UVM men's basketball begins key 3-game road stretch at Hartford

The University of Vermont men's basketball team faces a critical stretch for its final road trip of the 2018-19 regular season.

Holding a 1.5 game lead in the America East Conference, the Catamounts (20-5, 10-1) open a three-game swing away from Burlington with Saturday's contest at fourth-place Hartford (13-12, 6-4).

The 5 p.m. tip-off can be seen on ESPN+ with a paid subscription. 

UVM also plays at defending conference champion and third-place Maryland-Baltimore County (Feb. 21) and visits Binghamton (Feb. 23) before returning home for a pair of games to wrap the regular season.

But first up are Hawks, who have won two in a row and are the top 3-point shooting team in the league (108 3-pointers). J.R. Lynch (15.5 points a game, 3.9 apg), John Carroll (14.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.0 apg) and Jason Dunne (14.0 ppg, 3.1 apg) are the leaders for a Hartford side that owns the best assist-to-turnover ratio against league foes (1.41).

More:UVM men's basketball blasts UNH to reach 20 wins for 11th year in a row

Hartford, picked to finish second to UVM in the coaches' preseason poll, knocked off UMBC and Maine in its last two outings.

The Catamounts have won five straight games, a streak that propelled them to their 11th consecutive season of at least 20 victories. On Wednesday, in reaching the program milestone, Anthony Lamb's 20 points led a balanced scoring attack and a stifling defense allowed a season-low 44 points in the 29-point rout of New Hampshire.

Tip-ins:  Lamb (21.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.0 apg), Ernie Duncan (14.7 ppg, 2.0 apg), Stef Smith (11.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and Robin Duncan (4.2 rpg, 2.8 apg) are UVM's statistical leaders. ... The Catamounts will also put their 23-game conference road winning streak on the line at Hartford. The streak is the second-longest behind Gonzaga's 28-game run. ... UVM won the first meeting with Hartford on Jan. 12, an 81-62 victory. UVM leads the all-time series 49-24.

Women in hunt for home playoff game

With its most wins in six years, the University of Vermont women's basketball team aims for playoff basketball at Patrick Gym next month.

The Catamounts, 10-14 overall, are 6-6 in America East, good for fifth place and one game behind Stony Brook for fourth.

UVM opens a three-game homestand Saturday at 2 p.m. vs. second-place Hartford. The Cats also play UMBC (Feb. 20) and Binghamton (Feb. 23) in the upcoming week.

Wednesday, UVM rallied in the final minute to beat UNH on the road. Hanna Crymble sank two foul shots with 7.8 seconds to play to flip the deficit and give the Cats the 51-50 triumph.

This is the first year the women's conference tournament will be held at campus sites since 1997. The playoffs begin March 6 with quarterfinal matchups.

America East standings

*(through Feb. 15)

MEN

1. Vermont ... 10-1 (20-5)

2. Stony Brook ... 8-2 (20-5)

3. UMBC ... 7-3 (15-10)

4. Hartford ... 6-4 (13-12)

5. UMass-Lowell ... 6-5 (14-12)

6. Albany ... 3-7 (8-17)

7. Binghamton ... 3-7 (7-18)

8. Maine ... 3-8 (5-21)

9. New Hampshire ... 1-10 (3-21)

WOMEN

1. Maine ... 11-1 (18-7)

2. Hartford ... 9-2 (16-9)

3. Albany ... 8-3 (11-13)

4. Stony Brook ... 7-4 (18-6)

5. Vermont ... 6-6 (10-14)

6. Binghamton ... 5-7 (10-15)

7. New Hampshire ... 3-9 (6-19)

8. UMass-Lowell ... 2-10 (6-19)

9. UMBC ... 1-10 (8-16) 

Contact Alex Abrami at 660-1848 or aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @aabrami5.