ORONO, Maine -- Squaring off for the 189^th time, the Maine Black Bears host rival New Hampshire on Wednesday night at the Cross Insurance Center. The opening tip is slated for 7:00 p.m. in Bangor.

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BEACH NIGHT: Wednesday night's game marks Beach Night at the Cross Insurance Center. The first 300 fans will receive Maine Black Bear sunglasses. Fans dressed in beach attire will have a chance to win a $50 gift card to Dunkin Donuts! Get out of the cold and come see Maine battle its oldest rival.
 
COACH WALSH CHALK TALK: Before every home America East Conference game, fans can hear Coach Bob Walsh breakdown the upcoming game on the club level (third floor) of the Cross Insurance Center behind the Maine bench. Wednesday's edition of Chalk Talk starts at 6:30 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Leading 38-33 at the half, the Hartford Hawks shot 63 percent (17-27) from the field in the final 20 minutes to down Maine 86-68 at the Cross Insurance Center on Thursday night. Aaron Calixte connected on a game high 21-points in the loss. Calixte shot 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) from the floor, while grabbing four rebounds and dishing three assists in 37 minutes played. The redshirt junior's 10 made field goals is a new career-high.
 
THE SERIES: New Hampshire is Maine's oldest rival, with the Black Bears and Wildcats first meeting in the 1904-05 season. Maine leads the all-time series by a count of 118-70, but UNH has won six consecutive meetings. The streak of six is UNH's second longest winning streak in the series, as the Wildcats won eight straight from 1924-1929. Maine last defeated UNH in the 2013-14 season finale, with the Black Bears prevailing, 73-69 at the Cross Insurance Center on March 2, 2014. Five Black Bears reached double-figures in contest, with Troy Reid-Knight and Till Gloger each recording 15 points to lead Maine. Gloger added 14 rebounds in a double-double performance. New Hampshire led 45-35 at the break, but Maine fought back to outscore the Wildcats 38-34 in the final 20 minutes. The Black Bear and Wildcats nearly met at least once (often twice) per season since 1904, with the exceptions from 1910-1920 and between 1929-1935 when Maine didn't field an official basketball team. UNH did not field an official team in the 1943-44 and 1944-45 seasons. The only season where both universities sponsored an official team that Maine and New Hampshire didn't meet was in the 1935-36 season. The two rivals, that have campuses separated by 200 miles, have met every season since the 1945-46 season.  
 
A LOOK AT UNH: The Wildcats are currently tied for second in the America East standings, with a 4-2 conference record. Winners of three of its last four, New Hampshire snuck by Stony Brook 53-51 in its last game on Sunday. New Hampshire struggles away from Durham, with just one win (1/15/18, UMass Lowell, 74-62) in seven games away from Lundholm Gymnasium. Rebounding and making free throws are UNH's two biggest strengths, ranking seventh nationally in rebounding margin ( 8.8 per game), and ninth in the country in free throw percentage (77.8 percent). Two seniors lead the Wildcats, as Tanner Leissner stands with 1,766 career points, the second most in school history, while Iba Camara became the school's career rebounding leader on Jan. 21.
 
CALIXTE IN CONFERENCE: While Aaron Calixte has been Maine's top offensive threat all season, the redshirt junior has stepped up to another level since conference play started. He's averaging nearly 20 points (19.8 ppg) 2.8 rebounds, and four assists per conference game this game. In conference play, he ranks second best in the conference with 19.8 ppg and a 63.2 field goal percentage. His 4.0 assists per game mark the fourth most in conference. He has scored at least 16 points in all conference games, and has eclipsed the 20-point mark in three of six games so far.
 
NEARING 1K: Entering the UNH game, Calixte has scored 924 points in his career. He looks to become the 30^th Black Bear to reach the milestone, and the first since Gerald McLemore accomplished the feat in the 2011 season.
 
UP NEXT: Maine ventures to Maryland this Saturday to take on UMBC. The tip is slated for 1:00 p.m. in Baltimore.

-UMaine-