Feb. 10, 2004

Stony Brook, N.Y. -

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The Stony Brook men's basketball team welcomes conference leader Vermont to the Indoor Sports Complex on Wednesday night. Vermont (15-5, 11-0) is undefeated in conference action as Stony Brook (6-15, 3-9) looks to defeat them for the first time. Tip-off is 7 p.m.

About Vermont: The conference leader and defending America East champs enter Wednesday's game with an unblemished 11-0 mark and a 12-game winning streak. The Catamounts are a perfect 6-0 in conference play on the road thanks to the 2002-03 America East Player of the Year, Taylor Coppenrath. Coppenrath's 24.0 ppg. leads the America East as he continues to show why he is the best player in the conference and earning plenty of recognition around the country. He also leads the Catamounts at 7.1 rpg. Point guard T.J. Sorrentine, the 2001-02 America East Player of the Year, runs the UVM attack and is averaging 13.9 ppg.

About the Seawolves: Stony Brook lost its fifth straight in a 72-53 defeat at UMBC on Sunday. The Seawolves have lost seven of their last eight. The team has dropped three straight at home and enter the game having never defeated the Catamounts in their previous six tries. D.J. Munir is the team's top scorer at 15.6 points per game and Mike Popoko the team's top rebounder at 5.1 per game.

Vermont Vs. Stony Brook:Vermont has won all six meetings between the two teams, including a 77-70 win earlier this season.

The First Meeting: Coppenrath scored 30 points and Sorrentine added 22 as Vermont pulled out a 77-70 win in Burlington on January 13. SB trailed by one with just over two minutes to go, but the Catamounts won the game at the free throw line, converting 22 of 31 attempts. D.J. Munir led the way for SB with 19 points. Cori Spencer and Mike Konopka each added 16. Mike Popoko grabbed nine rebounds.

Making A Point: D.J. Munir made his first start at the point guard spot in two years against Northeastern. He totaled 13 points, five rebounds, eight assists and three steals. His eight assists were the most since he had eight against BU on February 21, 2002.

Looking For Offense: The SB offense has had trouble putting up points in its last two games. In the last 60 minutes of action, the Seawolves have gone 27-for-78 (.346) from the field.

Closing In On 1,500: D.J. Munir enters the game with 1,457 career points and is now only 21 points shy of surpassing Wayne Wright for No. 5 on SB's all-time scoring list. He is also 43 points away from becoming the fifth player in school history to score 1,500 points in a career.

D.J. In the Record Books: In addition to his place on the all-time scoring list, Munir also ranks in the top-10 all time in several other categories: Category Rank Scoring 1,447 pts. 6th Assists 340 4th Field Goals 486 6th 3-pointers Made 167 3rd FTM 318 5th FTA 378 7th FT% .841 4th

Chairman Of The Board: Freshman Mike Popoko grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the loss to Northeastern. He has led the team in rebounding six times and currently ranks first on the squad at 5.1 rpg. His nine-rebound effort against Northeastern gave him 105 rebounds on the season, breaking the SB Division I freshman single-season record of 97 that was set by Jairus McCollum during the 2000-01 season.

Will History Repeat Itself?: The Seawolves are hoping for some of last year's magic to rub off on their game with Vermont. Exactly one year ago on February 11, 2003, the Seawolves upset regular season champ Boston University 73-67 at the Indoor Sports Complex. It is SB's only win over BU in three seasons.