Get To Know A Marquette Basketball Opponent: Maine

Name: University of Maine

Location: Orono, Maine

Founded: 1865

They Don't Have A Badass Marching Band, Do They? Not as far as I can tell.

Bummer. Yep.

Enrollment: 11,247 (9,182 undergrad, 2,065 grad)

Student Government Is Serious Business: Maine's student government is actually a 501 (c)(3) not for profit corporation.  They have a legislative and executive branch, with the legislative side passing resolutions and the executive side organizing campus events.

Nickname: Black Bears

Why "Black Bears?" From Maine's official website:

According to The History of the Maine Bear, compiled by UMaine's Sigma Xi Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega (APO) service fraternity, a small black bear cub named Jeff, born on the northeast slope of Mount Katahdin, was presented to O.B. Fernandez, a former Old Town police chief and collector of wild animals, in 1914. Fernandez loaned the bear to the university, where Jeff was introduced at a football rally. As the tiny black bear entered the auditorium, the surprised crowd applauded enthusiastically. When Jeff stood on his head, the crowd went "bananas" — giving rise to the name of all future UMaine bear mascots.

Notable Alumni: Lawrence Bender, producer of movies such as Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, and Kill Bill; author Stephen King; Donald Holder, who won a Tony for lighting design on The Lion King; US Senator Olympia Snow; Colby Chandler, former CEO of Eastman Kodak; Francis T. Crowe, chief engineer on the Hoover Dam; Bernard Lown, Nobel Peace Prize winner; professional wrestler D'Lo Brown; NHL legend Paul Kariya; NHL player and pancakes enthusiast Dustin Penner;

Last Season: 3-27, including a 2-14 record in the America East and a loss to #1 seed Albany in the AE quarterfinals.

This Season: 2-4, with wins over Longwood and Central Connecticut.

Current KenPom Ranking: #306

KenPom Projection: 10-19, 6-10 in league play.

Take It For What You Will, But: Maine is #16 in the country at Three Point Percentage Defense, allowing teams to shoot just 26.7% against them from long range.

Stats Leaders:

Points: Isaac Vann, 15.8 ppg
Rebounds: Devine Eke, 7.2 rpg
Assists: Kevin Little, 3.2 apg

Head Coach: Bob Walsh, in his second season.  That makes him 5-31 all time in Division 1, of course, but he went 204-63 in nine seasons at Division 3 Rhode Island College with 8 NCAA tournament appearances and three Sweet 16 appearances.

All Time Series: Marquette leads the series, 3-1.  The most recent outing was the lone Maine win in the series, a 68-59 win by the Black Bears back in February of 1997.