MAINE
Record: 6-20 (3-8 America East)
Last Game: L, 71-56, at New Hampshire 2/8
Last 10: 3-7
CM Unofficial Line: Stony Brook -4.5
Last Meeting: Stony Brook 71-70 on 1/3/18; Iroegbu go-ahead three with 2.5 seconds left; squandered 20-point second-half lead
KenPom RPI: Stony Brook 239, Maine 334
KenPom Prediction: Stony Brook 71, Maine 65
Listen/Watch:TV:
http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3273508/stony-brook-vs-maineMaine radio:
http://goblackbears.com/showcaseStony Brook radio:
http://whliam.tunegenie.com/Notables:5-11/185 sr G Aaron Calixte 16.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, .476 FG%, .896 FT%, .374 3-pt FG%
6-6/180 fr G Isaiah White 10.2 ppg, 4.7 ppg
6-7/220 so F Andrew Fleming 9.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg
6-6/210 sr F Ilker Er 8.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg
6-5/180 fr G Vernon Lowndes Jr. 6.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, .495 FG%
I know what happened the last game, but we did at one point have a 20-point lead on these guys. They were hitting everything late, particularly Calixte, and crawled all the way back. Even though we've had our own struggles, I bumped my line all the way up to 4.5 because Maine has had an occasional success but also some real black eyes – a 24-point loss at home to Lowell, an 18-point home loss to Hartford, to name a few. We bark about our own poor shooting, but Maine's down another level – just 40 percent from the floor, and under 30 percent from three.
White has turned into a nice second option behind Calixte, so as long as nobody jumps ship, Walsh should have a solid backcourt going into next year. White's gone for 20-plus in two of the last four contests, including a career-high 23 in their overtime win over Binghamton a week ago. He was one of a few supporting cast members who brought Maine back into by bombing on us from deep – he had one, and Ashley and Stojiljkovic had two apiece in the second half.
One thing I worry about is any matchup with Calixte. Mac is an inferior defender who is prone to foul trouble. I don't have that much more confidence in Cornish. Maybe UC. Olaniyi seems to be our new lockdown guy. Does it make sense for him mark the smaller guy, or should we expect him on the longer, leaner White? Or do we mix in some zone?
I feel like maybe we're settling into a groove. Maybe all the lineup shuffling is settling down here. Garcia was a DNP-CD last night, and Almonacy earned that distinction for a third straight game. Ty's been given a long leash, but as we're hitting the home stretch, he played just 12 minutes last night. Seniority be damned. Who's going to be play hard on both ends of the floor? Yeboah, Iroegbu, Olaniyi – that's our core. Their energy is too important to what we're doing. And I think we'll see a fairly even split with Mac and Cornish at the point, and then a mix of Ty, Ochefu and Petras at the 4/5 depending on what our needs are. Sprinkle in Sekunda and Saintel.
I'd love a result just like last night. We're the better team. Go out and show it from the jump and maintain our authority for 40 minutes.