Men’s basketball

MAINE vs. MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY

Time, site: Thursday, 7 p.m.; Alfond Arena, Orono

Records: Maine 7-20 (3-11 America East); UMBC 20-7 (12-2)

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 7-4, Maine 77-74 on 1/4/08

Key players: Maine – 6-5 G Mark Socoby (14.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.1 apg), 6-4 G Kaimondre Owes (12.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.4 apg), 6-5 G Junior Bernal (11.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.2 apg), 6-9 C Brian Andre (9.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg), 6-6 F Philippe Tchekane Bofia (6.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg), 6-7 F Sean McNally (5.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg); UMBC – 6-2 G Ray Barbosa (16.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.2 apg), 6-3 G Brian Hodges (15.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg), 6-4 F Darryl Proctor (14.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg), 6-8 F Cavell Johnson (12.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg), 5-8 G Jay Greene (9.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 6.9 apg), 6-5 G-F Matt Spadafora (5.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.1 apg)

Outlook: The Black Bears are closer to full strength with the return of Andre and Jordan Cook from injury the last two games, but they still miss Bernal’s versatility and penetration ability. They’ll be facing a motivated UMBC squad spoiling for revenge after suffering their only home loss of the season last month to Maine. The Bears are averaging 18.8 turnovers a game and must take care of the ball against a Retrievers team averaging just 9.6 while making 5.8 steals per game. UMBC is riding an eight-game win streak and has won two straight overtime games. UMBC has clinched its first regular-season AE title and the No. 1 seeding while Maine is headed to a preliminary play-in (No. 8 vs. No. 9) game.