TIPPING OFF: After playing at the Cross Insurance Center five of their last seven games, the Maine Black Bears (6-21, 3-9 AE) commence a three-game road trip on Thursday with a trip to Hartford (14-11, 7-4 AE). Tipoff against the Hawks is slated for 7:00 p.m. at Chase Arena in West Hartford.
LAST TIME OUT: With Maine leading 59-55 with 3:13 to go, the Black Bears could not hold off a late 9-2 run by Stony Brook, falling 64-61 on Sunday afternoon at the Cross Insurance Center. Maine nearly tied the contest on a last second 3-pointer, but the shot bounced off the rim to end the hard fought bout.
A LOOK AT HARTFORD: With a 7-4 conference record, the Hawks currentley sit in third place in the America East. Hartford fell 69-63 in a home loss to UAlbany in its last game, but won the three games prior with wins over UMass Lowell (77-70), New Hampshire (79-62), and Stony Brook (73-63). John Carroll excels on botht he offensive and defensive end for the Hawks, ranking in the top-10 in the America East in field goal percentage (5
th .487), block shots (5
th, 1.0 per game), scoring (6
th, 15.6 ppg), and rebounding (6
th, 6.1 rpg). In conference games, Hartford boasts the second-best scoring offense (72.9 points per game), the most assists per game (14.6 per game), and the third best field goal percentage defense (.428).
THE SERIES: Thursday's matchup with the Hawks marks the 70
th matchup all-time against Hartford. The Hawks lead the series by a mark of 39-30, including winners of two-straight. While Hartford won the last meeting on Jan. 18, the Black Bears earned a 52-41 win last season on Feb. 6, 2017. Maine trailed by one point at 21-20 at the half, but outscored Hartford 32-20 in the final 20 minutes to earn its sixth win of the season.
Andrew Fleming recorded a game-high 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting, along with grabbing eight boards in 32 minutes played.
THE LAST MEETING: 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 Jan 18.
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 was a new career-high.
FROM THE STRIPE: Through 27 games,
Aaron Calixte's has been one of the nation's most efficient free throw shooters, leading the America East and ranking 22
nd in the country in free throw percentage (89.7 percent). Calixte put together a Maine school record of making 37 consecutive free throws during a 10 game span from Nov. 11 to Jan. 3. Recently, Calixte strung together a 25 made free throw streak, but was snapped after missing one of his 11 free throw attempts last Sunday against Stony Brook. His 10 free throws made against the Seawolves marked a new career-high, and he became this first Black Bear to record 10 in a game since Dec. 10, 2016.
SO CLOSE: Sunday's 64-61 loss to Stony Brook marked the fifth time this season that the Black Bears lost a game by five points or less. Three of the five losses came in America East play, including both meetings against Stony Brook (Jan. 3, 71-70), along with a home contest against UMBC (72-67) on Jan. 10. The other two games came in one-point overtime losses to Sacred Heart (69-68) and Fordham (67-66).
UP NEXT: Maine will nearly have a week off, making the trip to UMass Lowell on Wed. Feb. 21 for a 7:00 p.m. tip at the Tsongas Center.
