In an emotionally charged game, Vermont was able to keep its cool better than Northeastern was, and behind Taylor Coppenrath's career-high 41 points the Catamounts prevailed, 88-78, Wednesday night in front of 2,341 at Patrick Gym.
With the score 64-61 UVM and 7:15 left on the clock, junior Marcus Barnes committed a hard foul on Corey Sullivan. As the Catamount bench pleaded for an intentional foul that did not come, sophomore Jose Juan Barea and T.J. Sorrentine appeared to get into an altercation, but only Barea was called for a technical foul, as was senior Javorie Wilson.
Sorrentine made three of the four ensuing technical free throws, Sullivan followed by connecting on 1-of-2 from the line, then got his own rebound off his second miss and stuck a long jumper to put UVM up 70-61.
With 2:48 remaining and Vermont holding a 79-72 lead, Sorrentine was fouled. Before he could go to the line, Barea was hit with his second technical, meaning an automatic ejection. Sorrentine again made 3-of-4 from the line, and the Catamounts held their largest lead of the game, at 82-72.
The Huskies (8-6, 2-1 AE) cut the deficit to six, at 82-76, with 1:30 to play after Wilson hit two free throws and then made a layup. However, Coppenrath sealed it with a short jumper with just under a minute remaining.
Lost in all the commotion was Barnes' night. He scored a career-high 33 points and set school single-game records for three-pointers made (eight) and attempted (21). The eight threes are tied for fifth most in America East history and the 21 shots from behind the arc tie the conference mark.
Northeastern led 7-3 to start the game, but UVM (6-5, 3-0 AE) scored the next 10 points to grab a 13-7 lead. The Huskies rebounded to take a couple four-point leads following three-pointers by Barea and Wilson, respectively, but Vermont evened the count both times.
With the game tied 33-33, Barnes nailed two deep balls to give NU a 39-33 advantage at the half, at which time the Huskies had already made nine three-pointers. They finished with 13, one short of the school record, while their 41 three-point attempts set a new NU mark and rank second in America East history.
The lead was short-lived as the Catamounts' David Hehn tied the game at 48-48 on a layup at the 16:55 mark of the second half. Back-to-back Coppenrath baskets gave UVM a 52-48 cushion, but Northeastern fought back, going up three on a Barnes three-pointer with 11:08 left and again taking a three-point lead on a Wilson jumper with 9:55 remaining.
A pair of Scotty Jones free throws at the 8:49 mark put UVM up 59-58 and the Catamounts led the rest of the way.
Barea scored 16 points and added seven assists, while Wilson chipped in with 14.
Coppenrath was unstoppable, shooting 18-for-23 from the floor. The 18 field goals are a school record. This is the second time in three years a Vermont player has gone for 40+ points versus Northeastern, as Sorrentine netted 45 in a meeting two years ago. Coincidentally, in that game he set UVM's single-game mark for three-pointers made with 11.
Vermont shot 57 percent (34-for-60) from the floor as opposed to NU's 36 percent (27-for-75). It also out-scored the Huskies, 54-22, in the paint.
Northeastern plays host to Albany Sunday, Jan. 11 at 1 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Northeastern vs Vermont
01/07/04 7:00 p.m. at Patrick Gym (Burlington, VT)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Northeastern 8-6, 2-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 Barnes, Marcus...... * 10-25 8-21 5-6 1 1 2 2 33 1 2 0 0 37
04 Wilson, Javorie..... * 5-13 2-7 2-3 3 3 6 4 14 1 0 2 0 36
05 Barea, Jose Juan.... * 6-19 2-7 2-2 1 1 2 4 16 7 1 0 0 33
32 Dunn, Jesse......... * 0-6 0-4 0-0 3 3 6 1 0 1 0 1 0 29
33 Robinson, Sylbrin... * 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 4 4 1 0 0 0 13
02 Youmans, D'wan...... 3-6 1-1 0-2 5 3 8 3 7 1 2 0 1 25
14 Davis, Bennet....... 1-3 0-1 2-2 3 1 4 2 4 0 3 1 0 20
22 Kelly, Bobby........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 7
TEAM................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 27-75 13-41 11-15 19 16 35 21 78 14 8 4 1 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-34 41.2% 2nd Half: 13-41 31.7% Game: 36.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 9-19 47.4% 2nd Half: 4-22 18.2% Game: 31.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 9-13 69.2% Game: 73.3% 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Vermont 6-5, 3-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 Sorrentine, T.J..... 2-10 0-6 6-8 0 6 6 3 10 9 3 0 1 40
20 Klimes, Martin...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3
22 Coppenrath, Taylor.. 18-23 0-0 5-6 5 4 9 1 41 2 0 0 1 40
24 Hehn, David......... 2-4 0-2 1-2 1 6 7 2 5 4 3 0 0 35
32 Njila, Germain...... 5-10 0-2 1-4 1 3 4 4 11 2 0 0 1 28
35 Jensen, Alex........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 4
40 Sullivan, Corey..... 4-6 2-3 1-2 3 1 4 0 11 0 1 0 0 12
43 Jones, Scotty....... 3-6 0-0 4-6 3 9 12 3 10 3 1 1 1 38
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 34-60 2-14 18-28 13 31 44 14 88 21 11 2 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-26 53.8% 2nd Half: 20-34 58.8% Game: 56.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 0-4 0.0% Game: 14.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 15-22 68.2% Game: 64.3% 7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Robert Patey, Richard Antonelli and Gary Agger
Technical fouls: Northeastern-Wilson, Javorie; Barea, Jose Juan 2.
Vermont-None.
Attendance: 2341
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 39 39 - 78
Vermont....................... 33 55 - 88
Taylor Coppenrath scored career-high 41 points and set new UVM school record
with 18 field goals.
Marcus Barnes sets school records in three-pointers attempted (21) and made
(eight).
Points in the paint-NU 22,UVM 54. Points off turnovers-NU 12,UVM 9.
2nd chance points-NU 14,UVM 19. Fast break points-NU 2,UVM 6.
Bench points-NU 11,UVM 88. Score tied-9 times. Lead changed-7 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-01:30, UVM 2nd-00:17.
