Orono, Maine -- The University of Maine men's basketball team (1-4) opens its regular season home slate on Saturday at 2 p.m. when it hosts UMaine Presque Isle. Maine, which holds a 3-0 lead in the head-to-head series, last met the Owls in 2009.
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FULL GAME PREVIEW HERE
A LOOK AT MAINE:
The Black Bears are coming off a three-game road trip at Boston University in the Steve Wright Classic. Maine dropped all three road games, falling to Boston University (102-78), Northeastern (80-72) and LIU Brooklyn (71-66). Because the Steve Wright Classic was an exempt tournament, Maine is allowed to play one additional game against a non-division I opponent (UMPI).
Wes Myers is leading Maine this season, averaging 15.0 points per game, tallying double-figures in each of Maine's games thus far. He is also leading the team in minutes (30.4), rebounds (5.2) and assists (2.6). Myers enters action seventh among America East scoring leaders and tied for ninth in rebounding.
Ilker Er (8.6 ppg) and
Andrew Fleming (8.2) are Maine's second and third leading scorers, giving Maine an offensive look led by three first-year players.
Overall in the early going, Maine ranks fifth in the league in scoring (74.2 ppg). The Black Bears are averaging just 11 turnovers per game and rank third in America East turnover margin at +1.25 while chipping in a 1.1 assist/turnover ratio (13.5 apg); also third best. Another strong suit early for Maine has been offensive rebounding where it ranks fourth in the league and enters play averaging 12.5 boards on its own hoop. Maine has hit 34 shots from beyond the arc (8.5 per game) and currently sit third among America East leaders in that category.
A LOOK AT UMPI:
UMaine Presque Isle dropped its first two games of the year, falling on the road to Johnston St. (66-55) and Husson (75-57) before picking up its first win over the year on Wednesday at home against Central Maine Community College (54-52). Kevin Collins enters action leading the Owls in scoring at 15.3 points per game, is tops at 36.4 percent from the floor and ranks second in rebounding at 5.7 per game. Kristijan Gavriolovski and Kim Collins are each adding 7.7 points. As a team, the Owls have struggled a bit from the floor early shooting 34.6 percent from the floor but just 26.5 percent from 3-point range and 56.9 percent at the free throw stripe.
A LOOK AT THE ALL-TIME SERIES:
Maine and UMPI have met a total of three times during their series history. The Black Bears lead the all-time series, 3-0. The last meeting took place in 2009, a 133-58 victory by the Black Bears.
LAST TIME OUT:
Maine met a hot-starting LIU Brooklyn team as the Blackbirds shot 47.6 percent in the first half, racing out to a 37-28 lead at the break. Maine was able to outscore LIU Brooklyn 38-34 in the second half but it wasn't enough to comeback as the Black Bears dropped the contest, 71-66. Maine was led by Er (13) and Myers (11) while Fleming chipped in eight points, six rebounds and three assists.
WELCOME IN THE NEW GUYS:
Early on, Maine has featured seven players on the court who are in their first year of action with the Black Bears. Maine is receiving 67.8% of its scoring (246-363) from players who are in their first years of action at Maine, led by Myers at 15.0 points per game. Freshmen
Ilker Er (8.6 ppg) and
Andrew Fleming (8.2) are Maine's second and third leading scorers.
