The Maine Black Bears and Rutgers Scarlet Knights meet Thursday in college basketball action at the Jersey Mike’s Arena. The Maine Black Bears need a win after losing five of their last six games. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights look to get a game above a .500 record.
The Maine Black Bears are averaging 58 points on 38.7 percent shooting and allowing 65.1 points on 44.2 percent shooting. Vukasin Masic is averaging 9 points and 3.8 assists while Stephane Ingo is averaging 7.8 points and 6.5 rebounds. LeChaun DuHart is grabbing 2.7 rebounds and Chris Efretuei is dishing 0.4 assists. The Maine Black Bears are shooting 24.1 percent from beyond the arc and 71.7 percent from the free throw line. The Maine Black Bears are allowing 34 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 29.6 rebounds per game.
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are averaging 65.8 points on 40.5 percent shooting and allowing 67.2 points on 41.1 percent shooting. Ron Harper Jr. is averaging 15.8 points and 7.9 rebounds, while Clifford Omoruyi is averaging 11.6 points and 6.7 rebounds. Geo Baker is the third double-digit scorer and Paul Mulcahy is grabbing 4 rebounds. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are shooting 28.9 percent from beyond the arc and 67.8 percent from the free throw line. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are allowing 32.9 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 33.9 rebounds per game.
The Black Bears are 0-7 ATS in their last 7 road games and 1-8 ATS in their last 9 games overall. The Scarlet Knights are 2-7-1 ATS in their last 10 games overall. The under is 20-8 in Black Bears last 28 overall. The over is 4-1 in Scarlet Knights last 5 overall.
The Maine Black Bears are one of the worst offensive teams in the country, and they’ve had issues scoring against less talented teams than Rutgers. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have issues of their own, and they haven’t played in more than two weeks. Throw in this being in an early start, and there’s reason for concern with the big number. Still, it’s Rutgers or pass for me. Maine is that bad.