The University of Maine men's basketball program returns home on Wednesday night to kick off a run of three straight at home, starting with a tilt against the Riverhawks of UMass-Lowell at 7:00 PM at the Cross Insurance Center.
Overall ...............................................UML, 10-4
Streak ....................................................UML, +1
Last 5 meetings.....................................UML, 4-1
First Meeting.........................11/28/84, W, 86-63
Last Meeting ............................2/27/19, L, 70-61
Last Win ......................................1/30/19, 78-59
LAST TIME OUT
The Black Bears fell in their third straight America East contest on Saturday afternoon, as the Great Danes of UAlbany held off a late run by the Black Bears to seal up the 76-70 victory at the SEFCU Arena. Maine was carried by a season-best effort from redshirt-junior
Nedeljko Prijovic who poured in a career-high 26 points on 9-16 shooting from the field.
Prijovic led Maine on a 15-4 run between the 3:53 and 0:30 mark of the final half to bring Maine back into it, but it was too little too late as UAlbany held on for the 76-70 victory. Prijovic led the way, setting new career-highs in points (26), field goals made (9), and three-point field goals made (5). He also chipped in four rebounds and an assist in 35 minutes.
Sergio El Darwich was the only other Black Bear to reach double-digit scoring, with 14 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.
Foul trouble ultimately sank Maine in this one, as the Black Bears committed a season-high 35 fouls to allow the Great Danes to go a massive 36-47 from the free-throw line to swing the balance in this one.
A LOOK AT THE RIVERHAWKS
UMass-Lowell carries the league's most powerful offensive unit into today's matchup, as they lead the conference in a slew of offensive categories. They rank first in points per game (74.9), field goal percentage (45.4), assist to turnover ratio (1.13), and assists per game (15.06). They've posted an 8-10 record so far, but sit at 2-1 in America East so far with wins over UMBC and Binghamton besides a single loss to Hartford so far.
The high octane Riverhawks offense runs through graduate student and Preseason All-Conference selection Christian Lutete. Lutete leads the conference and is 21st in the nation with 20.4 points per game, while also leading the conference in field goal percentage (53.7). Coming into the matchup with Maine, he's eclipsed 20+ points in five straight games.
The second option for UMass-Lowell can hardly be ignored, as Lutete partners with junior Obadiah Noel to form a vicious one-two-punch. Noel ranks fourth in the conference in points per game (17.1) and total minutes (633:24), while also ranking third in steals per game (1.61).
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