MAINE vs. STONY BROOK

Time, site: Thursday, 7 p.m., Indoor Sports Complex, Stony Brook, N.Y.

Records: Maine 8-11 (3-4 America East), Stony Brook 7-12 (2-5)

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 11-3, Maine 87-75 on 2/26/06

Key players: Maine – 6-3 G Kevin Reed (13.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg), 6-1 G Jon Sheets (11.6 ppg, 3.2 apg, 2.5 rpg), 6-5 G Junior Bernal (10.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.3 apg), 6-4 F Chris Bruff (10.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg), 6-6 G Mark Socoby (8.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg), 6-6 F Philippe Tchekane Bofia (6.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg); Stony Brook – 6-4 G Ricky Lucas (14.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg), 5-11 G Mitchell Beauford (12.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.5 apg), 6-5 F Mike Popoko (9.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg), 6-5 G/F Solomon Bamiro (9.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg), 6-9 C Emanuel Neto (5.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg), 6-1 G Eddie Castellanos (4.2 ppg, 2.6 apg, 1.7 rpg)

Outlook: The Black Bears are looking for a fourth straight win as they try to even their league record. The Seawolves are averaging 61.5 points and 32.4 rebounds per game. They’re also averaging 14.7 turnovers, which bodes well for the defensive-minded Bears (13.7), who have taken care of the ball exceedingly well as the season has worn on. Maine is averaging 66.8 points and 35.3 rebounds per game. The Seawolves have a good mix of size and speed, but not a lot of experience with just two returning starters (Beauford, Popoko) to go with five freshmen and two junior college transfers. The hot-shooting Bears (42.4 percent overall and 35.6 from 3-point range) will attack the paint and boards and work inside-out, but also use defensive pressure to crank up the transition game.