ORONO, Maine – As the America East season looms, the University of Maine men's basketball team looks to start conference play on the right foot at the defending America East Champion UMBC on Saturday afternoon at the UMBC Events Center. The conference opener will be broadcasted online on ESPN 3, while Ron Lisnet will be on radio waves on 96.1 WGUY FM, along with streams available on goblackbears.com and the TuneIn Radio app.
LAST TIME OUT: Trailing by as much as 19 points in the second half, the University of Maine men's basketball team whittled the Brown lead to just two points with less than three minutes left, but Brown responded by going 8-for-8 from the free throw line to earn a 75-67 victory at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Wednesday night.
THE SERIES: UMBC leads the all-time series by a 19-13 mark, winning the last eight games against the Black Bears. Maine last edged UMBC on Feb. 1 2014, in a 83-80 victory at the Cross Insurance Center. Maine held off a late second half surge by the Retrievers, as Xavier Pollard and Zarko Valjarevic both tallied 18 points in the win. Last season at UMBC on Jan. 27, Maine held a 36-25 lead at the half, but the Retrievers outscored Maine 51-38 in the second half to win the final men's basketball game at RAC Arena.
SCOUTING MAINE: Maine seeks to win its America East opener for the first time since the 2013-14 season, when the Black Bears (2-13) downed Binghamton 82-66 on Jan. 5, 2014 at the Cross Insurance Center. Over the past three games,
Isaiah White (17.7 ppg),
Sergio El Darwich (17.0 ppg) and
Andrew Fleming (16.7 ppg) have grabbed the reigns of the offense. All three have been very efficient from the floor during that time, with El Darwich shooting at an impressive .588 clip from the floor, with Fleming sinking .487 percent of his shots and
Isaiah White draining .459 of his attempts. Fleming has brought down a team-high 7.0 rebounds during that span. After ranking last in the America East in assists (11.8 apg) in 2017-18, Maine enters conference play ranked third in the conference this season (14.40 apg). The Black Bears have shot at a .436 clip on its field goal attempts this season, which ranks fourth best (.436) in the conference, while holding opponents to shoot at a .441 clip which is also fourth-best among America East foes.
SCOUTING UMBC: The Retrievers are 8-7 on the season, with three of their victories coming against non-Division I teams, including their last two wins against Centenary (98-48) and Hood (86-65). Falling against their last three DI matchups, UMBC last defeated a DI team on Dec. 8. Against Drexel. The Retrievers depend on the long ball, attempting the 12
th most 3-pointers in the nation among all 351 teams in the country. The squad also emphasizes a stout defense, allowing just 65.5 points per game, which leads the America East and ranks 55
th in the nation. Only 18 teams in the country have taken the ball away more than UMBC this season, which averages 8.2 steals per game and have forced the 29
th most turnovers of any teams this season. While Jairus Lyles and K.J. Maura graduated, Joe Sherburne returns and has shot a very efficient 53.1 percent from the floor, a blistering 47.8 from deep, and is almost automatic from the charity stripe (91.7 percent). His 14.4 points per game leads the team, while Brandon Horvath and K.J. Jackson also average double-figures.
UP NEXT: Maine heads back home for the first time in 2019 on Jan. 9, taking on America East preseason favorite Vermont. The opening tip at the Cross Insurance Center is set for 7:00 p.m. against the Catamounts. For tickets, head to the Cross Insurance Center box office or visit
ticketmaster.com.
-UMaine-
