Gameday Preview: Maine at #12 Connecticut

University of Maine Black Bears

KenPom: Overall- 346^th (out of 351)

Head Coach: Ted Woodward (92-144)

2013-‘14 Record: 1-6

Preview

Fresh off one of the most exciting wins ever against Florida, the 8-0 UConn Huskies play Maine today at 7pm in the XL Center. Shabazz Napier has basically been doing his best Marshawn Lynch ‘put da team on my back' impression so far this season with some amazingly clutch performances and we're also starting to see DeAndre Daniels string together some good games. We could just as easily have 4 losses right now but the team has displayed the right combination of hustle, grit and a pinch of luck to come out victorious in these close games.

After 4 wins by a total of 5 points against Maryland, BC, Indiana and Florida, I've already lost approximately 2.8 years from my life just eight games into the season. My heart valves should get a rest tonight with a Maine team coming into Hartford that has only one win on the season and just lost to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (Go Highlanders!). Sophomore G/F Dmitry Akanda-Coronel is their leading scorer, averaging 16.1 points per game. You want another interesting fact about the Black Bears? Head Coach Teddy Woodward is a former UConn assistant, serving under Jim Calhoun from 1986-1989. And that's all I got.

Like Florida, Maine doesn't have anybody over 6-foot-9, but unlike Florida, none of those guys are crazy jacked man-beasts. DeAndre should be able to have a field day and hopefully Nolan and Brimah can gain some much needed confidence. If there was ever a time for Kentan Facey to break his DNP-CD streak, it would be today against one of the worst teams in the country. I'm really about to start losing sleep over Facey's playing time, FREE FACEY!

This will be the 99^th meeting between these two teams in ‘rivalry' that dates back to 1921. As you can imagine, UConn owns a sizeable (82-16) lead and Maine's last win against the Huskies was in 1978. Barring one of the biggest upsets in the history of organized sport, UConn is likely to advance to 9-0 in their last contest before the finals break.

Also, UConn Men's Soccer kicks off at exactly the same time in the Quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. I hope to proudly display a balling 2 screen setup tonight, we'd love it if you would tweet or Facebook share your own as well. The best submission receives... my temporary respect and perhaps a retweet to our followers.

Next Three Games:

12/18- vs. Stanford, XL Center (Hartford, CT)

12/22- @Washington, Alaska Airlines Arena (Seattle, WA)

12/28- vs. Eastern Washington, Webster Bank Arena (Bridgeport, CT)