The Central Connecticut men's basketball plays at Maine on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in its final contest before the holiday break. The Blue Devils will be looking to win their third straight in the series against the Bears, while looking to avoid losing back-to-back games on the year.
The Blue Devils lost at Providence in their most recent game. Junior Jamir Coleman scored a career-high 21 points to lead CCSU, while senior Tyler Kohl added 18 points and eight rebounds.
Maine comes into the contest with a 2-10 record overall, but has played just three home games. The Black Bears lost at Duquesne, 72-46, in their last game on Dec. 16. Isaiah White leads the team in scoring at 14.4 points per game, while Andrew Fleming adds 12.8 ppg and a team-high 6.2 rebounds.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION | Cross Insurance Center (Bangor, ME)
CCSU (5-6) at MAINE (2-10) | Saturday, Dec. 22 | 1 PM
VIDEO (ESPN3) | LIVE STATS | @KizerBlueDevil (In-game twitter updates)
GAME NOTES | 2018-19 RECORD BOOK
NCAA WEEKLY WHISTLE
SERIES HISTORY • Maine leads the all-time series, 10-5, but Central has won the last two meetings in the series. CCSU won last year's matchup, 84-57.
COLEMAN BREAKS OUT OFFENSIVELY • Jamir Coleman scored a career-high 21 points (9-14 fg) at Providence and is averaging 10.3 points per game on the year. Coleman leads the NEC shooting 52.4% from the arc and has a 62.8% true field goal pct. He ranks 2nd with an effective field goal pct. of 61.9. The 6-7 wing has scored at least 9 points in 6 games, while adding a season-high 8 rebounds vs. Pine Manor.
KOHL CAN DO IT ALL • Tyler Kohl is averaging 18.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.3 spg to start the season and has earned 2 Northeast Conference Player of the Week Awards along with 3 NEC Prime Performer mentions. Kohl posted his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 boards in Central's win over Florida A&M. He hit 10-of-11 foul shots and gave out seven assists. The 6-foot-5 senior has been among the best players in the league thus far, ranking 3rd in scoring, 5th in assists, 7th in assist-TO ratio (1.4) and 9th in rebounding.
BLUE DEVILS CASHING IN ON FREE THROWS • Central Connecticut is currently leading the Northeast Conference in free throw shooting at 76.1% (172-of-226), which ranks 25th in the NCAA.
Joe Hugley is converting 90.0% (36-of-40), which leads the NEC and is 27th nationally.
Tyler Kohl (.868) is 4th in the NEC and 64th in the NCAA. CCSU was a season-best 16-of-18 (.889) against UMass Lowell and made a single-game high 27 foul shots against Florida A&M.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN • Juniors
Tyson Batiste and
Joe Hugley have been named as team captains for the Blue Devils prior to the season. Batiste has played in 63 games in 3-plus seaons in New Britain, while Hugley has played in 41 games since coming to CCSU.
UP NEXT • Following Saturday's game, Central will travel to Oregon State (Dec. 29) to close out the non-league schedule. CCSU has never played the Beavers. The Blue Devils return home to host Wagner in the Northeast Conference opener on Jan. 3.
