Men's Basketball Takes on Maine in Saturday Matinee
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team faces Maine on Saturday afternoon in its second straight road game. The 2:00 p.m. game will be carried on ESPN+.
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The Blue Devils and Black Bears are meeting for the 20th time. Maine leads the series, 12-7, all-time.
OPENING NOTES
• Central Connecticut plays its second straight road game with a Saturday tipoff at Maine.
• Head coach Patrick Sellers is in his third season at the helm of his alma mater and has improved the team's win total over the previous season in each campaign.
• The Blue Devils and Black Bears have played in three straight seasons and seven of the past eight campaigns. The didn't meet in the 2020-21 season when Central played a limited non-conference slate due to the COVID pandemic.
• CCSU will face America East foes in consecutive games as it visits UMass Lowell on Dec. 16.
WITH A CCSU WIN ...
• Central would win its 4th non-conference game, its most since the 2018-19 season (6).
• CCSU would win its 4th straight road game in the series with Maine (Nov. 30, 2016)
• The Blue Devils would record its 3rd win over an America East opponent since the 2019-20 season (2-11).
NOTABLES
• Central's 28-point road win at Army on Nov. 29 was the largest margin of victory by an NEC school since Dec. 4, 2021.
• CCSU logged a season-best 1.27 points per possession and registered a .593 eFG percentage.
• In a pair of double-digit wins at Army and vs. Holy Cross, CCSU averaged 78.5 ppg, shot .496 overall and made triples at a 45.5% clip.
• The Blue Devils combined to dish out 33 assists against 14 turnovers in the wins, while making 10+ three-pointers in back-to-back games for the first time since January 25 and 30, 2020.
• Jordan Jones has started the past 6 games. He made his first start vs. Framingham State, scoring 13 points with 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
• He has scored career-best in 3 straight games, most recently posting 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting at Boston College
• He leads the Blue Devils with 14 steals, averaging 1.8 per game.
• Jones ranks among the NEC Top-10 in steals, 3pt FG made (9th, 1.8), FG percentage (7th, .493), and assists (10th, 2.4).
• In 2022-23, he ranked 3rd nationally in the D-2 ranks in steals (2.59) and 6th in assists (6.5) at Coker (SC) University.
• CCSU is 3rd in the Northeast Conference with +2.9 turnover margin.
• The Blue Devils commit just 11.0 turnovers per game. CCSU has committed a season-low 6 against Framingham State and at Army.
• Central has forced at least 11 turnovers in 6 games this season.
• In the opener, forwards Allan Jeanne-Rose and Jayden Brown combined to play 47 minutes, while committing 0 turnovers.
• Kellen Amos leads Central with 3.8 assists per game, a 2.0 assist-turnover ratio and is 2nd with 4.4 rebounds while scoring 10.3 points.
• Amos had his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Holy Cross, to go with 6 assists.
• He had a career-high 7 dimes against 1 turnover at UMass and has matched or surpassed his previous career-high of 4 assists four times.