ORONO, Maine – After a quick two-game home stretch in Bangor, the Maine Black Bears travel to Vermont Monday to battle the Catamounts. The opening tip is set for 7:00 p.m. in Burlington on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
LAST TIME OUT: In a Saturday matinée at the Cross Insurance Center, the UMaine men's basketball team fell behind early and could not comeback from the early deficit, falling 84-66 to UAlbany. Three Black Bears reached double-figures in scoring, led by
Aaron Calixte's 16 points. The Black Bears scored 56 points in the second half, the most points in a half this season.
THE SERIES: The Black Bears hold a 70-67 lead in the all-time series over the Catamounts, despite Vermont winning the last 11 meetings. In Maine's last win over Vermont on Jan. 22, 2013, Alasdair Frasier came two assists away from a triple double (20-10-8), while Justin Edwards scored a game-high 22 points in a 71-68 win over the Catamounts at Alfond Arena.
A LOOK AT VERMONT: The defending America East Champions, Vermont are 3-0 in conference play after going a perfect 16-0 in the America East last season. Maine seeks to end the Catamounts 24-game conference regular season winning streak, which started after a 100-93 loss against UMass Lowell on Feb. 8, 2016. This season, Vermont has four scorers that average double figures, led by Anthony Lamb 16.8 per contest. Lamb suffered a foot fracture and is out indefinitely, missing action since playing against Quinnipiac on Dec. 21. Trae Bell-Haynes (12.9 ppg, 4.2 apg), Ernie Duncan (12.2 ppg), and Payton Henson (11.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg) have stepped up respectively to lead Vermont to five consecutive wins without Lamb. As a team, the Catamounts excel in limiting turnovers (33
rd nationally in fewest turnovers) and fouls (41
st nationally in fewest fouls, along with sinking 41.3 percent of their 3-point opportunities (10
th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage). At Patrick Gymnasium this season, Vermont is a perfect 5-0.
SECOND HALF SUCCESS: While the Black Bears struggled offensively against UAlbany in the first half, Maine rebounded to put together an impressive performance in the second half against the Great Danes. Maine outscored UAlbany 56-36 over the course of the final 20 minutes, which marks the most points a half this season. The Black Bears ended the contest on a 40-15 run, as Maine shot an impressive 65.4 percent (17-for-26) from the floor, with 12 of the 17 field goals coming off assists. With the successful half, Maine has now combined to outscore the opposition by a mark of 714 to 699 in the 19 second-halves this season.
CALIXTE IN THE FINAL 20: Maine's success in the second half is often due to
Aaron Calixte's production during the second half. The redshirt junior has recorded at least 12 points in the second half of the past five games. Overall, Calixte has registered double-figures in scoring in nine of the 19 games this season. He is shooting above 50 percent from the floor (51 percent, 51-for-99) and beyond the arc (52 percent, 20-of-38). He leads Maine 8.7 points in the second halves on the season. The next Black Bear is averaging 4.7 in the final 20 minutes.
FOURISHING FLEMING: For the second-time this season,
Andrew Fleming has put together back-to-back games with 10-plus points. The sophomore scored 14 against UMBC last Wedneday, before dropping in 12 against UAlbany on Saturday. Over the past two games, Fleming has averaged 13 points, 4.5 rebounds per game, while only turning the ball over a combined four times.
UP NEXT
: Maine returns to the Cross Insurance Center on Thursday night, hosting Hartford at 7:00 p.m. The opening tip in Bangor is set for 7:00 pm. Tickets are available at
TicketMaster.com or by visiting the Cross Insurance Center box office.
-UMaine-
