2003–04 Vermont Catamounts men's basketball team

The 2003–04 Vermont Catamounts men's basketball team represented the University of Vermont during the 2003–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Catamounts, led by head coach Tom Brennan – coaching in his 18th season, played their home games at Patrick Gym and were members of the America East Conference. They finished the season 22–9, 15–3 in America East play to finish second in the regular season standings. They won the America East tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Playing as the No. 15 seed in the Phoenix region, the Catamounts lost to No. 2 seed and eventual National champion UConn in the opening round.^[1]

2003–04 Vermont Catamounts men's basketball
America East tournament champions
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	America East Conference
Record	22–9 (15–3 America East)
Head coach	Tom Brennan (18th season)
Home arena	Patrick Gym
Seasons ← 2002–03 2004–05 →

2003–04 America East Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Boston University	17	–	1		.944			23	–	6		.793
Vermont †	15	–	3		.833			22	–	9		.710
Northeastern	13	–	5		.722			19	–	11		.633
Maine	12	–	6		.667			20	–	10		.667
Binghamton	10	–	8		.556			14	–	16		.467
Hartford	6	–	12		.333			12	–	17		.414
New Hampshire	5	–	13		.278			10	–	20		.333
Stony Brook	5	–	13		.278			10	–	20		.333
UMBC	4	–	14		.222			7	–	21		.250
Albany	3	–	15		.167			5	–	23		.179
† 2004 America East tournament winner

This season marked the second of three straight seasons the Catamounts played in the NCAA Tournament.

Roster

2003–04 Vermont Catamounts men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 11 T. J. Sorrentine 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr St. Raphael Academy Pawtucket, Rhode Island F 22 Taylor Coppenrath 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr St. Johnsbury Academy Barnet, Vermont	Head coach Tom Brennan Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

^[2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 17, 2003*		at Nevada	L 49–69	0–1	Lawlor Events Center  Reno, Nevada
Nov 24, 2003*		vs. Iona	L 53–56	0–2	Westchester County Center  White Plains, New York
Nov 29, 2003*		at UCLA	L 67–68	0–3	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, California
Dec 2, 2003*		at UMass	L 64–76	0–4	Mullins Center  Amherst, Massachusetts
Dec 5, 2003*		Cornell	W 73–60	1–4	Patrick Gym  Burlington, Vermont
Dec 14, 2003*		Harvard	W 48–42	2–4	Patrick Gym  Burlington, Vermont
Dec 21, 2003*		at Marist	W 62–57	3–4	McCann Arena  Poughkeepsie, New York
Dec 30, 2003*		at Rhode Island	L 56–94	3–5	Thomas M. Ryan Center  Kingston, Rhode Island
Jan 2, 2004		at Binghamton	W 67–60	4–5 (1–0)	West Gym  Binghamton, New York
Jan 4, 2004		at UMBC	W 67–66	5–5 (2–0)	RAC Arena  Catonsville, Maryland
Jan 7, 2004		Northeastern	W 88–78	6–5 (3–0)	Patrick Gym  Burlington, Vermont
Jan 11, 2004		at Maine	W 71–62	7–5 (4–0)	Alfond Arena  Orono, Maine
Jan 14, 2004		Stony Brook	W 77–70	8–5 (5–0)	Patrick Gym  Burlington, Vermont
Jan 17, 2004		at Boston University	W 59–57	9–5 (6–0)	Case Gym  Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 21, 2004*		at Dartmouth	W 76–66	10–5	Leede Arena  Hanover, New Hampshire
America East tournament
Mar 6, 2004*		vs. New Hampshire Quarterfinals	W 58–50	20–8	Walter Brown Arena  Boston, Massachusetts
Mar 7, 2004*		vs. Hartford Semifinals	W 61–48	21–8	Walter Brown Arena  Boston, Massachusetts
Mar 13, 2004*		Maine Championship game	W 72–53	22–8	Patrick Gym  Burlington, Vermont
NCAA Tournament
Mar 18, 2004*  CBS	(15 PHX)	vs. (2 PHX) No. 7 Connecticut First round	L 53–70	22–9	HSBC Arena (18,686) Buffalo, New York
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. PHX=Phoenix. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[3]

Awards and honors

• Taylor Coppenrath – America East Player of the Year (2x)

References

1. "Okafor has 15 and 14, stymies Coppenrath". ESPN. March 19, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2023.^{[dead link]}
2. "2003-04 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Vermont Athletics. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
3. "2003-04 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Vermont Athletics. Retrieved June 25, 2023.