ORONO – University of Maine men’s basketball coach Rudy Keeling came into this season promising a more exciting, fast-paced brand of basketball.

The Black Bears put both elements together beautifully Monday night at the Alfond Arena while breezing to a comfortable 114-87 victory over Central Connecticut.

The outcome was decided early in the first half as Maine dismantled the Blue Devils in every facet of the contest. The Bears improved to 2-3, while CentConn slipped to 1-6 and its sixth consecutive loss.

The 114 points scored by the Bears were the most since Maine scored 121 against Bates during the 1977-78 season.

Maine’s scrappy full-court pressure led to numerous turnovers and the hosts cashed in often as they displayed superior athleticism and depth.

The Bears came up with a school-record 21 steals, spearheaded by sophomore Casey Arena, who tied a UMaine single-game mark with eight steals. Arena also handed out nine assists.

Francois Bouchard, Ed Jones, and Ken Barnes headed a list of six Maine double-figure scorers with 17 points each. It was the best scoring output of Jones’ career. Bouchard also snatched a game-high 14 rebounds.

Freshman Ramone Jones tossed in 14 points, his best effort to date, while Chris Collins had a career-high 13 points and Arena added 11.

Arena was happy with the team’s effort, but isn’t convinced the Devils are a quality opponent.

“I think a lot of the transition was off steals,” Arena said. “I don’t think we’ll get that in many more games. We did push the ball pretty well tonight, but when you face better teams and high competition, you’re not going to get that.”

This may be the most exciting Maine team in recent memory because of its overall athleticism. Ed Jones treated the small crowd to four dunks as the Bears sent the ball down nine times on the night.

The Black Bears wasted no time setting the tone for the contest and jumped on the Blue Devils from the opening tap. Maine badgered Central Connecticut with effective 1-2-2 and man-to-man full-court pressure.

Maine, sparked by Collins and Arena, turned a 9-8 lead into a 33-15 advantage in the span of six minutes, 44 seconds. Arena’s heady play kicked off the burst as he fed Bouchard for an 18-foot jumper, handed off to Ed Jones for a fast-break slam dunk, then made a steal and set up Collins for another jam that made it 15-8.

The Bears continued to extend their advantage as the Blue Devils struggled with turnovers and lack of continuity while trying to solve Maine’s defensive pressure. An 8-footer from the paint by Terry Hunt, an Arena free throw, and Ramone Jones’ athletic dunk off a high-bounding missed shot made it 33-15 with 11:33 left in the first half.

“We scored a lot of points, but defensively we’re kind of struggling right now and for us to be a complete team we have to work on that side of the game,” Bouchard said.

Maine came away with a commanding 30-14 rebounding edge in the half, including 18 offensive boards. The Bears displayed tremendous balance, led by Bouchard’s eight rebounds.

Keeling said the lopsided victory should help get his team headed in the direction it wants to go.

“Every game we play against a Division I opponent is a big win for us,” Keeling said. “That team came in and was pretty loose and they enabled us to play the way we really would like to. I felt that the game was very good for us, because now we go into a game on Sunday that’s probably going to be a little tougher, but we know exactly what we want to do and we know how to get that done.”

Sedric Veazey paced Central Connecticut with a game-high and career-best 27 points, while Garrett Petteway netted 13. Scott Hasenjaeger and David Rose added 11 points each.

Black Bears 80, Blue Devils 72

Cent. Connecticut Maine men

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Donnelly 6 3 0 0 8 Foltz 2 1 0 0 2

Burrage 4 2 1 0 5 Hursey 5 2 3 3 7

Hasenj’ger 17 3 4 3 11 Arena 15 4 5 2 11

Grahm 4 0 2 2 2 Schmidt 7 4 2 0 8

Pettaway 6 4 2 2 13 Hunt 5 2 0 0 4

Smith 3 2 2 2 6 R. Jones 8 3 6 5 12

Veazey 11 10 13 7 27 Barnes 7 5 9 7 17

Petrov 2 1 0 0 2 Smith 3 2 0 0 4

Rose 8 5 0 0 11 Bouchard 15 7 4 3 17

Anderson 1 1 1 0 2 Pooler 0 0 0 0 0

Keeling 0 0 0 0 0

E. Jones 14 7 4 3 17

Collins 10 7 2 1 15

Totals 62 31 25 16 87 Totals 91 44 35 24 114

Central Connecticut 36 87

Maine 61 114

3-pt. goals: Central Connecticut (9-23): Donnely 2-4, Burrage 1-1, Hasenjaeger 2-11, Graham 0-1, Smith 3-4, Petrov 0-1, Rose 1-1; Maine (2-4): Arena 1-2; Jones 1-1, Bouchard 0-1