ORONO – Marcus Bullock has had moments this season in which he’s been unstoppable … like when he hit six 3-pointers for New Hampshire in the first half against powerful Connecticut.

And he’s had moments to forget … like during the first half of Thursday night’s game against the University of Maine.

In the second half, however, Bullock simply put the game away with a scintillating shooting performance that served as a model for UNH’s school-record 17-for-23 effort from beyond the 3-point arc and paved the way to an 87-69 Wildcat win in front of 1,412 fans at Alfond Arena.

New Hampshire improved to 11-14, 8-6 in America East play, while Maine dropped to 9-15, 6-7.

A synopsis of Bullock’s second half: Three 23-footers (swish-swish-swish). A 26-footer (swish). A 23-footer (swish). Another 26-footer … or more (take a guess). And another, game-capping 26-footer (yup).

“When it’s feeling good, the hoop just looks like the ocean. You could throw it up there and it’s going in,” said Bullock, who admitted that he adapted to Maine’s steadily increasing defensive pressure by simply stepping back … and back … and back.

“When they really started trying to deny me the ball and really pressure me harder, it was very good defense,” Bullock said. “As the shot clock wound down, I just had to step back. I couldn’t go forward, so I figured I might as well go backwards.”

He did miss a shot (with 4:10 to play, and the Wildcats leading 73-61).

Bullock finished with 24 points, including 21 in the second half. Jeff Senulis added 20, and Austin Ganly, a graduate of Greely High of Cumberland Center, had 22. Chris Brown added 11 rebounds.

Maine was led by Errick Greene’s 19 points, Justin Rowe’s 17, and Rickey White’s 11. Rowe also blocked three shots.

UNH coach Phil Rowe summed up his team’s 73.9 percent 3-point performance in three words: “That was incredible.”

In addition to Bullock’s 8-for-10 effort from outside, Senulis went 5-for-7, Ganly was 3-for-4, Assane Faye was 1-for-1, and Brown was 0-for-1.

UMaine coach John Giannini wasn’t pleased with the outcome of the game, but said he recognized the fact that he’d been part of something special.

“This may be the best shooting performance in Division I basketball of the year,” Giannini said. “Probably more than half of those 17 that they made were outside the NBA 3-point arc, and a lot of them were defended. That’s the best shooting performance I’ve seen in this gym in six years.”

In fact, Giannini said, he doesn’t recall seeing a team shoot that well in his coaching or playing career.

And Bullock, he said, was incredible.

“We kept guarding ’em tighter and further out and further out, and they just kept shooting from further out,” he said. “Bullock’s threes, I really think they were closer to half-court than they were to the 3-point arc. You know who else I saw shoot like that? Meadowlark Lemon with the Globetrotters. But his were hook shots.”

Giannini was upbeat despite the loss.

“It’s easy to kick somebody when they’re down, and we’re down,” said Giannini, whose team lost its fourth straight game, including three at Alfond Arena. “I just can’t kick my guys, because I think New Hampshire deserves most of the credit tonight.”

NOTES: Todd Winchester of Bangor sprang a Valentine’s Day surprise on his sweetheart, Molly Salkaln of Bangor: He asked her to marry him at halftime, via the Alfond Arena scoreboard. Winchester admitted that he was a bit worked up. “Petrified,” he said, was more like it. “The whole day at work I was shaking.” The plan didn’t go off without a hitch, however. “They misspelled her name,” Winchester explained. The result: Winchester actually asked “Mary Calkins” to marry him. “I wasn’t sure it was me,” she said. Either way, she said “Yes,” to the crowd’s delight.

WILDCATS 87, BLACK BEARS 69

New Hampshire (11-14) Maine (9-15)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Brown 2 5 2 2 6 Tibbetts 1 3

Faye 4 7 0 1 9 Campbell 3 8 9

Peterson 2 5 0 0 4 Rowe 7 11 17

Bullock 8 12 0 0 24 Jackson 2 8 6

Ganly 8 11 3 3 22 Greene 8 12 19

Williams 0 0 0 0 0 Petkus 1 5 2

Senulis 7 11 1 2 20 Brown 1 4 2

Catlett 0 0 2 2 2 White 4 8 11

Totals 31 51 8 10 87 Totals 27 61 13 69

New Hampshire 40 87

Maine 42 69

3-pt. goals: New Hampshire (17-23): Brown 0-1, Faye 1-1, Bullock 8-10, Ganly 3-4, Senulis 5-7; Maine (6-27): Tibbetts 1-5, Campbell 3-8, Jackson 0-4, Greene 2-4, Petkus 0-4, Brown 0-2

Attendance: 1,412