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ORONO – Mark Twain said there are three types of untruths: lies, damn lies, and statistics.
Twain would have appreciated the stat sheet from the University of New Hampshire’s come-from-behind 73-68 basketball win over the Maine men at Alfond Arena Saturday night.
After all, the Bears outrebounded UNH 38-25, scored 18 points off turnovers to UNH’s 15, outscored the Wildcats 38-22 in the paint, held a 20-9 advantage in second-chance points and a 9-6 edge in bench points, and had eight steals to the Wildcats’ six.
Field goal percentage? That was in UNH’s favor, but only barely: 46.7 to 44.6 percent for the game. What about turnovers? Sure, the ‘Cats had fewer, but not by much with 10 to Maine’s 12.
So how did Maine wind up on the losing end of this America East conference game after heading into halftime with a five-point lead?
“I think our kids just buckled down and played a much tougher 20 minutes in the second half,” said UNH coach Bill Herrion, whose 4-9 Wildcats snapped a seven-game losing streak against Maine. “I think we just guarded better, and around the basket, we were much tougher in the second half and that was the key.”
The Wildcats (1-1 in league play) certainly hit tougher shots in the second half, especially from beyond the 3-point arc.
Junior forward Mike Christensen led that effort by canning four of six 3-pointers on the way to a game- and career-high 28 points, and senior forward Blagoj Janev shot 3-for-4 en route to 17 points, but it was senior guard Jermaine Anderson’s long-distance shooting that hurt most.
“I think Anderson’s 3’s were the big plays that were the difference in this game,” said Maine coach Ted Woodward, whose club slipped to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in the league. “And he made those shots when we had to get a stop.”
Anderson (17 points, five rebounds) was 0-for-2 from 3-point range in the first half, but 3-for-5 in the second. Two of those came consecutively – one a fall-away jumper from 22 feet out as the shot clock expired – to extend a 19-6 scoring run that turned a three-point deficit with 19:36 to play to a 10-point lead with 121/2 left.
That key run gave the ‘Cats a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, although Maine did charge back to within two points with 6:18 left via a 10-0 run. Maine’s run ended when (surprise) Anderson canned another fall-away 3-pointer with 5:47 left.
Anderson’s heroics aside, the Bears hurt themselves by missing four of five free throws the next three minutes. When the ‘Cats got their chance at the line, they capitalized by hitting 10 of 12 in the last two minutes.
“We’re all frustrated,” said Woodward. “We’re doing a lot of the things we focus on doing and I thought we had good sequences in this game, but we still came out with a loss, and it’s because I think they made more big shots.”
Nobody personified Maine’s tale of two halves more than junior center Brian Andre. The 6-foot-9 Bingham native killed UNH in the first half with nine points and seven rebounds. In the second half, he was held scoreless and managed to grab just one more rebound.
“I don’t know if it was so much them. I think it was myself,” Andre said. “I missed some free throws and had a turnover early on in the second half and I kind of got down on myself. I can’t do that. I have to keep playing with intensity because we play better when I play as hard as I can.
“I don’t know why I let myself be like that, but I’m not going to let it happen again.”
Senior guard Kevin Reed led Maine with 23 points and nine rebounds. Senior forward Chris Bruff had 13 points and three steals. Jon Sheets had four assists but only seven points.
Christensen also led the Wildcats with six rebounds and four assists.
WILDCATS 73, BLACK BEARS 68
New Hampshire (4-10) Maine (5-9)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Janev 6 9 2 2 17 Bruff 6 8 13
Onguetou 0 2 0 0 0 Andre 3 6 9
Christnsen 7 11 10 11 28 Sheets 2 6 7
Gibbs 2 5 1 2 5 Bernal 3 12 7
Anderson 4 11 6 8 17 Reed 7 16 23
Price 2 3 1 3 5 Socoby 3 4 7
Roybal 0 0 0 0 0 Ahvnnmi 0 1 0
McGeary 0 4 0 0 0 Bofia 1 3 2
Odom 0 0 1 2 1
Totals 21 45 21 28 73 Totals 25 56 13 21 68
New Hampshire 30 73
Maine 35 68
3-pt. goals – New Hampshire (10-24): Christensen 4-6, Janev 3-4, Anderson 3-7, Onguetou 0-1, Gibbs 0-2, McGeary 0-4; Maine (5-13): Reed 4-9, Sheets 1-3, Socoby 0-1
Attendance: 900 (est.)
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