ORONO, Maine - After Tuesday night's loss against Providence College, the Black Bears remain in Providence to face Brown University, who have been on finals week rest since December 10th; they come into the game with a 7-5 record, winning 6 games in as many tries at home. With conference play just weeks away, the Black Bears are looking for some momentum entering the new calendar year.
A LOOK AT MAINE
Maine fell to Providence College 79-59 on Tuesday night, a game that started out all Providence as they took an early lead and never looked back.
Andrew Fleming got his first career double-double on a 12 point, 11 rebound effort. His points came on 5-for-11 shooting from the field including hitting a 3-point shot (also the first of his career) on his only attempt in the game. He also added two assists and a steal.
Wes Myers scored in double figures for the third straight game with 11 points on 5-for-12 shooting (1-for-5 from three), with a rebound and assist, as well as two blocks and steals.
Jaquan McKennon, after a career day against Quinnipiac getting eight points, notched a new high with nine points against the Friars from four shots on six attempts, along with two rebounds and three assists.
Myers leads the team in points per game with 14.6, while also contributing 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Fleming follows close behind with 9.7 points per game, a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game, and 1.2 assists per game. He also leads the team in steals per game (0.9) and blocks per game (0.8), and FG% (49%).
Ilker Er has been the consistant deep threat for the Black Bears, he averages 2.6 3-point makes per game (ranked 4th in conference) on 40.6% 3-point shot percentage (ranked 3rd in conference, 86th nationally). He is averaging 10.1 points per game and 4 rebounds per game, although he missed last game due to injury.
Jaquan McKennon has stepped up in recent games; he now leads the team in assists per game with 2.7, also chipping in 4 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. Maine as a team is currently posting a league-best 12.27 offensive rebounds per game, ranked 91st nationally. They're also 2nd in conference with a 1.6 turnover margin.
A LOOK AT BROWN
The Brown Bears have been off to a good start so far with an 7-5 record as they prepare for Ivy League play next month. They're coming into this matchup in the middle of a 5-game homestand, winning their last 2 games at home 90-58 over Emerson, and 89-59 over Johnson & Wales. That game saw four Bears shooters in double figures, and 51 points off the bench.
Steven Speith has led the way thus-far for the Bears, as he averages 15.4 points per game, which is the 4th highest average in the Ivy League, and 4.1 assists per game, also 4th highest in his conference. He also leads the team with rebounds per game at 5.9, and is 2nd in the conference in steals per game with 1.5. Joshua Howard has been contributing 10.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Tavon Blackmon is sitting at a third-best on the team 9.8 points per game, and has taken care of the ball well with a team-high in assist to turnover ratio with 1.84, ranked 5th in the Ivy League. The Brown Bears know how to get into the passing lanes and make their opponents make mistakes; they have 3 players with the most steals in the conference; Speith leads the conference with 18 steals, Howard is second with 17, Brandon Anderson with 16 is third ranked, and Tavon Blackman is fifth in the conference with 15.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Maine and Brown have faced each other a total of 15 times since 1994, with Brown owning the series with a slim margin as they've won 8 games to Maine's 7. Their first game came on December 10th, 1994 as Brown took the home victory 87-78.
These two teams faced off last season in the same calendar year, January 2nd, 2016 at Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, where Maine took the victory 98-92. Maine's standout performances belonged to now-transfer
Kevin Little with 24 points on 6-for-12 three-point shooting, 4 assists, and a steal, and
Aaron Calixte with 22 points on 3-for-3 three-point shooting and six assists.
Troy Reid-Knight and
Till Gloger also chipped in with 17 and 14 points respectively. Reid-Knight had three steals and nine rebounds on the afternoon.
For Brown, Tavon Blackmon led all Bears scorers with 20 points, (7-11 shooting, 3-4 from three) six assists, and two steals. Steven Speith had 17 points, 7 assists, 2 steals and 8 rebounds, two others players, Jason Massey and Obi Okolie with 17 points, and Cedric Kuakumensah had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
