As of Monday, it’s officially a record-setting season for the University of Maine men’s basketball team.
Unfortunately for the Black Bears, the most recent milestone is for their futility.
By virtue of Monday’s 65-55 nonconference loss to New Jersey Institute of Technology at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, coach Bob Walsh’s team has dropped 12 consecutive games.
That makes this the longest losing streak in 93-plus seasons for UMaine dating back to the inception of the program in 1904.
The previous worst stretch of games for the Black Bears came during the 1948-1949 campaign, when coach George Allen’s ballclub lost 11 in a row amidst a 4-14 season.
UMaine teams also endured 10-game skids during the 1950-1951 and 2007-2008 seasons. Only a year ago, former coach Ted Woodward’s squad went through losing streaks of eight, six and six games en route to a 6-23 finish that matched the ’07-08 team for most losses in a season.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that this year’s team would struggle mightily.
A new coaching staff and new philosophies usually mean some growing pains even with a solid nucleus in the fold. However, they inherited a program in disarray, especially after starting guards Xavier Pollard and guard Dimitry Akanda-Coronel decided to transfer.
Bob Walsh and his staff arrived to find the Black Bears lacking any proven all-conference-caliber talent and devoid of frontcourt size and depth.
UMaine’s pre-existing deficiencies in talent, experience and defensive skills have been magnified by playing three freshmen in key roles.
Walsh has not once used any of the aforementioned factors as excuses for his team’s poor performance when speaking with media. Instead, he is focusing on his team’s intensity and resolve, especially as they pertain to consistency of effort and effectiveness on the defensive end.
“Mentally, we’ve all got to get tougher,” Walsh said on Monday. “One of the things we need to work on is handling stuff that’s hard, handling it when things don’t go our way.”
Through Monday’s games, UMaine ranked No. 334 of 351 Division I teams in the Rating Percentage Index that is used to help select teams for tournament seeding.
In terms of statistics, the Black Bears are ranked in the bottom 9 percent of 355 teams in 19 different categories. Only 11 teams have allowed their opponents to shoot a higher percentage than UMaine (.516) and just 13 teams have let opponents shoot a higher percentage from the 3-point arc than the Bears (.407).
It appears as though no amount of hard work and dedication is going to result in a short-term reversal of fortune for the Black Bears, who continue to work on developing a winning mentality.
“[We have to] practice being tough, making every single play, finishing out every single play and holding guys accountable for toughness, too,” said freshman guard Aaron Calixte. “If someone doesn’t get a rebound, you’ve got to tell him ‘you’ve got to get that.’ If you don’t, they’re going to think it’s OK, so I think holding your teammates accountable is a big way to make sure everybody’s playing tough all the time.”
Walsh has repeatedly taken the blame for his team’s performance and did so again on Monday.
“It starts with me. It’s my fault,” he said, referring specifically to UMaine’s defensive deficiencies.
Despite the struggles that have come with the losing streak, the players have maintained a positive outlook. There is no finger-pointing.
“It’s everybody’s job,” said senior Zarko Valjarevic. “It’s me, it’s coach, it’s everybody else and we’re clearly not doing a great job right now. We’ve just got to try to stick together, which we did, and try to figure it out.”
Junior guard Shaun Lawton, the top holdover from the Woodward era, remains optimistic.
“It’s tough every day when you don’t get the results you want, but coach has been on us,” he said. “He pushes us every day because he believes in us. We’ve just got to believe in each other and keep fighting. I feel like the wins will start coming.”