VESTAL, N.Y. – Both teams knew that Saturday’s match-up between No. 3 Boston University and No. 6 University of Vermont would be a physical one, a literal fight between cats and dogs. Game One (Jan. 22, 2006) sported a combined 31 fouls, and in Game Two, the Terriers and the Catamounts totaled a whopping 45 infractions in a 69-64 BU overtime win.

Terrier coach Dennis Wolff even spoke of the rivalry’s physicality before Saturday’s America East Tournament first-round match-up: “We just need to be a little bit smarter the way were guarding the post,” he said after practice on Thursday. “I think that it was a very physical game, it always is with them. So when you’re in a physical game like that, you’re in a position where you have to be mindful of how the refs are calling the game. I think we can do a better job of that than we did the last time we played them.”

Think again.

In a 64-61 loss that crushed the Terriers’ hopes of sweeping the three-time defending America East champions for the season and getting past the first-round for the first time in three years, the two teams racked up 50 personal fouls in 40 minutes of play.

“I was talking to coach Wolff yesterday and we were just talking about how the two [previous] games were kinda ugly, crazy crazy games,” said Catamounts coach Mike Lonergan. “We both kinda expected the same today.”

But even these two teams needed a little bit of help getting to such a vaunted foul count, and they got it in the tight grips officials Bill Laubenstein, Ben Vasconcells and John Regan kept on their whistles.

In 27 previous contests, the Terriers have racked up 467 fouls – that’s 17.3 per game. The Catamounts, on the other hand, amassed a lofty 530 fouls in 27 match-ups (19.6 per game). Still, neither average ranks even in the top 50 for all Division I schools.

So when BU committed 22 fouls and one foul-out by freshman Ben Coblyn (who, coincidentally, is tied for No. 2 in the nation in personal fouls per game with 4.0), and Vermont tied its season-high with 28 infractions and three foul-outs, something seemed amiss – despite what Wolff had to say after the game.

“It’s a little bit of a factor, but I thought the officiating was fine,” Wolff said when asked about the tight reffing Saturday. “It was a physical game and I think those guys called it accordingly.”

Still, just two players – one from each side – left Saturday’s first-round game without a foul, Vermont’s Rob Sisca (0-for-0, 0 total points in 3 minutes) and BU’s Corey Hassan (game-high 21 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 8 boards in 32 minutes). Moreover, both teams found themselves in the double bonus with more than seven minutes left in the game.

“This game played out very much like the first two games,” Wolff said. “Both teams played hard.”

Both teams also elbowed hard and held often, they charged and took charges, they fouled from the floor and from the bench. In total, 60 free throws were taken in 40 minutes of play Saturday afternoon, and 45 were made. That’s two points more than BU scored in an Agganis Arena win over the Catamounts Jan. 22 (four more than Vermont scored), and it’s seven more than the Terriers could muster against the University of Rhode Island on Nov. 29, 2005.

BU had nearly as many free throws (36) has field goal attempts (41), and its 25 made freebies were the team’s (and the game’s) leading scorer.

Senior co-captain Kevin Gardner may have gotten away with one of the game’s most intentional fouls with 10 minutes to go, when he pulled a Vermont point guard to the floor after a shot. To the dismay of a Vermont-dominated crowd, no whistle sounded.

But it was really BU’s 11 missed free throws, particularly down the stretch, that swung the game Vermont’s way. Gardner hit 9-of-14 from the line. Bryan Geffen missed the first of three from the line with 3:08 to play. Shaun Wynn went 2-for-5 from the line, missing a pair with 2:57 left, down 57-53. Corey Hassan missed his only free throw of the day with 2:03 remaining, otherwise going 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Then Marques Johnson missed the back-end of a pair with just 9.5 seconds left on the clock.

“Shaun made a lot of plays and Shaun’s made a lot of plays over his career, so he would have liked to make those free throws, and Marques would have liked to make those free throws,” Wolff said. “But those kids played real hard and sometimes those things can happen.”

Regardless, 69.4 percent shooting from the line just wasn’t good enough for BU Saturday.

“I don’t want to offer any excuses or anything to take away anything from Vermont winning the game,” Wolff said. “It’s hard to beat a team three times, but Binghamton did it today and it can be done. We’ve done it before – we just couldn’t pull it off today.”