Orono, Maine -- The University of Maine men's basketball team (2-5) travels to Cameron Indoor Stadium for its first ever meeting with No. 5/4 Duke (7-1) on Saturday evening live on ESPN2.
GAME COVERAGE:
SCOUTING MAINE:
The Black Bears enter action at Duke coming off an 82-61 loss at home against Central Connecticut State on Wednesday. Freshman
Andrew Fleming had a career night for Maine, leading all scorers with a career-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go along with a team-high eight boards. First-year Black Bear
Ilker Er chipped in 11 points for Maine which struggled from the field, shooting just 39.1 percent and running into a hot-hitting CCSU team (58.9%).
Transfer
Wes Myers leads Maine in scoring at 12.7 points per game. Myers, who ranks 12th among America East scoring leaders, has finished with double-figures in five of Maine's first seven outings. Myers ranks third on the team with 5.3 rebounds and has taken care of the ball in the early going, ranking third in the league in assist to turnover ratio (18 ast/6 TOs,) at +3.0. Fleming is adding 10.7 points and is Maine's leader on the boards, averaging 5.4 per game to sit him 12th in the league. The freshman big man has controlled the paint for Maine as he is second in the league with six blocks and has been consistent with his finishes, ranking fourth in the league at 59.6 percent from teh floor.
Ilker Er is adding 9.9 points and is Maine's deep-threat, ranking second in the league with 23 makes from beyond the arc.
As a unit, the Black Bears are averaging 74.3 ponts per game. Maine ranks second in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.10) and third in total assists per game (13.1). Maine has been solid on the offensive glass, checking in 55th in the nation at 13.3 per game. The Black Bears 96th nationally with 8.4 three-point makes per game 92nd in total 3-point makes (59).
SCOUTING DUKE
The Blue Devils return 10 letterwinners and three starters from their 2015-16 squad which finished the year 25-11 after falling in the Sweet 16 to Oregon. Duke, which has won 130 consecutive non-conference games at home, enter at 7-1 overall after most recently defeating Michigan St., 78-69. Duke's lone loss this season came on Nov. 15, a 77-75 stumble against Kansas.
Duke features five-scorers posting double-figures over its first eight games, led by sophomore Luke Kennard who checks in at 17.5 points per game to go along with 6.6 rebounds. Grayson Allen, a 2015 second-team All-American, is adding 17.1 points with an 86.7 percent mark from the free throw line and a team-high 3.6 assists. Freshman Frank Jackson is adding 15.4 points per game and is Duke's leading 3-point shooter (38.9 percent). Graduate student Amile Jefferson is nearly averaging a double-double as the big man enters action at 14.0 points per game to go along with 9.9 rebounds. Jefferson leads the team with 16 blocks. Senior Matt Jones rounds out the Blue Devils' double-digit scorers at 10.4 points.
Duke features an excellent offensive game as it ranks 29th in the country at 84.6 points per game. The Blue Devils rank 36th in the country and lead the ACC in 3-point attempts (189), checking in with a 34.9 percent mark from downtown. As much as it likes to shoot from outside, Duke is also highly successful from the free throw stripe. Duke leads the ACC in both free throw attempts (205) and free throw makes (149), ranking 16th and 21st nationally in the stats, respectfully, and shoot 72.7 percent from the stripe. The Blue Devils are stellar on the boards where they average 39.4 per game and rank 25th nationally with 315 total rebounds.
ALL-TIME AGAINST THE ACC
Maine will be playing its 36th game against a current member ACC school. Maine is 5-30 all-time against the ACC, with all five wins coming against Boston College. Maine last played an ACC school on Dec. 13, 2015; a 91-60 loss at Boston College. Maine's last win against the ACC was on Jan. 2, 2010 when it defeated Boston College, 52-51.
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