ORONO, Maine - For the second straight game the University of Maine men's basketball team hosts a non-conference opponent at the Cross Insurance Center, this time bringing in the Quinnipiac University Bobcats for a 1:00 tip on Sunday afternoon.

The game is also the latest date on Maine's promotional calendar, as the afternoon has been deemed Ugly Sweater Day at the Cross Insurance Center. Fans who arrive in their favorite Ugly Sweater will be entered into a raffle to win gift cards to the Bear Necessities fan shop. 

Quinnipiac at Maine | Broadcast | International Broadcast | Live Stats | Radio | Tickets
FULL GAME NOTES (PDF)
Date: Sunday, December 15^th
Time: 1:00 PM
Site: Cross Insurance Center, More Info
Overall: 5-5
Streak: L, 1
Last 4 meetings: 2-2
First Meeting: Nov. 20, 2007, Maine W, 64-59
Last Meeting: Nov. 25, 2018, Quinnipiac W, 58-50
Last Maine Win: Nov. 26, 2017, 78-72
Most points scored: 98, Dec. 29, 2015, Maine W at home, 98-95
Most points allowed: 102, Nov. 25, 2013, Quinnipiac W, 102-61
Largest Margin of Victory: +7, Nov. 25, 2008, at Quinnipiac, 73-66

KEEPING UP WITH THE BLACK BEARS

• The Black Bears returned to their home court at the Cross Insurance Center for the first time since November 6th following eight straight road contests on Wednesday night, falling to Dartmouth by a 77-44 final.
• Maine stays home for today's matchup with Quinnipiac, but then it's right back on the road for dates at UMass (Dec. 20) and Hawaii (Dec. 29) to finish the 2019 leg of the '19-'20 season. 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Bears fell in their return to the Cross Insurance Center on Wednesday night, as the Dartmouth Big Green dispatched the Black Bears by a 77-44 final score. 
• Dartmouth opened the game on an 11-0 run to set the tone early, as Maine managed to trim the lead back down to five after a Mykhailo Yagodin three-ball made it 15-10. The Big Green put up another big run though, this time a 9-0 run, and the Black Bears never could quite close the gap. The buzzer sounded, and the Ivy League visitors walked away with the 77-44 victory.
• Andrew Fleming led Maine offensively with 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists on the evening. 
• Nedeljko Prijovic had another great game on the glass, pulling down nine rebounds.
• Maine's shooting woes continued, as they put forth a 34.7/27.8/50.0 shooting line on the evening.

BATTLE TESTED BEARS 

• The Black Bears enter the week ranked 21^st in the nation by ESPN and 27^th by KenPom.com in strength of schedule across all of Division I men's basketball.
• Vermont is the next highest-ranked America East team in each ranking, coming in at 38^th on ESPN and 52^nd on KenPom.com. 

GRIT AND GRIND BASKETBALL

• Maine's team profile is beginning to emerge here as we near the halfway point of the season, as evidenced by their standing in the conference team statistic rankings. They rank first in the America East and in the nation in assist to field goal percentage, registering an assist on 71.8% of their field goal makes this year.
• They also rank first in the conference in rebounds allowed (29.8) and fewest total fouls (159), third in 3-point field goal defense (30.3%) and in rebounding margin (+3.9), blocks per game (3.6), and assists per game (15.3).

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR

• Maine features one of the youngest and most international rosters in the America East and the nation this season with seven freshmen on their roster this year. Of those seven, six different nations are represented, as Maine features players from Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Serbia, Turkey, and the United States. Overall, Maine has representatives from ten different countries, with Lebanon, Latvia, Ukraine, and England being represented by the returning players.

QUINNIPIAC QUICK FACTS

• The Quinnipiac Bobcats return to the Cross Insurance Center for the first time since the 2015-16 season, as they've hosted the last two matchups after playing Maine at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland during the 2016-17 season. The Bobcats have posted a 3-4 record so far this season, coming into today fresh off a 75-67 victory over Maine-rival New Hampshire on the 7th of December their last time out. They've also picked up wins over UAlbany and Presbyterian so far this season, alongside losses to Brown, Miami, Sacred Heart, and Farleigh Dickinson. 
• Quinnipiac's offense ranks second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference at 73.0 points per game, behind a 44.5/35.3/74.1 shooting line that ranks in the top-three in the conference by all three measures. The team also ranks first in assist to turnover ratio at a 1.04 mark this year. 
• Their offensive prowess is due in large part to the conference's leading scorer, Rich Kelly, who averages 17.4 points a contest on 44.7/44.4/75.0 shooting. He went off against UNH last time out for 36 points on 13-18 shooting from the floor.
• Kevin Marfo is the conference's leading rebounder at a massive 12.7 per game (4.1 offensive, 8.6 defensive), also ranking as the second-highest rebounding average in the nation, and Rich Kelly ranks third in the MAAC with 4.4 assists per game. 
• Baker Dunleavy, who was the associate head coach for a national-title winning team at Villanova in 2016, enters his third season as the head coach of the Quinnipiac men's basketball program in 2019-20.

For all the latest news and updates regarding Maine Basketball, stay tuned to GoBlackBears.com and the social media handle @BlackBearsMBB on Instagram and Twitter.