THE BASICS:

RESULT: Vermont 92, Hartford 81
LOCATION: Patrick Gym (Burlington, Vt.)
ATTENDANCE:  2,475
RECORDS: Hartford (7-20, 2-10 America East); Vermont (15-12, 7-5)

THE LEAD:
Pancake Thomas delivered his fourth game this year scoring at least 35 points, but a late second-half surge lifted Vermont to a 92-81 win over the Hartford men's basketball team on Sunday.
 
Thomas finished with 35, while Jalen Ross added 16 for his eighth-consecutive game in double figures, and Evan Cooper added 12. Kurt Steidl led five players in double figures for the Catamounts with 26 points, while Dre Wills delivered a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

FIRST HALF:
The teams traded blows early, with a Ross three and a three-point play for TreVaughn Wilkerson putting Hartford ahead 6-5. But Wilkerson was whistled for his second personal shortly therafter, and Vermont embarked on a 7-0 run to go up by six. But Thomas hit a three to stop the run, and the Hawks chipped away at the lead, eventually tying the game at 15 on a Jason Dunne layup.
 
Steidl came back with a couple threes to put the Catamounts back ahead, and after the score got to 21-20, UVM went on a pivotal 12-0 run to gain its largest lead of the game, 33-20 at the 5:16 mark. The teams traded points to a 42-29 score, but then the Hawks locked down on defense and went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead back to seven, the advantage that the Catamounts entered the locker room with.

SECOND HALF:
Hartford got the second half started right, as Thomas drilled a three and got fouled, converting the four-point play to cut the lead back to three. UVM was able to get it back to seven, 56-49, and then a Jack Hobbs three sent the Hawks on a 7-0 run that tied the game after two Thomas free throws.
 
From there, the score went back-and-forth to 60-60 before a Thomas three-ball put Hartford ahead by three, its first advantage since early in the first half. But UVM came right back, and the teams tussled to a tight score all the way to 71-70. Vermont then came through with a 6-0 run to push the lead up to 77-70. The Hawks would close it to four on a Thomas three-ball, but that was as close as they would get as the Catamounts held on for the victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
• Thomas needs just one more 35-point game to match Vin Baker's 1991-92 season total of five, the second-most in school history. Baker also had seven in 1992-93.
• Ross made it eight-straight games in double figures and three in a row with exactly 16. He is 34-for-74 (.459) from the field and 15-for-30 (.500) from beyond the arc in the last eight.
• Cooper finished in double digits for the first time since scoring 15 against Maine. The junior hit all eight of his free throws, a career high.
• Hartford snapped a string of four-straight games without hitting at least 10 three-pointers. The Hawks were 12-for-31 from downtown in the game.
• The Hawks had a strong performance at the line, going 19-for-23 (.826).

UP NEXT:
Hartford returns home for a pair of games this week, beginning with a Wednesday, Feb. 17, matchup against UMBC at 7 p.m. Tickets start at just $5 and are available by calling 860.768.HAWK or visiting HartfordHawks.com.