MAINE men vs. DELAWARE

Time, site: Saturday, 7:30 p.m; Alfond Arena, Orono

Records: Maine 13-6 (6-4 America East), Delaware 12-7 (8-2)

Series, last meeting: Delaware leads 14-10, UM won 74-68 on 12/9/00

Key players: Maine – 6-6 F Carvell Ammons (15.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg), 6-10 F Julian Dunkley (15.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg), 6-2 G Huggy Dye (14.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg), 6-3 G Errick Greene (9.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg), 6-2 G Derrick Jackson (6.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg); Delaware – 6-9 F Ajmal Basit (16.1 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 2.8 bpg), 6-8 F Maurice Sessoms (6.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg), 6-0 G Billy Wells (12.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg), 6-4 G Greg Miller (5.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg), 6-1 G Austen Rowland (13.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.1 apg)

Outlook: The Bears must find a way to contain Basit, who is tied with Seton Hall’s Eddie Griffin for the national lead with 14 double-doubles this season. With a win the Bears would have two over Delaware this year; that means UMaine would win any post-season tiebreaker that could occur. The Black Bears have made life miserable for UD post players in the past with their scheme of double-teams. Rowland, Wells and Miller will look to keep the heat off Basit by hitting from the perimeter. Maine’s Dye is nursing a sore back and saw a chiropractor on Thursday. The Bears beat Delaware without his services in December after he rolled an ankle. Ammons has been on a tear, and Dunkley heated up against Towson on Thursday. Jackson may provide an unlikely offensive key: Teams have been conceding the outside shot to him in order to focus on other players. If he heats up, the Bears may roll.

MAINE women vs. TOWSON

Time, site: Saturday, 1 p.m.; Towson Center, Towson, Md.

Records: Maine 6-12 (3-6 America East); Towson 2-15 (2-7)

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 12-0; UMaine won 75-57 on 12/6/00

Key players: Maine – 6-1 F/C Heather Ernest (14.2 ppg, 10.9 rpg), 5-11 G/F Kizzy Lopez (11.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.1 spg), 5-9 G Tracy Guerrette (5.2 ppg, 3.3 apg, 1.0 spg), 6-1 G/F Julie Veilleux (8.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.2 spg), 5-9 G Ellen Geraghty (8.1 ppg, 1.7 apg), 6-1 F Anna James (5.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg); Towson – 6-0 G/F Jill McGowan (13.0 ppg, 1.4 spg), 5-5 G Mia Chapman (11.3 ppg, 2.1 spg), 6-0 F Faith Jones (6.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg), 5-10 F Jackie Richardson (5.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg), 5-4 G Shonte Simpson (5.6 ppg)

Outlook: The Bears made a solid showing in Thursday’s 73-53 loss at Delaware, but need a victory against the cellar-dwelling Tigers. UMaine won’t face the kind of inside presence the Blue Hens had, thus may be able to avoid foul trouble and pound the ball inside. Towson is coming off Thursday’s 64-63 overtime victory over New Hampshire, its first home victory in eight tries this season. The Tigers rank last in America East scoring (55.3 ppg), field goal percentage (.339), 3-point percentage (.274) and FG percentage defense (.447). The Bears must control the rebounding action, force Towson to shoot from outside and limit fast-break opportunities. Ernest continues to dominate underneath for UMaine, while Veilleux is due to get back into the offensive flow after scoring only three points in her last four games combined.