America East Notebook
Coppenrath Reaches Milestone
Vermont senior forward Taylor Coppenrath, who leads the nation in scoring, surpassed 2,000 career points on Wednesday against Stony Brook. Coppenrath became the second player in school history and ninth in the conference’s history to surpass 2,000 career points. He scored 22 points in the win, finishing the game with 2,008 career points.
Prior to Sunday’s showdown with Boston University, head coach Tom Brennan presented Coppenrath with a basketball commemorating the milestone. At his current clip, Coppenrath has a chance to become the school’s all-time leading scorer if the Catamounts make a run in the conference tournament, which is certainly possible.
Round One to the Catamounts
Sunday was the first showdown between Boston University and Vermont, this one held up at sold out Patrick Gym in Burlington. The Catamounts scored the last 11 points of the first half to break open a close game and made 13 of 25 three-pointers en route to a 69-58 win over the Terriers.
The Catamounts won despite getting just two points in the second half from Taylor Coppenrath, who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. Picking up the slack were junior T.J. Sorrentine (16 points, eight assists with no turnovers) and freshman Josh Duell (15 points on 5-5 shooting behind the three-point line, along with five assists). Coppenrath was naturally the focus of the Terriers’ defense, but the other players picked it up.
“He seemed a little tired, seemed a little listless, and the other guys really had to pick him up and they did that,” said Vermont head coach Tom Brennan, who won his 250th game at Vermont.
The Terriers got off to an early 8-2 lead behind early three-pointers by Chaz Carr. But the Terriers never got going later in the half, and when their press helped them make runs in the second half, the Catamounts had answers. On three occasions, the Terriers got within six points, but the Catamounts answered twice with three-pointers by David Hehn (11 points) and Duell and once with two free throws by Sorrentine that would not allow the Terriers to get any closer.
“Anytime they needed a loose ball, anytime they needed to make a play, they did and we didn’t,” said Boston University head coach Dennis Wolff. “I don’t think we had a good rhythm at all through the entire game.”
Boston University was led by Rashad Bell’s 16 points, while Carr added 14.
Vermont now stands 6-0 in America East play and Boston University is 5-1, tied with Northeastern for second place. The two teams will meet again on February 12 at The Roof on BU’s campus.
Player of the Week
T.J. Sorrentine, Vermont
The senior guard averaged nearly 26 points in three games as the Catamounts went 3-0 and are now the only remaining undefeated team in conference play. Sorrentine had 30 against Dartmount, tied a season-high with 31 against Stony Brook, then had 16 points, eight assists and no turnovers in the week’s biggest game against Boston University.
Rookie of the Week
Josh Duell, Vermont
The Catamounts sweep the awards this week as Duell takes this honor thanks largely to his performance in Sunday’s win over Boston University. Besides his 15-point, 5-assist effort there, he had eight points against Dartmouth, five rebounds and five assists against Stony Brook, and for the week he shot 9-11 from the field.
Albany (8-7, 4-2 America East)
The improving Great Danes picked up two wins last week, including a nice road win on Sunday as they knocked off Maine, 58-49. With the two wins, they enter this week all alone in fourth place in the conference.
Last Wednesday, the Great Danes got their first win over Binghamton, a 68-62 triumph at home behind 19 points from Jamar Wilson and 17 from Levi Levine. In Sunday’s win at Maine, Lucious Jordan led the way with 19 points, while Wilson added 18 as the dynamic duo makes up the fifth and sixth-leading scorers in the conference.
The Great Danes remain on the road this week as they first head to Catonsville for a matchup with UMBC on Wednesday, then travel to Vermont to take on the Catamounts.
Binghamton (4-11, 1-5)
In Sunday’s 69-60 loss to New Hampshire, the Bearcats shot just 36% from the floor and trailed for much of the game. They got 13 points from Andre Heard, but he shot just 3-11 from the floor. Billy Williams added a season-high 12 points.
