NEWARK, N.J. — The University of Maine men’s basketball team’s shooting woes and penchant for turnovers continued and Seton Hall University took full advantage.
Seton Hall, picked to finish 14th in the 15-team Big East, cruised to its fourth win in five games and kept the Black Bears winless by virtue of a 76-49 triumph at the Prudential Center Wednesday night.
Maine (0-4) shot just 35 percent from the floor, including a dismal 1-for-17 showing from beyond the 3-point arc. Seton Hall shot 47 percent from the floor and had nine 3-pointers in 27 attempts (33 percent).
The Black Bears also turned the ball over 27 times, leading to 33 Seton Hall points.
Sophomore guard Aaron Cosby had a game-high 19 points for Seton Hall, junior guard-forward Fuquan Edwin had 15 points and six rebounds and junior guard-forward Brian Oliver contributed 10 points.
Sophomore guard Justin Edwards led the Black Bears with 18 points and junior forward Alasdair Fraser finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Seton Hall used a 17-3 spurt in the second half to transform a 38-31 lead into a comfortable 55-34 cushion with 10 minutes remaining.
Haralds Karliss’ 3-pointer triggered the flurry and, after Jon Mesghna put home his own rebound, Edwin banked in a 3-pointer and Cosby converted a layup off his steal to make it 46-33.
Maine’s Leon Cooper Jr. sank a free throw, but Cosby hit a 3-pointer and then hit a jumper following a Maine turnover.
Oliver hit a jumper to make it 53-34.
Another Seton Hall jumper expanded the lead before Xavier Pollard sank Maine’s only 3-pointer of the game after 14 misses.
Maine used an 8-0 run to pull within 13, but that was as close as the Black Bears would get.
Seton Hall took a 31-20 lead into intermission thanks to a 20-10 run to close out the half.
Edwards had 14 of Maine’s 20 first-half points.
Weren’t they “humbled” when they lost to Dartmouth & Brown ????
you would think so Nost. but apparently not. Getting beat by a better team is one thing, but I can go watch a 10 year old league and not see 27 turnovers in a game. Cindy Blodgett thinks this was an embarrassing performance.
I’d love to see someone investigate why Ted Woodward is still coaching the UM men’s basketball team. His career record at Maine now stands at 100-139 in 8+ seasons (it’s even worse if you take out wins over Division 3 teams). He is winning 41.8% of his games. Is it smart to pay a state employee $100,000 per year to not only fail…….but fail badly??? Not only do UM basketball fans and students deserve better………but Maine taxpayers do as well. Times are tough……..and to pay big money to someone like this year after year despite disastrous seasons and little to no return on investment is just plain insane.