Bears, Bearcats meet in AE opener

ORONO – When sizing up the University of Maine’s prospects in the America East conference men’s basketball tournament, you need to figure out which Black Bear team will show up.

Will it be the one that lost to No. 5 seed Binghamton University by 14 points Jan. 7 on the road, or the one that decimated the Bearcats and handed them their worst loss of the season (84-51) at home Feb. 8?

“Of all the America East teams, they’re the most similar to what we were last year,” said Maine coach John Giannini. “They’re very dangerous.”

The 18-9 Black Bears (12-6 in AE play) will get a chance to find out which Maine team takes the floor at Walter Brown Arena on the Boston University campus in Boston. The fourth-seeded Bears will take on the 14-15 (10-8) Bearcats at noon.

Giannini’s biggest concern will be Nick Billings and how to best contain Binghamton’s 7-foot center and 2002-03 AE defensive player of the year.

“They’re built around Billings, who’s a potential NBA player. If he has a triple-double, they could win easily,” Giannini said.

Billings again leads the league in blocked shots with 31/2 per game for a total of 101. His next closest rival is Maine forward Mark Flavin, who has totaled 54 for 2.0 per game. Billings is also averaging 12.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

Maine is not without its own big man in the post as Flavin has only improved as the season has worn on. He is third on the team in scoring with 12.5 points per game and is also hauling down 6.8 rebounds per game.

In Maine’s last meeting with Binghamton, Flavin had 10 points, but just one rebound. Still, the Black Bears were able to outrebound the bigger Bearcats 40-38 overall.

What the Bears must do is get another balanced scoring attack. It will be difficult to duplicate the double-digit scoring sextet attack the Black Bears had the last time these two teams met, but the return of 6-7 swingman Joe Campbell after a broken nose and the continued extraordinary rebounding effort from Maine’s athletic guard corps allows Maine to throw a lot of different looks at Binghamton, offensively and defensively.

The Bears must also limit their turnovers – a huge factor that proved to be their poison pill most of last season – and continue to improve their free throw shooting.

Everything is magnified this time of year and those two “fundamental” factors are as big as anything in determining who goes home to watch the rest of March Madness on TV.

Should Maine execute as well as this battle-hardened group of veterans is capable of, it will likely face chief nemesis and tournament top seed Boston University next – on the Terrier’s home court.

“They’re clearly the league’s best team,” Giannini said. “They’re so athletic and deep, they’re tough to prepare for.”

And if they win Saturday, Giannini’s Bears will have just a day to prepare for them.

“They have probably eight guys capable of scoring 20 points or more and you have to play well for all 40 minutes against them,” Giannini said. “You can’t afford to take a second off against them.”

If the Bears can put together 4,800 seconds of quality play this weekend, they’ll have a chance to play for their first appearance in an NCAA Tournament game next Saturday.