Earlier in the week, the Bearcats’ dominance over Albany ended in a 68-62 loss. Heard and Troy Hailey each had 14 points to lead the Bearcats, who lost to Albany for the first time. They continue to be very guard-oriented on offense, and struggle at it: Binghamton is last in the conference in both scoring and field goal percentage.
The Bearcats host Stony Brook on Wednesday before hitting the road to take on UMBC on Saturday.
Boston University (11-4, 5-1)
The Terriers split for the week, beating UMBC at home by a score of before losing at Vermont on Sunday. The Terriers won Thursday’s game as they have won all season long: with defense. They held the Retrievers below 30% shooting and remain atop the conference in both scoring defense and field goal percentage defense. Chaz Carr led three Terriers in double figures with 15 points.
The Terriers go across town to play arch-rival Northeastern on Wednesday in a matchup of 5-1 teams tied for second place, then head to Stony Brook for a Saturday matchup with the Seawolves.
Hartford (5-10, 1-5)
Hartford dropped both games on last week with an 82-69 home loss to Northeastern followed by a 67-54 loss at Stony Brook.
Against Northeastern, Hartford never led, starting with the opening four minutes of the game when they went scoreless. The Hawks made charges at different stages of the game, but could never get over the hump despite 21 points from Aaron Cook. They did a good job on Jose Juan Barea, who scored just 10 points on 2-12 shooting.
On Saturday, the Hawks shot just 29% from the field in the first half, but dominated the offensive boards to stay within 31-26 at the half. After Stony Brook began the second half on a 12-5 run, the Hawks could get no closer than eight points. Cook again led all scorers with 18 points.
The Hawks get some home cooking this week as they host Maine on Wednesday and New Hampshire on Sunday.
Maine (8-7, 3-3)
The Black Bears are still very much a work in progress, as evidenced by their split of last week’s games. Not helping matters is that the flu bug is going through the team, which is limiting what some players are physically able to do.
In Thursday night’s win at New Hampshire, a run of 22 unanswered points gave the Black Bears the lead for good, though they had to hold off late charges by the Wildcats. They shot over 58% in the first half and forced 16 turnovers, and Ernest Turner had 16 of his 21 points in the opening frame. Freshman guard Jason Hight made his first career start and had nine points and four assists in 31 minutes. Woodward talked about moving him into the starting lineup after the game.
“I think when someone like Chris (Markwood) goes out – Chris was doing a great job for us, I feel very bad for him because I know how hard he’s worked to put himself in this position – certainly we want to keep things as normal as possible,” he said. “Jay had been someone who was playing backup point guard for us often in practice, and we just felt like we’re going to trust the guys on our basketball team.”
On Sunday, Albany traveled to Orono and defeated the Black Bears by a 58-49 margin despite a school-record tying 10 blocked shots. Joe Campbell, who posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, led the block party with four.
With Markwood out longer, Turner is handling the ball more as well as Hight. Turner looked like he was hitting a groove until Sunday, when he was just 5-14 in the loss to Albany and had no assists and six turnovers. The Black Bears committed 22 turnovers against the Great Danes, which likely spells trouble with the scoring guards Albany has.
Maine heads to Hartford on Wednesday, then returns home to host Northeastern on Sunday.
New Hampshire (6-9, 2-4)
After the Wildcats’ 70-65 home loss to Maine on Thursday, in which a furious second half rally fell short, head coach Phil Rowe had a message.
“I think that you will see the University of New Hampshire play basketball the rest of this year like they played in the second half,” Rowe said. “The message was sent very clearly that the team is the number one priority in this program, and it will remain the team.”
Rowe was alluding to the latter part of the first half, where Maine scored 22 unanswered points to take the lead for good. The Wildcats went over seven minutes without scoring and over eight minutes without a field goal, and with 2:14 left in the half, matters were made worse when Blagoj Janev picked up his third foul and was then hit with a technical foul. He was not on the bench in the second half.
