Orono, ME - The University of Maine men's basketball looks to begin their two-game road trip with a stop at UMBC on Thursday, Jan. 18.

GAME INFORMATION:
DATE: Thursday, Jan. 18
TIME: 7:00 P.M.
SITE: Baltimore, MD
2023 RECORDS: Maine 8-9, 0-2 - UMBC 5-13, 0-3
VIDEO: ESPN +
LISTEN: goblackbears.com
LIVE STATS
TWITTER: @maineMBB
GAME NOTES

Last Time Out: Maine lost their second-straight conference matchup at the hands of the New Hampshire Wildcats back on Jan. 11, 79-74.

Peter Filipovity (16pts), Kellen Tynes (15pts), AJ Lopez (15pts) and Jaden Clayton (13pts) all reached double-digits in scoring in the contest.

Maine carried a double-digit lead into the final eight minutes of the contest before the Wildcats ended the contest on a 31-15 run.

Black Bear Rankings: Following two contests in conference play, Maine is allowing the 74th fewest points per game in the NCAA at 66.9 per game, which ranks third in the America East.

Maine ranks in the Top-100 national in a number of key categories and in the top-three in the America East, including: Steals per game (56th - Second in America East), turnover margin (72nd - First in America East),  fewest turnovers per game (78th - Second in America East),  turnovers forced per game (First in America East) and free throw percentage (Second in America East).

Spotlights: Peter Filipovity: Filipovity has emerged as one of the most improved players in all of the America East. In year two of being a part of Markwood's system, Filipovity has seen his scoring average nearly triple from his first season at Maine (4.8 - 13.5) and is up over four points per game from last seasons average (9.2 - 13.5) all while becoming a more efficient scorer of the basketball (47% - 58%).

To go along with the spike in scoring, he has seen a large increase in his rebounding totals (2.6 - 5.7 - 7.4) across his three seasons at Maine and he has become a much more reliable defender for a strong defensive minded Black Bear squad. His 7.4 rebounds per game this season are the fourth-most in the America East.

Kellen Tynes: Tynes continues to be one of the most consistent and dominate defenders in all of college basketball. He is averaging 2.0 steals per game, which is the second most per game in the America East and ranks  him in the Top-60 nationally. He has 32 total steals through 16 games played on the season.

Despite his scoring average being down slightly from a season ago (14.3 - 13.9), Maine played a much stronger non-conference schedule and Tynes has continued to be one of the most consistent players on the Black Bears as he has scored in double-figures in 13 of 16 games on the season, including three games of 20 or more points (season-high 26 against Holy Cross).

One season ago, Tynes 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.

Jaden Clayton: Clayton is one of the best facilitators of the basketball in the America East. He ranks fifth in total assists (85), fourth in assists per game (4.5) and does so with the fifth-best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.69) in the America East. In the conference opener against Vermont, Clayton stuffed the stat-sheet with 10 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals and followed up the performance with another double-digit outing against New Hampshire for 13 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Impact at the Forward Position: The Black Bears have run out a trio of small forwards/power forwards this season that have been a big part of the teams early season success. The transfer additions of AJ Lopez and Quion Burns, paired with fifth-year forward, Ja'Shonté Wright-McLeish, has combined to score 22.9 points per game for the Black Bears. They have hit a combined 53 three-pointers, shooting 33.9% from behind the arc as a group. The trio has been just as effective on the defensive end of the floor as they have on the offensive side. They have collected 44 steals (led by Wright-McLeish's 25) and have 8 blocks as a group.

One-Two Punch at Center: Maine began the season running Kristians Feierbergs in the starting five, with Adam Cisse first off the bench as the backup big-man. Over the past nine contests, Maine has flipped the script and inserted Cisse into the starting five with Feierbergs off the bench, which has led to some greatly improved results for both players in their production.

Feierbergs began the season shooting 2-for-17 (11.7%) from three-point range, but since coming off the bench his numbers have rose to shooting 29.3% from behind the arc and he has three of his top-four scoring performances of the season coming off of the bench.

Meanwhile, Cisse has made a much greater impact on the defensive end of the floor while running in the starting lineup as he has averaged 1.1 blocks per game in his eight starts, including eight-straight games with a blocked shot.

Program History against UMBC: This will be the 40th  meeting all-time between these two conference opponents. UMBC leads the all-time series, 25-14.

Last season, the two teams split the season series as UMBC grabbed the first game 85-77 before the Black Bears blew out the Retrievers in the second game, 84-49.

Next up for the Black Bears: Maine wraps up their two-game road trip with a contest against NJIT on Saturday, Jan. 20.

-UMaine-