Twelve games into year two of head coach Chris Markwood’s tenure, the University of Maine men’s basketball team appeared to be living up to the hype, starting off the season with an 8-4 record — its best start since 2003-04. But five weeks later, things have become a lot murkier.
As of last week’s disappointing loss to the University of New Hampshire at home, the Black Bears are in the midst of a strange five-game losing streak, in which they’ve seemingly lost their strong defensive identity. Through its first 12 games, UMaine allowed just 63.2 points per game (Vermont currently leads America East with 64.4 ppg allowed), but since then has allowed 74.6 ppg.
The Black Bears’ losses to Florida International, Vermont and UNH in this stretch have been especially atypical, giving up second half leads in all three games. If UMaine is going to right the ship — which it definitely can — it’s going to come from playing tenacious defensive basketball for all 40 minutes.
“We’re playing for a [Conference] championship now, and we’ve got the pieces to do it,” Markwood said. “Defense fuels everything we do; we really pride ourselves on that side of the ball. You gotta stick to what you do well, and adjust to what [the opponent] takes away. We have to make the adjustments that are costing us these games.”
In UMaine’s losses to FIU, Vermont and UNH, the Black Bears’ first half defense was spectacular, allowing an average of 31.6 points and 5.6 free throw attempts. In the second half, however, these numbers ballooned to 43.6 and 14.3, respectively, despite UMaine’s slow, calculated style of play.
“We just have to get a few possessions better, and do a better job of defending physically without fouling,” Markwood said. “We’re not tired, so it’s about who’s executing better and playing harder down the stretch. We’ve had key turnovers at bad times.”
Leading FIU by two with 13 minutes to go, UMaine gave up three steals in less than 20 seconds, leading to a 10-0 Panther run and an 82-74 loss. Leading UNH by 11 with 5:25 to go, UMaine committed a foul and three turnovers in less than a minute, leading to a 10-0 Wildcat run and a 79-74 loss.
Interestingly enough, UMaine has the best turnover margin (plus-2.24) in America East by a long shot. Bryant University is the next best in the Conference at plus-1.17.
“We don’t really turn the ball over,” Markwood said. “If we got a possession or two better individually, these would be 10-point wins. We’re evolving. I’m excited to see how we handle the adversity.”