“It’s those eight minutes that are really frustrating, because you know what you’re capable of,” senior forward Ben Sturgill said after the game.
They scored eight unanswered points early in the second half and closed the game with a 19-5 run, but it wasn’t enough. Playing with his jaw wired shut, Sturgill led the Wildcats with 18 points and six rebounds, while Craig Walls added 15 points and nine rebounds.
“They had to get slapped one more time before they realize, you know what, we better get after it, what he’s telling us is the right thing, let’s go – and that’s what they did,” Rowe said. “Sometimes it’s not the coach that can make the difference, it’s the opponent; tonight it was the opponent.”
The Wildcats took the message with them to Binghamton on Sunday and knocked off the Bearcats by a 69-60 score. They shot 68% in the first half and led by as many as 12, but the Bearcats rallied and took a brief lead in the second half. The Wildcats then finished the game with an 18-7 run, making free throws late to seal the win. Craig Walls capped a good week with a game-high 16 points, complemented by 10 points and 12 rebounds from freshman Mike Christensen.
The Wildcats host Vermont on Wednesday before traveling to Hartford for a matchup with the Hawks on Sunday.
Northeastern (9-6, 5-1)
The Huskies won both games this past week to pull into a tie for second place with a 5-1 record. They rode the solid play of Marcus Barnes (22 points at Hartford, 20 points vs. UMBC) and backcourt mates Jose Juan Barea and Aaron Cook (17 each against UMBC) to two double-digit victories. The Huskies shot 66.7% from the floor in the second half against UMBC to take the lead and then break the game open.
Cross-town rival Boston University comes to Solomon Court on Wednesday, then the Huskies travel up to Maine to play the Black Bears on Sunday. Freshman Shawn James has met his academic requirement and will play on Wednesday night.
Stony Brook (7-8, 2-4)
The Seawolves lost 76-59 to Vermont on Wednesday despite playing the Catamounts tough and not being dominated in most statistical categories. They also had balance in the scoring column as Jairus McCollum led four players who scored in double figures with 14 points, while Bobby Santiago added 13.
Saturday, they rebounded with a 67-54 win over visiting Hartford, using a 12-5 run at the beginning of the second half to take over the game. They had similar balance in scoring as freshman Antwan Hardy led the way with 15 points.
The Seawolves hit the road to play Binghamton on Wednesday before returning home to play Boston University on Saturday.
UMBC (6-9, 1-5)
UMBC traveled to Boston last week, which figured to be a tough trip with Boston University and Northeastern both playing well. The results showed that was a tough trip as they came home with two losses, 67-51 to the Terriers and 77-66 to the Huskies.
On Thursday, the Terriers held UMBC below 30% shooting in the 16-point loss. Brian Hodges led the way with 12 points. In Saturday’s loss, they were outclassed in the backcourt by Northeastern’s stellar group. Andrew Feeley, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder (ranking second in the conference in the latter category), led the way with 20 points.
The Retrievers have two home games this week, hosting Albany on Wednesday and Binghamton on Saturday.
Vermont (11-3, 6-0)
The Catamounts opened the week with head coach Tom Brennan picking up his 300th career win, a 78-68 home win over Dartmouth. They were carried by the dynamic duo of Taylor Coppenrath and T.J. Sorrentine, as the two best friends each had 30 points. The Catamounts shot over 52% from the floor and had a 34-23 rebounding edge.
Wednesday, they traveled to Stony Brook and took home a 76-59 win over the Seawolves behind 31 points from Sorrentine and 22 from Coppenrath, who passed the 2,000 career point mark. Coppenrath also added nine rebounds, and the Catamounts turned the ball over just five times in getting the win.
As mentioned previously, Sunday’s win over Boston University leaves the Catamounts as the only undefeated team remaining in the conference. New Hampshire is the destination for the Catamounts on Wednesday before they come home to take on Albany on Saturday.
