Orono, ME - The University of Maine men's basketball team looks to continue their strong start to the season with a road matchup against Columbia on Saturday, Nov. 25.

GAME INFORMATION:
DATE: Saturday, Nov. 22
TIME: 1:00 P.M.
SITE: New York, NY
2023 RECORDS: Maine 4-3, 0-0 - Columbia 4-2, 0-0
VIDEO: ESPN +
LISTEN: goblackbears.com
LIVE STATS
TWITTER: @maineMBB
GAME NOTES

Last Time Out: The Black Bears are coming off of an extended road trip to Florida, during which they went 3-1, including a 70-59 victory over South Florida in their last contest. The Black Bears never trailed in the contest and held USF to under 40% shooting from the field and 10% shooting from three-point range.

Peter Filipovity dropped a career-high 23 points in the victory and matched his career-high in rebounds with 12.

As a part of their trip to Florida, Maine defeated Northwestern State in the UNF MTE, 78-65 to begin their tournament run behind a career-high 19 points from AJ Lopez. Kellen Tynes (14), Ja'Shonté Wright-McLeish (14) and Peter Filipovity (11) rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Black Bears.

The Black Bears followed up their strong win on Thursday with another double-digit victory, this one over Presbyterian, 80-66. Filipovity poured in 19 points in the victory, with Tynes (18) and Lopez (17) all scoring in double-digits.

Maine concluded the tournament with a 67-58 loss against North Florida, where Tynes dropped 20-6-6 with four steals in the losing effort. The Black Bears forced 42 turnovers over the three-day tournament.

Player Spotlights:

Kellen Tynes: One season ago, Kellen Tynes (Jr. – Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) became the first Black Bear in program history to be named a Conference Defensive Player of the Year, a National Semifinalist for Defensive Player of the Year and his numbers were above anyone else in the entire NCAA. Tynes led the country with 98 steals (excluding the NCAA Tournament) and his average of 3.27 steals per game also led the country and were the most in the NCAA in three years.

Tynes has come out to begin the season avergaing 2.2 steals per contest, which ranks him nationally at 96th. His 15 total steals are good for the 18th most steals in the NCAA. Tynes also ranked second in the America East in assist-to-turnover ratio with a 2.15 ratio.

Jaden Clayton: As a freshman in 2022-23, Clayton established himself as a reliable passer as the point guard for the new look Black Bears. Clayton ranked third in the America East with 3.9 assists per game, which was the third most in the conference and his 118 total assists were also the third most in the conference.

Clayton earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team in the America East as he also ranked second in the America East in total steals with 54, trailing only his teammate, Kellen Tynes. Clayton scored 6.9 points per contest last season on only 38.8% from the field, numbers he is looking to improve upon when he takes the floor as the starting point guard on opening night for the Black Bears.

Clayton has emerged as one of the most reliable point guards in the America East in the early part of the season as he is fifth in the America East in assist-to-turnover ratio and his 30 assists are good for 33rd in the country in the early part of the season. His 13 steals on the season have him ranked 34th in the country and second in the America East, trailing only Tynes.

Peter Filipovity: A finalist for the America East Sixth Man of the Year, Filipovity took a big leap forward is in his first under Coach Markwood and his staff. His average points nearly doubled as he went from averaging 4.8 points in 2021-22 to 9.2 points per game in 2022-23. His rebounding numbers also increased by more than double as he averaged 5.7 last season, compared to 2.7 the season before.

Filipovity has found himself in the starting lineup to begin the 2023-24 season, which he is rewarding the decision by averaging 12.3 points per contest on 57.6% shooting, 5.1 reobunds and 1.2 steals per contest, all while only having committed three turnovers on the season. In two of his last three outings, he has set a new career-high in points with 19 against Presbyterian and most recently a 23-point outburst against South Florida to lead the Black Bears to the victory. He also tied his career-high in that matchup with 12 rebounds.

Ja'Shonté Wright-McLeish: Wright-McLeish has come out of the gates hot for the Black Bears. He is shooting 56.8% from the field and a team-best 56.7% from behind the arc (17-for-30) across seven games. He just surpassed 100-career three-pointers, becoming just the 20th Black Bear to achieve the feat.

He has made at least one three-pointer in every contest this season, hitting four in back-to-back contests against Merrimack (11/12) and Northwestern St. (11/16) and most most recently against South Florida. His 17-made three-pointers are good for the 29th most makes in the NCAA and trails the America East leader by in the category by only one.

Program History against Columbia: Maine squares off against Columbia for the ninth time in program history, with Columbia holding the all-time series lead at 5-3. In their last matchup a season ago, the Black Bears won, 93-70.

-UMaine-