The Maine Black Bears have bounced back from an abysmal four conference wins and an eighth-place season last year to rise to the No. 3 seed this year. They will be facing the New Hampshire Wildcats, who after making it to the semi-finals for only the second time in last year’s tournament, finished sixth in the conference.

One thing present for both teams is the surplus of young talent that has essentially taken over the court. The Black Bear squad has only one senior, and UNH has just two. In fact, both teams have very impressive freshman athletes; Ferg Myrick has excelled with the Wildcats, and Sean McNally is Maine’s second-best offensive player behind Gerald McLemore and leads the team in blocks.

As far as veteran talent goes, the Black Bears are not lacking there, either. Sophomore Gerald McLemore, junior Terrance Mitchell and senior Junior Bernal all lead their team in scoring. McLemore himself ranks No. 6 in the conference for points per game. New Hampshire also has some experienced players in Alvin Abreu and Dane DiLiegro, who is an expert center.

Defensively, both teams have great assets. Maine’s McNally ranks fifth in the conference in blocked shots, and DiLiegro has the third most defensive rebounds in the conference. Overall though, it seems as if Maine’s defense is more overpowering, as they lead America East in steals and are second in defensive rebounds as a team.

The Black Bears and the Wildcats have met twice this season and both times the Maine squad came out on top. The first game was a low-scoring affair (56-42) with 26 total turnovers and was neither team’s best performance. The second game, however, was a dazzling one for Maine, where McLemore scored 25 points and Bernal scored his 1,000th point to lead their team to victory.

Last season, UNH lost one of its stars when Tyrece Gibbs graduated, but Maine’s four other starters returned and showed up to play this year. After coming back from a bad run and adding eight wins to their conference record, the Black Bears have bounced back and then some. They will be motivated to continue their success in the tournament, and having won five of the last seven games, they are ready to go as far as their impressive offense will take them.

The Wildcats can certainly take on Maine, as they do have star power and some notable freshmen. As long as they play strong defense and keep possession, they will be a force to be reckoned with when the Black Bears face them this Saturday.