Maine’s big men face battle tonight Bearcats’ Billings presents challenge

ORONO – When breaking down strengths for the University of Maine men’s basketball team before this season began, most of them stemmed from the backcourt.

In fact, the frontcourt was barely mentioned, given the Black Bears’ depth in the guard corps, a switch to a four-guard alignment, and the relative inexperience of Maine’s big men.

A month or so ago, these factors might have made Wednesday’s road game against Binghamton University a source of much worry and dread. The Bearcats feature a strong frontcourt built around 7-footer Nick Billings. The junior center was an America East second team all-conference selection after finishing second nationally with 4.3 blocks per game last season. He also averaged nine points and 6.7 rebounds per game.

Well, that was all before the rapid development and emergence of Maine junior forwards Mark Flavin and David Dubois, who have not only helped the Bears tread water after the graduation of their entire frontcourt, but keep them among the conference elite in several “big man” statistical categories.

The 6-10 Flavin is averaging 10 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game while the 6-9 Dubois is averaging 7.2 points and 5.4 rebounds.

Both players are welcoming the challenge Billings presents.

“I’ve been mentally preparing for it and I’m just thinking about how I’m going to attack him,” Flavin said. “I’m excited. I can’t wait to get in there and body him up, and I know I’m going to play a great game.”

Flavin’s confidence is understandable, given how Maine’s “smaller” lineup is stacking up against the big boys so far.

Combined with the Maine backcourt’s penchant for attacking the boards, the Bears’ 1-2 pivot man rotation is paying off – big time. Maine is ranked first in the conference in rebounds allowed with only 31.1 per game and second in rebounds gained with 37.5 per game. The Bears are also first in rebounding margin and defensive rebounds and second in blocked shots.

For both Flavin and Dubois, Billings will be the ultimate yardstick to measure their development against, but despite the fact they averaged a combined 10.5 minutes per game last year and only appeared in seven games together, inexperience hasn’t been a great hindrance. Both were able to log many minutes against quality big men in practice.

“I’m pretty prepared for him [Billings] after practicing against [7-foot] Justin Rowe all the time last season,” said Flavin, referring to Maine’s career and season shot block leader who was also an America East all-conference first team pick.