ORONO, Maine - After a short Holiday break, Maine is back on the road for the third straight game, facing Buffalo in a Friday evening bout that pits the 4-9 Black Bears against the 5-7 Bulls, before coming home to Bangor, Maine for a two-game home stand to begin the new year.

 

WATCH - ESPN3

LISTEN - 1230 AM

LIVE STATS

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GAME NOTES

SCOUTING MAINE
Maine comes into this game off a tough loss at Brown, which saw Maine take over in the first half only to have Brown come back in the second to outscore them 55-37 in the second half on 46.7% three-point shooting by the Brown Bears. Maine was led offensively by Andrew Fleming, the first rookie in America East this season to notch a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds at Providence) put on an even more impressive show by tallying career highs with 23 points and 14 rebounds, and an impressive 9-13 shooting performance. Wes Myers followed close behind with 16 points on 6-12 shooting, and Austin Howard who had 14 points and shot 4-8 from behind the arc.

Myers leads the team in points per game with 14.7, while also contributing 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Fleming follows close behind with 10.7 points per game, a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game, and 1.2 assists per game. He has two double-doubles on the season, only two players in America East have more this season; he's also fourth in conference in total rebounds with 88 on the season. Jaquan McKennon and Ryan Bernstein sit atop the assist rankings for the team, both average a team-high 2.5 per game and are consistant playmakers for the team. Maine as a whole has shown great strengths in rebounding this season, as they are 2nd in the conference in offensive rebounds per game with 11.92 and total rebounds with 475. Maine looks to long-range offense often, as they lead the conference in three-point attempts this season with 319, and are fourth in the conference in made threes with 109.


SCOUTING BUFFALO
The Bulls come into this matchup on a close game at Robert Morris on the 21st of December, a game that ended in a 74-71 loss. Blake Hamilton scored a team-high 24 points for the Bulls on 7-14 shooting, and 9-12 from the charity strpe. He also tallied six rebounds, four assists, and a steal. CJ Massinburg also chipped in with 13 points, hitting two shots from behind the arc and adding an assist and a steal.

So far this season Hamilton has led the team in scoring with 17.3 points per game and 3.8 assists on the team, a stat in which he is 2nd on the team. Three Bulls shooters are averaging 14 points per game; Willie Connor with 14.6 (1.7 assists/game, 37% three-point shooting), CJ Massinburg with 14.5 (3.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists per game), and Nick Perkins with 14.3 (46.2% shooting, 7.2 rebounds per game).


ALL-TIME SERIES
This game marks the first time Maine and Buffalo have faced off in almost 24 years; these two teams last faced off February 15th, 1993 as Maine hosted an 81-52 victory  over the Bulls. Maine and Buffalo have matched up only four times since 1977, with Maine winning all four matchups to lead the series 4-0.

-UMaine-