Two America
East men's basketball programs will look to extend their historic starts
in conference play when Maine and Stony Brook take the floor Wednesday.
The Black
Bears (8-5, 2-0 AE) go for their first 3-0 America East start in 12
years against Boston U. (5-11, 1-1 AE) in Orono while the Seawolves
(8-6, 3-0 AE) look for their first-ever 4-0 league start at UMBC (2-13,
1-2 AE). Also on the docket is Albany (10-7, 2-1 AE) hosting New
Hampshire (5-8, 0-2 AE) at SEFCU Arena, where the home team is 5-0 this
season. All three games start at 7 p.m.
Maine,
which last had a 2-0 conference start in 2004-05, has only began 3-0 in
America East twice previously, acheiving the feat during the 1995-96
and 1999-2000 seasons. The Black Bears, who have won two straight and
five of their last six, feature one of the league's most potent
offenses, averaging a league-best 76.2 points per game and shooting a
conference-best 47.7 percent from the floor.
The
Terriers are coming off their first conference win, a 68-49 defeat of
Binghamton on Sunday, which snapped their seven-game losing skid. The
game features two of league's prolific scorers in Maine's Gerald
McLemore, who's tied for 11th nationally (20.5 ppg) and Boston U.'s
Darryl Partin (19.8 ppg), who ranks 21st. Boston U. has won six of the
last eight get togethers but Maine won the last two meetings at Alfond
Arena.
Stony
Brook has been 3-0 in conference play once before, during its
regular-season championship season of 2009-10, but has never started 4-0
since joining America East in 2001. The Seawolves have won five
straight overall with an average margin of victory of 10.8 points per
game during that span. The Seawolves are playing their ever-steady
defense again this season and rank second in America East in scoring
defense, holding opponents to 62.7 points per game. Stony Brook is also
much improved on the offense end and is averaging 67.7 points per game,
which ranks third in the conference, a +6.7 ppg difference from last
year.
UMBC
split its first two games of league play, beating New Hampshire and
falling to Albany. Chase Plummer, who is one of just three players to
rank in the league's top 10 in both scoring (6th - 14.6 ppg) and
rebounding (5th - 7.8 rpg), has upped his game against conference foes,
averaging
21.7 points and 6.0 rebounds through three games. The Retrievers hope
to end their losing skid against the Seawolves, who have won the last
six meetings in the series.
Albany
suffered its first conference loss Sunday but returns to the friendly
confines of SEFCU Arena, where they have won eight straight games dating
back to last season. The Great Danes, who have won five of their last
seven overall, feature a lethal trio of scoring guards in Gerardo Suero
(22.5 ppg), who ranks fourth nationally in scoring, Logan Aronhalt (15.7
ppg) and Mike Black (12.8 ppg) who average over 50 points of the team's
73.9 points per game, which ranks second in the league.
New
Hampshire will try to end a two-game slide and pick up its first league
win after dropping contests to UMBC and Hartford last week. The
Wildcats have had success of late against Albany, winning six of the
last eight meetings in the series. Albany's high-scoring offense will be
challenged by New Hampshire's stellar defense, which is holding foes to
63.5 ppg, which ranks third in the league, and is limiting them to 43
percent shooting.
View the full Daily Update here
Upcoming Action
Wednesday, January 11
Boston U. at Maine, 7 p.m. -- Live Stats | Live Video | Maine Audio | Boston U. Audio
New Hampshire at Albany, 7 p.m. -- Live Stats | Live Video | Albany Audio
Stony Brook at UMBC, 7 p.m. -- Live Stats | Live Video | UMBC Audio | Stony Brook Audio