Orono, ME – The University of Maine men's basketball team begins their final road trip of the regular season as they make a stop at New Hampshire to take on the Wildcats in the Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

University of Maine (11-15, 5-8 AE) at New Hampshire (12-13, 7-6 AE)
Date & Time	Wednesday, Feb. 22 | 7:00 P.M.
Location	Durham, NH | Lundholm Gym
Watch International Stream	Web Stream: ESPN + AE TV
Listen	Black Bear Sports Network
Live Stats	unhwildcats.com
Game Notes	Maine
Twitter	@MaineMBB

ABOUT THE BLACK BEARS:

The Black Bears are coming off of a 74-72 victory over UAlbany back on Saturday. The victory clinched an America East Tournament spot for the Black Bears, their first tournament spot since the 2020 season. The Black Bears currently hold the seventh spot in the playoff standings.

The Black Bears defense has continued its dominant run that remains in the top-10 in the NCAA after another week of being one of the best teams in the America East and in the country in forcing turnovers by way of the steal. Maine leads the America East in steals per game at 9.5 per contest, which is good for a national ranking of seventh. Black Bears defense was nationally ranked fifth back on Feb. 8, their highest mark on the season. Leading the way in that category for the Black Bears is Sophomore Point Guard, Kellen Tynes.

Tynes is one of the best defenders in the country as he leads the NCAA in total steals and steals per game. He heads into the matchup against Bryant with 84 total steals and averaging 3.23 steals per game. His steals per game average puts Tynes on pace to set the Black Bears single-season record. Tynes has recorded at least one steal in 25 of the 26 games for Maine.

Tynes is putting up his incredible defensive numbers all while posting the most minutes per game in the America East, averaging 34:57 time on the floor per game. That time ranks him 70^th in the country for time played per game.
 
PREVIEW ON THE WILDCATS:
 
New Hampshire is coming off of a 75-66 victory over UMBC back on Saturday, Feb. 18.
 
Clarence Daniels led the way in scoring on the afternoon as he had 19 points in the winning performance. Nick Johnson and Matt Herasme both finished the night with 17 points apiece.
 
The Wildcats shot 45.8% from the field on the afternoon and 36.4% from three-point range.
 
They forced 15 turnovers while only committing 10 themselves.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR MAINE:

The Black Bears are coming off of a victory that clinched a playoff spot in the America East Tournament, a 74-72 win over UAlbany.
 
Kellen Tynes had a huge game for the Black Bears as he had 23 points, seven steals, six rebounds, four assists and one block.
 
Gedi Juozapaitis chipped in with 17 points in the winning effort.
 
Jaden Clayton finished with a game-high six assists.
 
The Black Bears shot 49.0% from the field and 31.3% from three-point range. They shot 19 of 23 from the free throw line (82.6%).
 
Maine forced turnovers in the contest, leading to 19 points off of turnovers.
 
JUOZAPAITIS FIGHTING FOR CONFERENCE SCORING TITLE
 
Gedi Juozapaitis is in contention for the America East scoring title as he most recently put up 17 points in the win over UAlbany. He ranks ranked third in the America East in conference only games in as he is averaging 16.3 points per game through 13 conference matchups. His 15.1 per game in scoring is good for the fourth most in the conference for all games played. He is shooting 45.3% from the field and 38.8% from three-point range on the season.
 
Juozapaitis ranks second in three-pointers made in conference games with 32 made three-pointers. He trails the conference leader by two. He is shooting the seventh-best percentage from three-point range (36.0%), among qualified leaders, all while attempting the third most three-pointers per game at 2.5 per contest in conference only games.
 
Juozapaitis is putting up his numbers at a very efficient rate in conference only games as he currently ranks 19^th in field goal%.
 
TYNES REACHES TOP FIVE IN CONFERENCE HISTORY
 
Kellen Tynes is the best of the best in the country when it comes to stealing the ball as he recently swiped seven steals against UAlbany, giving him an NCAA best 84 at an NCAA best 3.23 per game clip.
 
His total of 84 steals puts him in second place all-time in program history, trailing the current leader by 11 (Marty Higgins 91-92 / 95 steals). Tynes is currently in a tie for fifth place all-time in America East conference history with his steal total. Tynes reached the mark in four less games than the current holder of fifth all-time.
 
FILIPOVITY PUSHING FOR SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
 
Peter Filipovity has made his case to be in consideration for the America East Sixth Man of the Year as he currently has six double-doubles on the season and is he is currently averaging 9.4 points per game in the month of February. His bench scoring is a key part to why the Black Bears are in the America East Tournament.
 
Filipovity has been a difficult man to stop when he has entered the game as he is averaging 9.9 points per game in just 20.9 minutes per night, which equals out to 0.48 points per minute played. He also leads the Black Bears in rebounds at 6.0 per contest and finds himself in 11^th overall in the conference and 13^th in conference only games in rebounding as he is grabbing 5.9 per America East game.
 
WRIGHT-MCLEISH CLOSING IN ON 100
 
Ja'Shonté Wright-McLeish has been a consistent scorer for the Black Bears over his tenure with the team. He has averaged 6.0 points per game over his collegiate career and he is looking to top the 100-made three-pointers at some point during his career. He has made 38 three-pointers this season, giving him 86 for his career.
 

Tale of the Tape

Maine (11-15, 5-8 AE)	Category	New Hampshire (12-13, 7-6)
69.3	Points Per Game	66.9
69.3	Opponent Points Per Game	66.6
0.0	Scoring Margin	0.3
46.4	Field Goal Percentage	39.9
34.9	3-Point Field Goal Percentage	34.9
74.0	Free Throw Percentage	68.8
30.5	Rebounds Per Game	34.9
-3.5	Rebound Margin	-0.4
14.2	Assists Per Game	12.2
12.2	Turnovers Per Game	10.1
14.2	Turnovers Forced Per Game	11.2
9.5	Steals Per Game	5.4
2.1	Blocks Per Game	2.4

-UMaine-