in the final 31 seconds of play.

Carissimo led all scorers at the break with 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the floor, while the Catamounts limited Hartford to shoot only 25 percent. Vermont also had a 27-18 rebounding advantage in the half.

Hartford started the second half on fire, making eight of its first 10 attempts and 5-for-6 from 3-point range. The Hawks matched their 18 points scored from the first half in the first 5:44 of the second, as they would cut it to 59-39 with 13:23 left in regulation. That would be as close as the visitors could get though, as Vermont used an 11-2 spurt to push its lead back to 30 at 74-44 with 6:47 remaining.

Carissimo finished 6-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-4 from long range, while senior Matt Glass added nine points and seven rebounds and sophomore Clancy Rugg chipped in with seven points and seven boards. Eight different Cats scored six points or more, while 11 of the 12 to play on the afternoon netted at least two.

Vermont outrebounded Hartford 47-35 and used a 41-26 edge in bench scoring. The Catamounts also made 25 of their final 48 shots from the floor on their way to earning their third victory of 20 or more points this year.

Yolonzo Moore II led the Hawks with 17 points, while Genesis Maciel (13) and Andres Torres (11) also reached double figures. Vermont held Hartford to shoot only 35.4 percent from the floor for the game.

Vermont is back in action on Monday when it travels to face Maine starting at 7 p.m.

NOTES: Saturday marked Vermont's sixth straight win at home, as the Cats are averaging 77.8 points per game during that stretch and winning by an average of 15.8 points per contest … UVM has now won 13 straight and 20 of the last 21 against the Hawks … With the win Becker ties Thomas Keady (1921-22) for the most wins by a first year head coach in UVM history … Including today's game, Vermont has only trailed for a total of 3:29 over its last 93:02 played … The Catamounts outrebounded Hartford by a combined margin of 90-60 in the season sweep of the Hawks … The Cats have won 22 of their last 27 games in the month of February … Vermont won the first meeting of the season 72-59 in West Hartford on January 8 … Saturday's game was televised on WCAXtra… Carissimo and Hartford's Moore were named the America East Players of the Game.