The University of Maine’s men’s basketball program has assembled a nonconference schedule that features six opponents it faced a season ago, a deliberate move to rewrite the narrative of a year marked by five losses and a single win against those same teams.
The opening stretch begins with a road test at Providence College on November 2, followed by a homecoming matchup against Sacred Heart on November 5, then a return to the hardwood at Manhattan on November 8 before heading to the University of Rhode Island on November 10.
Road Trips and Classic Tournaments
A cluster of road games then unfolds, starting with a November 14 visit to Drexel, a team that handed the Black Bears a 74‑56 defeat a year earlier, and continuing with contests at Quinnipiac on November 19 and at UMass on November 21.
The next segment of the schedule takes the team to the Lafayette Classic in Easton, Pennsylvania, where they will meet Lafayette, Le Moyne College and Niagara across three consecutive days from November 27 to 29, before returning home for a December 1 showdown with Division II champion University of Maine at Augusta.
After a brief pause, the Black Bears travel to Chicago to face DePaul on December 8, then come back to Orono for a December 12 clash with Boston University, a team they edged 69‑59 in the previous meeting, and a December 21 home game against Merrimack, whom they lost to 72‑65 last season.
The schedule wraps up with a December 29 encounter against Brown, a team that had previously beaten Maine 58‑53, completing a circuit that includes a mix of America East rivals, Patriot League combatants and Ivy League opponents.
Head coach Chris Markwood, who guided the Black Bears to an 8‑24 overall record and a 6‑10 mark in America East play last season, has emphasized continuity and preparation as the team navigates a demanding slate that includes no postseason‑bound Division I opponents, though BU and Merrimack came within a win of the NCAA tournament.