University of Maine
Southern Me.
New Era for Men's Basketball Starts on the Road at Butler
11/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
FULL GAME NOTES
At Butler | Live Stats | Video | Audio
At NJIT | Live Stats | Video | Audio
OPENING TIP
The 2014-15 season opens up on Nov. 15 when the team plays the Butler Bulldogs at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. That game is slated for a 4:30 p.m. start and will be aired on Fox Sports 2 and broadcast on WGUY 94.1 FM. Following that matchup the Black Bears will finish up their two-game road swing at NJIT on Monday night in Newark, N.J. That game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip off.
SCOUTING MAINE
The Black Bears had an up-and-down exhibition season with two games that went very differently. Maine opened up with the University of Southern Maine on Nov. 1 and were upset, 78-73 in front of the Gorham, Maine crowd.
The Black Bears rebounded nicely on its home court at the Cross Insurance Center on Nov. 6 when the squad wrapped up its preseason against Husson. Maine dismantled the Eagles on its way to a 98-58 victory.
In the first contest the Black Bears got an inspired effort from Till Gloger who tallied 23 points and 19 rebounds in the loss. Shaun Lawton and Aaron Calixte also reached double-figure points as the duo scored 16 and 13, respectively.
In the second contest, a robust Black Bear offense was bolstered by a 26 point performance from sophomore Garet Beal. Just one starter for the Black Bears failed to score double-digit points as Gloger scored 13, Ethan Mackey had 10, and Calixte tallied 11.
The Black Bears also got a double-double from off the bench as Erik Nissen took down 13 rebounds and poured in 11 points in the process
The problem that plagued the Black Bears in the first match up seemed to be corrected in the second game as Maine committed 15 turnovers while forcing 22 for the Eagles.
The Black Bears return a familiar team to the court this season as three of last year's usual five starters come back. Zarko Valjarevic is the team's top-returning point scorer as he was second on the team in 2013-14. The Belgrade, Serbia native averaged 10.4 points per game last season and averaged nearly three 3-pointers per game. Lawton, Gloger and Mackey will also be leaned on heavily on the Black Bear offense.
Maine fans can look forward to a pair of new guards to run the Black Bear offense. Calixte and Little enter the season as freshmen and saw considerable playing time through the exhibition season. The duo combined for 17.5 points through the two games, as well as nine assists.
SCOUTING BUTLER
The Butler Bulldogs enter the season looking to improve upon a 2013-14 that saw the team from Indianapolis, Ind., finish 14-17 and finished 4-14 in conference, garnering the No. 9 seed in the Big East tournament.
The Bulldogs return a considerable portion of its young roster as the squad lost only one starter from 2013-14 as only Khyle Marshall will not return to the Bulldogs. Butler will return leading point producer for the team, Kellen Dunahm (16.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg), third-leading point producer Kameron Woods (7.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg), Andrew Chrabascz (6.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg), Alex Barlow (6.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and Roosevelt Jones (10.1 ppg and 5.6 rpg).
Last year the Bulldogs held a positive scoring differential, as the team outscored opponents 68.5-65.1 and held a narrowly positive rebounding margin with +.0.5 (34.6-31.9).
Like the Black Bears, Butler played two tune-up games before opening the season as the squad defeated Chicago 88-45 and Franklin 98-43, both contests played at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
POLL PREDICTION
The University of Maine was selected eighth overall in this years America East preseason poll. Stony Brook (six first-place votes) topped this year's poll, as last year's favorite, Vermont dropped to No. 4. Hartford was second with two first-place votes as 2014 America East champion, Albany was third with 51 points. The Black Bears were selected eighth with 17 points, with UMass-Lowell coming in ninth with 10 points.
COMPLETE POLL (first place votes)
Position School (1st-place votes) Points
1. Stony Brook (6) 60
2. Hartford (2) 55
3. Albany (1) 51
4. Vermont 48
5. Binghamton 34
6. New Hampshire 26
7. UMBC 23
8. Maine 17
9. UMass Lowell 10
NOT JUST A NUMBER
The number "0" is pretty prevalent as far as the basketball program is concerned as it has significant meaning to both the players and coaches. When walking around the Pit for practice it doesn't take you long to see the number on the back of the players jerseys. The number signifies that the team is building from ground zero. The number also signifies the number of times Maine has been America East Champions and serves as motivation and a visible goal for the young team.
NEW REGIME
The Black Bears coaching staff looks a bit differently than last season as Bob Walsh was named the program's 21st head coach on May, 7, 2014. Walsh spent nine seasons coaching for Rhode Island College as he recorded an overall record of 204-63 and made eight-straight trips to the NCAA Division III tournament. Upon his appointment the new Black Bear leader brought four new staff members to fill out the coaching roster. Matt O'Brien, who was Walsh's first hire when he started at Rhode Island College, was also his first hire at Maine. O'Brien had recently served the past six seasons as part of the University of Vermont coaching staff. Walsh also announced the signing of Zak Boisvert formerly of Fairliegh Dickinson and Iona to the staff. The staff was rounded out with the additions of former Walsh player, Antone Gray and Rob Toste (from Columbia) as an assistant coach and Director of Basketball Operations, respectively.
DOUBLE-DIGIT STREAK
The University of Maine has a pair of Black Bears enter this weekend's contest with a double-digit point-scoring streak on the line as Till Gloger and Shaun Lawton both have streaks going. Gloger has gone eight-straight contests having scored 10 or more points dating back to Feb. 8 against Binghamton. Lawton has a streak of his own as he's tallied double-digit points in five-straight spanning back to Feb. 12, 2013.
