ORONO, Maine – After a quick road trip to Baltimore, the Maine Black Bears (5-18, 2-6 AE) return to the Cross Insurance Center on Wednesday night to face UMass Lowell (8-12, 2-6 AE) to close the first half of the America East Schedule. The opening tip in Bangor is set for 7:00 p.m.
 

TICKETS

WATCH (ESPN3)

LISTEN

LIVE STATS

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: With Maine holding a 36-35 lead at the half, UMBC put together a scoring run of 31-6 to start the second half. The Black Bears could not come back from the deficit, falling 86-74 on Saturday afternoon in the final men's basketball game at RAC Arena.
 
A LOOK AT UMASS LOWELL: After going 0-5 to start conference play, UMass Lowell has won two of three, but fell to Hartford 77-70 in its last game on Saturday. The Black Bears and River Hawks are tied for eighth in the conference standings, with a 2-6 record in the America East. Jahad Thomas does it all for UMass Lowell, ranking second in the America East in scoring (19.5 ppg.), third in field goal percentage (.514) assists (4.1 per game), and steals (1.7 per game), along with ranking fifth in rebounding (7.7 rpg.). He leads the River Hawks in all of those categories as well. Thomas was named America East Co-Player of the Week on Monday, averaging 25 points on 67 percent shooting (18-27) in two games last week. He also grabbed 9.5 rebounds per game with a total of 10 assists and three steals. The River Hawks struggle when traveling, with only one road win (Binghamton 79-71, on Jan. 21) in eight opportunities.
 
THE SERIES: UMass Lowell holds a 3-7 advantage in the all-time series, with the two teams splitting the two meetings last season. When the two teams last met at the Cross Insurance Center on Jan. 11, 2017, Wes Myers drained a last second jumper to lift the Black Bears to a 73-71 win. He totaled 31 points in the win. UMass Lowell was led by Tyler Livingston (24 pts., 10 reb.) and Jahad Thomas (17 pts., 11 reb.), who both registered double-doubles.
 
WHITE'S HOMECOMING: Isaiah White returned home to his home state of Maryland on Saturday, and put together one of his best offensive performances of the season against UMBC. The Ellicott City native (approx. 15 minutes away from UMBC), scored a career-high 22 points on an efficient 9-of-12 shooting (3-4 3-PT), grabbed seven rebounds, dished three assists, along with recording two steals in 32 minutes played. White's previous high of 21 points came against Saint Joseph's on Dec. 17.
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Maine has played its best basketball when playing at the Cross Insurance Center this season, outscoring the opposition by a total of 584 to 567, including a mark of 325 to 294 in second halves. The majority of Maine's team statistics are improved when playing in Bangor, including points per game (73.0 to 64.6), points allowed per game (70.9 to 77.6), field goal percentage (.430 to .394), free throw percentage (.736 to .673), assists per game (13.6 to 11.5) and steals per game (8.9 to 5.2). Aaron Calixte averages over three more points per game at the Cross Center than on the road (18.5 to 15.4). Maine looks to win back-to-back home
 
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: In the first half against UMBC, the Black Bears put together one of its most efficient shooting performances of the season, knocking in 16-of-29 shots from the floor. Maine made 40 percent of its shots from long distance (4-10), and recorded assists on half of its 16 field goals. The half marked the second most shooting efficient half of the season. Against Quinnipiac on Nov. 26, the Black Bears shot an impressive 64.3 percent (18-28, 10-14 3PT) from the field.
 
NEARING 1K: With 14 points against UMBC on Saturday, Calixte now stands at 962 career points entering the UMBC game on Saturday. He looks to become the 30^th Black Bear to reach the 1,000 point club, and the first since Gerald McLemore accomplished the feat in 2011.
 
UP NEXT: Following the matchup with the River Hawks, the Black Bears return to the action on Saturday, hosting Binghamton at 7:00 p.m. 
 
-UMaine-