The University of Maine men’s basketball team had its four-game winning streak snapped on Monday night, falling to the University of Central Florida on the road, 74-51.
With the loss, UMaine moved to 8-5, and UCF improved to 7-3.
UCF was UMaine’s first of two Power Five opponents scheduled for this season, with Minnesota (8-3) away coming up Dec. 29.
UMaine hung with UCF until about the eight-minute mark, when the Knights kicked it into gear and turned an 8-8 tie into a 41-18 halftime lead. Outsized by approximately two inches per man, the Black Bears couldn’t drive to the basket comfortably, got into foul trouble early and were punished on the boards.
UCF outrebounded UMaine 24-14 in the first half, and attempted nearly double (23 to 12) the amount of free throws on the night.
Scoring wise, UMaine was led by true freshman Logan Carey (nine points off the bench) and senior forward Peter Filipovity (eight points; 4-for-7 shooting). As a team, UMaine shot 34.3 percent from the field, and just 1-for-19 from beyond the arc.
The Knights had three double-digit scorers in junior guard Jaylin Sellers (13 points; five made free throws), junior guard Darius Johnson (16 bench points) and senior forward Marchelus Avery (12 bench points). UCF shot 46.4 percent from the field and 8-for-19 from deep.
The silver linings for UMaine were the appearance of junior small forward AJ Lopez off the bench, and a turnover differential of 0 (both teams committed nine turnovers).
Lopez had missed UMaine’s last six games with a shoulder injury, and had been averaging 12.2 points per game. The transfer from the University of New Hampshire was rusty on Monday night, shooting just 1-for-9 with five points.
Next up, UMaine will travel south from Orlando to Miami to take on the Florida International University Panthers (4-8) on Thursday at 7 p.m. UCF beat FIU 86-62 on Nov. 6.
UMaine still has the most wins in the America East, tied with Vermont (8-4). UCF is third to last in the Big 12.
