Bears need improved guard play

If the University of Maine men’s basketball team is to snap out of a slump that has seen it lose five of its last six games, the Black Bears are going to have to start getting more consistent guard play.

That was the word from UM head coach Rudy Keeling Wednesday in the wake of Tuesday night’s 65-55 loss to Loyola of Chicago at the Bangor Auditorium.

Against Loyola, the Maine backcourt trio of Marty Higgins, Kevin Terrell, and Deonte Hursey combined for only six assists while committing eight turnovers. Four of those turnovers came in the final four minutes, when the Bears were trying to claw back from an 11-point deficit (58-47).

“Our inside guys scored, but we’ve got to get better play from our guards,” said Keeling, whose team takes a 4-7 record into Saturday’s game at Florida International.

“I thought we made poor decisions,” continued Keeling, referring to Maine’s total of 18 turnovers against the aggressive Loyola man-to-man defense. “They played the passing lanes, causing us to backcut. When teams do that, we should be able to execute.”

Keeling said Maine was particularly poor in its transition offense against Loyola.

“We didn’t get any easy baskets. There were four or five fast breaks where we didn’t get a shot. They’d steal the pass then they went down and scored. Take those out and we have a chance to win the game,” said the UM coach.

Senior guard Keir Rogers led Loyola with 17 points, including an alley-oop slam dunk off a lob pass from Hunter Atkins with 7:51 remaining to up the Ramblers’ lead to 52-43. Maine would get no closer than six points the rest of the way.

After scoring 15 first-half points, Maine forward Francois Bouchard got in early foul trouble in the second half, committing his fourth personal and sitting down with 12:06 left to play. Bouchard never got back in the offensive flow and finished with 17.

In addition to Rogers, a smooth 6-4 leaper, Loyola got 16 points inside from 6-7 junior Grant Moehring and 10 more from 6-3 reserve guard Hunter Atkins.

“I thought our defense was fine, but we fouled a little too much,” said Keeling, noting Loyola outscored Maine 16-4 at the foul line.

The Ramblers used a 9-2 run at the start of the second half to turn a one-point edge into a 42-34 advantage, thereby taking control of the game. Atkins scored a pair of fast-break layups, one off a Maine miss and the other off a turnover to fuel the burst. Rogers added two free throws and Moehring nailed a low turnaround jumper and a free throw.

Maine simply couldn’t put together a run until it was too late. The Bears couldn’t get the ball inside consistently in the second half to either 6-8 center Dan Hillman or Bouchard. And perimeter shooters Terrell (2-for-5) and Derrick Hodge (1-for-7) couldn’t find the range.

“We practiced today and had the guards stay and shoot 200 shots. They’ll do that until their shots come back,” said Keeling.

According to Keeling, he’ll stick with the same combinations of players, at least through the upcoming non-conference games against Florida International and Rider.

“These are things we can remedy. But we’re getting to the point where we have to get it done,” said Keeling.