Men’s basketball

MAINE vs. HARTFORD

Time, site: Wednesday, 7 p.m., Alfond Arena, Orono

Records: Maine 5-7, Hartford 6-6

Series, last meeting: Hartford leads 25-23, Hartford 69-62 on 2/2/06

Key players: Maine – 6-5 G Junior Bernal (11.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.5 apg, 2.2 spg), 6-1 G Jon Sheets (11.5 ppg, 3.3 apg, 2.2 spg), 6-3 G Kevin Reed (11.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg), 6-6 F Philippe Tchekane Bofia (9.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg), 6-9 C Brian Andre (8.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg), 6-6 G Mark Socoby (7.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg); Hartford – 6-5 F Bo Taylor (15.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg), 6-0 G Joe Zeglinski (12.9 ppg, 1.5 spg), 6-8 F Alex Zimnickas (8.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg), 6-2 G Jaret Von Rosenberg (7.8 ppg, 2.5 apg, 2.0 spg), 6-5 G/F Michael Turner (6.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.1 apg)

Outlook: America East’s opening night of conference play gives the Black Bears an early chance to measure their improvement over last season against a team that has won two straight and three of the last four vs. Maine. Maine’s defense is markedly improved with 9.5 steals a game – tops in America East. The Hawks are right behind with 9.2, so points could be at a premium. Maine is scoring 66.5 points a game, but giving up 66.4. Hartford is scoring 64.2 and yielding 66.1. Maine must hit the boards hard and disrupt the Hawks’ transition game while cranking up its own and slowing Taylor’s production in the paint. The Bears should also utilize improved perimeter shooting to keep Hartford honest inside.