BANGOR, Maine — The University of Maine men’s basketball team has a highly anticipated matchup awaiting it Saturday against fifth-ranked Duke at iconic Cameron Indoor Stadium.
But it was a much less heralded band of Blue Devils that convincingly took down the Black Bears on Wednesday night.
Khalen Cumberlander totaled 13 points to lead six Central Connecticut scorers in double figures and these New Britain, Connecticut-based Blue Devils rolled to an 82-61 victory before an announced gathering of 836 at the Cross Insurance Center.
CCSU, picked to finish last in the Northeast Conference, is now 2-3 overall while UMaine drops to 2-5.
“I just thought it was a terrible performance,” said Black Bears’ coach Bob Walsh. “It was really brutal offensively and defensively. I’m really disappointed in myself, disappointed in our team. There’s not a ton to say. It was a terrible performance from start to finish and give Central credit, they took advantage of it and they took it to us.”
The Black Bears had few defensive answers for Central Connecticut’s quickness and ball movement, which led to a 33-for-56 shooting night for the Blue Devils — 10-of-14 from beyond the 3-point arc.
“We felt that Maine kind of lacked defensively,” said CCSU forward Mustafa Jones, who had 12 points and six rebounds. “Their defensive intensity wasn’t up to par and the coaches did a great job of putting us in positions where we could get open to create for others or create shots.”
Only freshman forward Andrew Fleming of South Paris was able to provide consistent play for UMaine. The 2016 Maine Gatorade High School Player of the Year from Oxford Hills High School finished with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Ilker Er added 11 points for the Black Bears.
Austin Nehls and Tyson Batiste added 12 points each for CCSU, while Tafari Whittingham had 11 points and nine rebounds and Eric Bowles scored 10 points.
“We were two teams that were striving for a win and we knew we had to come out and play hard,” said first-year Central Connecticut coach Donyell Marshall, the former University of Connecticut All-American and 15-year NBA veteran. “We played the way we wanted to play. We executed, we got the ball inside the paint and we got easier shots today. Because we got the ball inside we were able to kick it out, and we didn’t put pressure on ourselves.”
Central Connecticut made its first eight shots to take a 21-15 lead with 11:14 left in the first half, with back-to-back 3-pointers by Nehls and Bowles breaking a 15-15 tie.
And as efficient as the Blue Devils’ offense was early on, the defense limited UMaine to one field goal over the final 8:25 of the half after Er’s 3-pointer from the right corner cut the deficit to 30-21.
UMaine went 7:38 without a basket against Central Connecticut’s man-to-man defense after Er’s long-distance strike.
While the Blue Devils struggled at times offensively after UMaine switched from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone, a 3-pointer by Batiste and a banked-in drive from the lane by Bowles gave Central Connecticut its 17-point intermission lead.
UMaine was leading scorer Wes Myers for most of the first half after he picked up two fouls in the game’s first 1:34. The 6-foot-2 guard, who entered the game averaging 13.8 points per outing, finished the night with just six points.
UMaine, which averaged 11.3 turnovers in its first six games, had 12 turnovers in the first half alone against Central Connecticut while shooting 9-for-28 from the field and 3-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Central Connecticut built its lead to as much as 18 early in the second half, but back-to-baskets by Fleming — the second a one-handed follow-up dunk — narrowed UMaine’s deficit to 50-38 and prompted a CCSU timeout with 13:23 remaining.
The Blue Devils quickly built their lead back to 18 points at 60-42 on two deep 3-pointers by Cumberlander and two drives by Seymour.
UMaine’s Jaquan McKennon fed Marko Pirovic for a layup after a CCSU turnover and then scored on a drive to make it 60-46, and Fleming followed a media timeout with two free throws to make it a 12-point game again with 9:45 left.
But the Black Bears couldn’t make enough stops down the stretch, and when Batiste beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer from the right corner, the CCSU lead was 70-51 with 6:32 to play.
“We couldn’t guard them the whole game,” said Walsh. “They got the shots they wanted on almost every possession.”
