Scouting The Maine Black Bears

The Maine Black Bears will come into Norman with a 5-4 record but have yet to play an opponent near the caliber of Oklahoma. The Black Bears are currently riding a two game winning streak with wins over UMPI and Colgate. They have decent size with two forwards that stand 6-7 and a guard who is 6-5. 

They are putting up impressive numbers on the boards but don’t seem to be much of a threat when it comes to outside shooting. They also don’t seem to be a team that will make you pay for putting them on the free throw line either. Defensively they are holding their opponents to under 40% shooting from the floor and just 62.8 points per game.

They are led by 6-5 junior guard Mark Socoby in scoring (15.3 ppg), steals (2.3 pg) and free throw attempts (48) where he has converted 73% of his free throws. Forward Sean McNally (6-7, 230lbs, Sophomore) leads the team in rebounds per game with 7.1 and contributes 8 points per contest as well.

Just from a size standpoint Maine is most likely used to having an advantage over their opponents but that won’t be the case against Oklahoma. Across the board all things look pretty even when it comes to size by position and with two McDonald’s All-Americans on the floor you have to give a decided advantage to Oklahoma.

What I want to watch for is what OU does in the second half. Sunday against Tulsa they just seemed to go into cruise control mode. I realize that just about everyone on the bench played but I would like to see them be able to maintain their intensity into the second half regardless of the opponent.