Taylor Coppenrath, the nation's leading scorer, notched 28 points and six rebounds as Vermont beat Northeastern, 75-60, in front of a sellout crowd of 2,089 at Solomon Court Wednesday night.
The Huskies (6-6, 2-1) had no answer for Coppenrath, who shot 50 percent (13-for-26) from the field. NU's leading big man, freshman forward Shawn James, did not play due to academic matters, leaving the Huskies vulnerable in the middle.
Junior guard Jose Juan Barea, who is fifth in the nation in scoring, had 22 points for the Huskies, but he did not receive much help from his teammates against the Catamounts (7-3, 3-0). Junior guard Aaron Davis had a season-high 15 points, including four three-pointers, but senior guard Marcus Barnes shot just 3-for-14 from the field and scored 10 points.
The teams traded baskets early, with Barea knocking down jumpers and Vermont's T.J. Sorrentine nailing three-pointers. Sorrentine hit three shots from downtown in less than four minutes to give the Catamounts a 14-13 lead 3:48 into play.
The Huskies responded and took a 22-18 lead on a Barea three at the halfway mark of the first, but then went cold, missing eight consecutive shots as Vermont went on a 14-0 run. The Catamounts never trailed again.
In the second half, with an eight-point lead, Coppenrath took over, starting with two layups that made it 42-32. He went on to score 14 more points on his way to sending Vermont to a 3-0 conference mark.
NU cut it to four, at 51-47, on a Davis free throw with 11:38 left in the game, but UVM scored 11 straight points to put the game out of reach.
Sorrentine added 14 points, while David Hehn pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds.
The Huskies will look to bounce back Sunday, Jan. 9, when they hit the road to play Albany at 2 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
Vermont vs Northeastern
01/05/05 7:00 pm at Solomon Court (Boston, Mass.)
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VISITORS: Vermont 7-3, 3-0 AE
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..... * 5-14 4-9 0-0 0 5 5 2 14 7 3 0 0 40
20 Klimes, Martin...... * 2-3 0-0 0-2 3 3 6 5 4 1 0 0 0 23
22 Coppenrath, Taylor.. * 13-26 0-0 2-3 3 3 6 2 28 4 2 1 0 39
24 Hehn, David......... * 3-6 1-3 2-2 1 15 16 0 9 4 1 1 2 40
32 Mopa Njila, Germain. * 3-6 0-1 1-1 2 2 4 2 7 1 3 0 0 21
35 Jensen, Alex........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 12
44 Schneider, Ryan..... 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 0 3 0 1 0 0 7
50 Duell, Josh......... 3-4 2-2 0-0 2 1 3 0 8 2 0 0 1 18
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 31-63 8-18 5-8 12 34 46 11 75 19 10 2 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-36 44.4% 2nd Half: 15-27 55.6% Game: 49.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-13 46.2% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 44.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-1 0.0% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 62.5% 1
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HOME TEAM: Northeastern 6-6, 2-1 AE
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...... * 3-14 2-10 2-3 0 5 5 1 10 0 1 0 1 34
05 Barea, Jose Juan.... * 7-21 3-10 5-6 0 4 4 1 22 7 1 0 1 37
14 Davis, Bennet....... * 3-8 0-0 0-0 4 5 9 4 6 1 1 1 1 33
22 Kelly, Bobby........ * 1-1 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 9
33 Cole, Janon......... * 0-3 0-0 2-2 0 4 4 2 2 0 1 0 1 33
11 Martinez, Adrian.... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 7
12 Davis, Aaron........ 5-12 4-8 1-1 2 3 5 1 15 1 1 0 3 33
50 Washington, Mark.... 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 4 2 0 0 0 1 14
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 20-62 10-30 10-12 9 22 31 13 60 9 7 1 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-35 28.6% 2nd Half: 10-27 37.0% Game: 32.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-18 33.3% 2nd Half: 4-12 33.3% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-4 100 % 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% Game: 83.3% 1
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Officials: Richard Giallella, Paul Faia, Robert Patey
Technical fouls: Vermont-None. Northeastern-None.
Attendance: 2089
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Vermont....................... 38 37 - 75
Northeastern.................. 30 30 - 60
Points in the paint-VERMONT 40,NU 16. Points off turnovers-VERMONT 7,NU 6.
2nd chance points-VERMONT 12,NU 15. Fast break points-VERMONT 4,NU 0.
Bench points-VERMONT 13,NU 17. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-7 times.
Last FG-VERMONT 2nd-03:48, NU 2nd-03:14.
