ORONO, Maine - The Black Bears, after a 4-11 non-conference finish, and a 4 game road trip to end December, will begin conference play against Vermont on Thursday evening in the 135th meeting of the two teams.
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SCOUTING MAINE
Maine is coming into this game on a five-game losing skid recently capped off by a loss to Columbia at Cross Insurance Center, 98-73. Maine's scoring came by way of
Danny Evans, who set a new career high in points with 16 on 5-8 shooting and a perfect 4-4 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed five defensive rebounds.
Marko Pirovic also chipped in tying his career high for points with 13. He shot 5-10 from the field, dished two assists and grabbed three rebounds.
Wes Myers tallied 10 points, doing the most damage at the free-throw line shooting 6-8 from the charity stripe, while also assisting on two scoring plays and grabbed two steals.
Myers leads the team in points per game with 13.8, while also contributing 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
Andrew Fleming follows close behind with 10.6 points per game, a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game, and 1.1 assists per game. He has three double-doubles on the season, only two players in America East have more; he's also fourth in conference in rebounds per game and third in the conference in total rebounds on the season with 105. Maine as a whole has shown great strengths in rebounding this season, as they are first in the conference in offensive rebounds per game with 12.07 and third in conference for total rebounds with 554. Maine looks to long-range offense often, as they lead the conference in three-point attempts this season with 371, and are third in the conference in made threes with 124.
SCOUTING VERMONT
The Catamounts come into this matchup finishing up non-conference play with a win over Harvard 82-71. Darren Payen hit seven shots and made seven free-throws for a total of 21 points, along with six rebounds and an assist and two blocks. Kurt Steidl also had a major contribution with 17 points on 5-7 shooting, 3-4 from three, with two assists, two rebounds, and a steal. Anthony Lamb tallied 14 points and four rebounds with an assist and a steal.
The Catamounts are lead offensively by Payton Henson who averages 13 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game. Lamb follows close behind with 11.5 points, and 5.6 rebounds per game. Lamb ranks second in the conference with blocked shots per game with 1.07, and second with total blocks on the season with 12. Trae Bell-Haynes has also been a key contributor for the Catamounts as he averages 10.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. He ranks third in the conference in total assists with 56. Vermont holds their opponents to 65.5 points per game, which is second-best in the conference. They also rank second in total steals (93), turnover margin (1.7) turnovers per game (12.0) and turnovers forced per game (13.67).
ALL-TIME SERIES
 Maine and Vermont have faced off 134 times with Maine owning the all-time series 70-64. Vermont has been undefeated in the matchup since January 22, 2013, Maine's last victory against the Catamounts, where Justin Edwards and Ali Fraser went off for 22 and 20 points respectively in Alfond Arena. Their last matchup came last season in the first round of the America East Quarterfinals, pitting #6 seed Maine vs #3 seed Vermont, where Vermont took the victory 99-82. For Maine, Isaac Vann led the way with 26 points, seven rebounds, and
Aaron Calixte had 17 points. For Vermont, Ethan O'Day tallied 21 points and 10 rebounds, Kurt Steidl had 14 with nine rebounds.
-UMaine-
