Men’s basketball
MAINE vs. HARTFORD
Time, site: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Chase Arena, West Hartford, Connecticut
Records: UMaine 5-20 (3-7 America East), Hartford 12-12 (5-4)
Series, last meeting: Hartford leads 44-31, Hartford 77-76 on 1/16/2019
Key players, UMaine: 6-5 G Isaiah White (14.2 points, 3.5 rebounds per game), 6-7 F Andrew Fleming (13.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 3.2 assists), 6-4 G Sergio El Darwich (11.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.0 apg), 6-8 F Vilgot Larsson (7.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg); Hartford: 6-8 John Carroll (16.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg), 5-10 G J.R. Lynch (15.8 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.7 rpg, 2.3 steals), 6-4 G Josh Dunne (13.9 ppg, 3.2 apg), 6-8 F George Blagojevic (13.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg)
Game notes: This marks the rematch of one of UMaine’s more heartbreaking losses of the conference season. The Black Bears led by five points with 25 seconds left but lost when Carroll made two free throws with just 0.5 seconds remaining. The Black Bears are coming off a similarly frustrating 67-66 homecourt loss to Maryland, Baltimore County on Sunday after leading for more than 27 minutes. UMaine is 2-3 on the road in league play with a net 14-point advantage at halftime of those games. Hartford is 7-2 at home coming off a weekend bye after last Wednesday’s 70-61 win at UMBC. The senior-laden Hawks are fourth in the AE standings, three games behind first-place Vermont (9-1). UMaine is tied for seventh with Binghamton, two games ahead of last-place New Hampshire (1-9) and one-half game behind sixth-place Albany (3-6). UMaine hosts Albany at 1 p.m. Sunday. Lynch leads the conference in steals and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0) while ranking second in assists, free-throw percentage (.876) and 3-pointers per game (3.2). Hartford ranks first in 3-point percentage (.368), second in FT percentage (.753) and third in FG percentage (.438). UMaine is fourth in field-goal percentage (.433), seventh in FT percentage (.657) and last in 3-point shooting (.307).