The Maine Black Bears take on the Bryant Bulldogs in the America East Tournament Championship game. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. ET on ESPN+.
Bryant is favored by 6.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -265. The total is set at 143.5 points.
Here are my Maine vs. Bryant predictions and college basketball picks for March 15, 2025.
Maine vs Bryant Prediction
My Pick: Bryant -6.5 (Play to -7)
My Maine vs Bryant best bet is on the Bulldogs spread, with the best odds currently available at BetRivers. For all of your college basketball bets, find the best lines using our live NCAAB odds page.
Maine vs Bryant Odds
Saturday, March 15
11 a.m. ET
ESPN2
Maine OddsSpreadTotalMoneyline+6.5
-117
143.5
-115o / -105u
+210
Bryant OddsSpreadTotalMoneyline-6.5
-105
143.5
-115o / -105u
-265
- Maine vs Bryant spread: Bryant -6.5
- Maine vs Bryant over/under: 143.5 points
- Maine vs Bryant moneyline: Bryant -265, Maine +210
- Maine vs Bryant best bet: Bryant -6.5 (Play to -7)
Spread
I’m backing the Bulldogs to cover the spread and earn their bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Moneyline
I’m passing on the moneyline.
Over/Under
I’m passing on the over/under.
My Pick: Bryant -6.5 (Play to -7)
Maine vs Bryant College Basketball Betting Preview
Chris Markwood is literally the best thing to ever happen to Maine hoops.
Markwood was the point guard for Maine’s last winning team, the 2004 squad that went 20-10. That team made it to the America East Tournament finals but ultimately lost to (unsurprisingly) Vermont.
Twenty-one losing years later, Marwkood will attempt to do the impossible: guide the Black Bears to the NCAA Tournament.
The gravity of Markwood’s accomplishments can’t be overstated. Maine has been a Division I program since 1937 yet has never made the Big Dance. Markwood’s Bears had to slay the dragon on the way here, upsetting Vermont in the second round after losing 30 consecutive head-to-head matchups.
This program was further lost in the wilderness than the small college town of Orono. Yet, Markwood has somehow guided the Black Bears into the national spotlight.
Now that we’ve given Maine its rightful flowers, I’m prepared to pour cold water all over its hype train.
Markwood rebuilt the Bears around the guards and wings.
Three-time America East Defensive Player of the Year Kellen Tynes and running mate Jaden Clayton form the best defensive backcourt among the northeast mid-majors. These two are swarming on-ball pressure defenders who combine for nearly five steals per game and spearhead the attack for the 17th-best turnover-forcing defense nationally (22%, per KenPom).
On the other end of the court, Markwood runs a ball-screen motion offense predicated on guard dribble creation but enhanced by wing creation and shooting from Quion Burns, AJ Lopez and Christopher Mantis.
The offense is excellent when the wings hit shots because the spacing opens up for drives and cuts.
Still, the Bears are far from an elite offense because they often stall and get clogged up in the midrange — they rank 284th nationally in offensive efficiency for a reason.
Furthermore, the Bears are relatively small one through four and don’t have an excellent center combination. Keelan Steele and Killian Gribben have their moments but can be inconsistent.
As a result, Maine struggles with size, and the Bears are arguably the worst two-way rebounding team in the America East (-98 rebounding differential in conference play, per CBB Analytics).
Phil Martelli Jr.’s Bryant Bulldogs are built to beat the Bears.
The Bulldogs’ most significant advantage is their uniquely talented collection of athletic wings.
No starter stands under 6-foot-6, with Conference Player of the Year point forward Earl Timberlake leading the show as one of the best do-it-all two-way players in the mid-majors.
Between Timberlake, Rafael Pinzon, Connor Withers and Barry Evans, Bryant has four elite two-way wings who can handle the rock, take anyone off the bounce, shoot and defend one-on-one.
And don’t sleep on the center combination of Kvonn Cramer and Keyshawn Mitchell — Mitchell has been playing at an elite level in this tournament.
Bryant is great because Martelli figured out how to leverage his team’s size and athleticism in the right ways — something his predecessor never quite figured out.
First: Verticality. The Bulldogs are shot-volume monsters because they grab offensive rebounds at obscene rates (35% in conference play, first in AmEast, per KenPom) while blocking everything at the other end (19% in conference play, first in AmEast, per KenPom).
Second: Switchability. The Bulldogs never turn the ball over (14% in conference play, first in AmEast, per KenPom) because all their forwards can run the show.
They’re also an excellent ball-screen coverage and catch-and-shoot denial defense because they can switch every perimeter action, ultimately isolation-and-rim-funneling teams into obscene shot-blockers underneath.
Suffice it to say, I hate this matchup for Maine.
When the Bears have the ball, Bryant will use its length and switchability to swallow up all of Markwood’s ball-screen motion actions while denying quality catch-and-shoot opportunities to the wings.
Instead, Maine will be forced into more isolation creation, where it’s relatively efficient but typically uncomfortable.
When the Bulldogs have the ball, Maine won’t be able to pressure ball-handlers into precious turnovers. Instead, Bryant should be able to leverage handoff sets to hunt isolation mismatches, where Maine is relatively weak defending (.83 PPP allowed, 40th percentile, per Synergy).
Furthermore, Maine is an excellent defense because of its on-ball pressure, but the Bears are also weak underneath by design because they play so extended with their wings and guards. As a result, Bryant should be able to obliterate the rim off the bounce while generating easy second-chance points off misses by grabbing every available offensive rebound.
Maine often tries to negate its size weakness by switching into an aggressive 2-3 zone, but Bryant is an elite zone offense because Timberlake is a zone-buster with his high-post playmaking.
This mostly played out in the head-to-head series.
Bryant scored 82 paint points and 33 second-chance points across the two head-to-head matchups, shooting a combined 24-for-31 (77%) at the rim.
Conversely, Maine scored 35 points on 47 (.74 PPP) ball-screen sets while shooting 32-for-77 (42%) across the two head-to-head meetings.
Bryant won the rebounding battle in those meetings, 83-54, and the shot-volume battle, 121-109.
Maine hung around with Bryant in Orono in the most recent meeting, losing 80-72. However, Bryant also shot only 6-for-22 (27%) from deep, with Withers missing all six attempts — he went through a shooting slump in the second half of the year but has seemingly rebounded in the tournament (6-for-16 from 3, 38%).
But the last time Maine went to Smithfield, Bryant shot 10-for-26 (39%) from deep and obliterated the Bears, 81-55.
I expect a similar result in the America East Tournament Championship game. Sorry, Bears, but Martelli’s Bulldogs are that good.
It’s worth mentioning that Bryant’s leading scorer, Pinzon, missed the semifinal against Albany. However, I’ve been told that it was just food poisoning and he will return for the final.
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