University of Maine
NJIT
Men's Basketball Attempts to Bounce Back At NJIT on Monday Night
11/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
At NJIT | Live Stats | Video | Audio | Full Notes
OPENING TIP
The Maine Black Bears continue their arduous stretch of four games in nine days as the squad takes on NJIT in Newark, N.J. on Monday night. The Black Bears opened the season with a 99-57 loss to Butler on Nov. 15 and looks for its first win of the season and attempts to avenge a season sweep from 2013-14. The game is schedule for 7 p.m. at the Fleisher Athletic Center in Newark, N.J., and can watched (fees apply) at the NJIT website as well as heard on GoBlackBears.com and WGUY 94.1 FM. Radio coverage begins at 6:30 p.m.
SCOUTING MAINE
The University of Maine enters the marathon portion of its schedule as it plays five games in the next two weeks in four different states. The Black Bears opened the season with a 99-57 loss to Butler in Indianapolis Ind. on Saturday afternoon.
Leading the Black Bears attack was the duo of freshman Aaron Calixte and senior Zarko Valjarevic. The pair had 12 points each while Valjareivc also led in rebounding with six.
2013-14 leading scorer for the Bulldogs, Kellen Dunham, led the way as six different players recorded double-figure point totals in the season opener. Dunham notched 18 points including five from beyond the arc. Also eclipsing single-digits was Kameron Woods (10 pts), Roosevelt Jones (14 pts), Andrew Chrabascz (13 pts), Austin Etherington (11 pts) and Kelan Martin (12).
The Black Bears started the game with accurate shooting but it tailed off after halftime as the Black Bears shot 45.5 percent form the field in the first half but dipped to 34.4 percent in the second frame. Maine finished the contest shooting 38.9 percent for the game.
The Black Bears bugaboo last season was rebounding and it proved to be a problem again against Butler several days ago. The Black Bears were outrebounded 31-21 by the Bulldogs.
The Black Bears defensive scheme did produce some steals for a team that was fair adept at theft last season as the team took away five steals for the Bulldogs. Lawton tallied the opening steal of the game while Calixte had two and Gloger tallied one as well. Maine will continue to work on getting that number up as the team recorded 7.6 steals per contest, which ranked among the best in America East.
SCOUTING NJIT
NJIT comes home for its first 2014-15 game in the Fleisher Athletic Center having lost the season opener at St. John's of the BIG EAST Conference on November 14 in Queens, NY, 77-58. In that one, the Highlanders got off to an extremely slow start, falling into a 25-8 hole barely 8 minutes into the game. Trailing 37-19 at the half and falling behind by as many as 22 early in the second half, the Highlanders rallied back to within 12 points of the lead with 9:36 left, but could not get closer.
In the game NJIT was cold from the field as the team shot .283 (17-of-60) and .280 from beyond the arc (7-of-25). It also coughed up the ball 13 times while St. John's limited turnovers to seven. In the battle of the glass it was out rebounded by just six as the Highlanders took down 40 to St. John's 46.
NJIT had three double-figure scorers against St. John's, led by sophomore Damon Lynn's 15 points. Lynn who averaged 17.2 points, the most ever by an NJIT player in Division I competition, as a freshman.
Junior Ky Howard, who came off the bench at St. John's, scored 11 points and led the Highlanders on the boards with 7 rebounds vs. St. John's.
Senior Daquan Holiday had a strong second half, scoring all 10 of his points for the game after the halftime intermission. It was the fourth time in his career that Holiday scored as many as 10 points against a Division I opponent. He added 5 rebounds to his opening-game line.
SERIES HISTORY
The series history between these two teams is a relatively recent one but both teams are even, with a 2-2 record. NJIT got the best of the Black Bears last season defeating the Maine at home 88-82 and then sweeping the series on Dec. 4 with an 81-72 win Newark N.J.
Zarko Valjarevic, from Serbia, scored 14 points for Maine in an 88-82 home loss to NJIT last November 19 and when the teams met again in Newark on December 4, 2013, he scored 19 points, including 5-for-10 on 3-pointers as NJIT completed a sweep of the two-game season series with an 81-72 victory.
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
CAREER VS. THE HIGHLANDERS
While the history is relatively fresh and many have never played against NJIT there are several players that have flourished against the team fro Newark, N.J. Namely senior, Zarko Valjarevic. The captain for the Black Bears, in two games has averaged 39.5 minutes, 16.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists. Shaun Lawton has also seen plenty of minutes in two games vs. NJIT as he has averaged 35 minutes with 9.0 points, 9.0 rebounds. and 3.5 assists along with 2.0 steals per game. Six Black Bears on the current roster have yet to see action against the Highlanders.
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.
