ORONO, Maine – After notching its first win of the season on Sunday against Quinnipiac, the Maine Black Bears (1-5)  head to Washington D.C. to play the Georgetown Hoyas (4-0) on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. with the game being broadcasted nationally on FS1 and Fox Sports Go.  
LAST TIME OUT: A dominating offensive and defensive performance in the first 20 minutes proved to be just enough, as the Maine Black Bears outlasted the Quinnipiac Bobcats, 78-72 at TD Bank Sports Center on Sunday afternoon. Vernon Lowndes Jr. shot a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, including a school-record breaking 5-for-5 from 3-point range, to lead the Black Bears in Maine's first win of the season. Maine never trailed, starting the game on a 26-7 run, building a lead as high as 46-20 in the first half. The Bobcats outscored the Black Bears by a count of 49-32 in the second half and pulled within five points, but Maine drained six clutch free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
 
VERNON'S VINDICATION: Entering Sunday's game against Quinnipiac, junior transfer Vernon Lowndes Jr. played a combined 15 minutes in three games, only registering a point against Boston College. Against Quinnipiac, Lowndes Jr. shot a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, including 5-for-5 from beyond the 3-point arc, which broke a Maine school record for 3-point field goal percentage in a single game. Lowndes Jr. also brought down a game-high nine rebounds against the Bobcats, along with tallying three assists and two steals in 25 minutes played. Lowndes Jr. broke the record held by four different Black Bears that have shot 100 percent on 4-for-4 from the 3-point line, which was last set by Fred Meeks against Hampton on Nov. 14, 1998.
 
20 MINUTES ON FIRE: Maine men's basketball put together an absolute dominating offensive and defensive performance in the first half against Quinnipiac on Sunday. The Black Bears led 46-23 at the half, shooting 64.3 percent in the first half, on 18-of-28 shooting from the field. The Black Bears got the job done defensively as well, forcing Quinnipiac to shoot 30.4 percent from the field, (7-for-23), and forced stops on all but three of QU's first 21 possessions.
 
LONG DISTANCE SUCCESS: Maine entered Sunday struggling from distance, shooting a combined 24 percent (31-126) from 3-point range in five games this season. After Sunday game, Maine's 3-point field goal percentage jumped over six percentage points to 30 percent (45-149). The Black Bears opened play against Quinnipiac converting their first four 3-pointers, en route to making six of seven attempts and finished the half shooting 10-for-14 (71.4 percent) from long range. The Black Bears shot 4-for-9 (44.4 percent) in the second half to finish the game shooting 14-for-23 (60.9 percent). Seven different Black Bears registered a three-pointer in the first half, as every Maine player was shooting at 50 percent or above in the first 20 minutes.
 
PASS THE ROCK: In the first half, Maine tallied assists on 14 of 18 field goals made in the first half. The Black Bears were averaging 10.4 assists per game entering the game. Trae Bryant supplied a season-high seven assists against the Bobcats, and leads Maine with 3.33 assists per game this season. Seven different Black Bears recorded an assist in the first 20 minutes against the Bobcats.
 
CALIXTE'S BIG WEEK: As the young season has gone on, Aaron Calixte has returned to form following missing the majority of the 2016-17 season due to injury. In his past two games , the redshirt-junior has averaged 20 points per game on 11-for-24 shooting (45 percent), 5-for-11 from 3-point range (45 percent), 6.5 rebounds per game, and 3.5 assists per game. One Calixte's most impressive statistics is that he is 13-for-15 on free throw attempts in his past two games, as the Stoughton, Mass. native drained six consecutive free throws in the final minute to hold off a Quinnipiac comeback on Sunday.
 
A LOOK AT THE HOYAS: Georgetown is off to a hot 4-0 start under first year head coach and Hoya alum Patrick Ewing. The Hoyas have wins against Jacksonville (73-57), Mount St. Mary's (102-68), Maryland Eastern Shore (83-57), and Richmond (82-76) to start the season. The Hoyas are an excellent 3-point shooting team, ranking fourth in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (47.1 percent), and also hold top-10 national rankings in assists per game (7th, 20.5 per game) and rebound margin (6th, 14.5 per game). Jessie Govan, a 6-10 center, has been dominant scoring and on the glass so far this season, averaging a double-double with 19.3 points per game and 12.3 rebounds per game, which ranks fourth best in the nation. Marcus Derrickson (14.8 ppg) and Kaleb Johnson (12.8 ppg) also average double-figures in scoring for the Hoyas.
 
UP NEXT: The Black Bears wrap up their three-game road-trip in New York City on Saturday, taking on the Fordham Rams. The opening tip is slated to start at 2:00 p.m. at Rose Hill Gymnasium.

-UMaine-