Orono, ME - The University of Maine men's basketball team wraps up their short two-game road trip with a matchup against NJIT on Saturday, Jan. 20.

GAME INFORMATION:
DATE: Saturday, Jan. 20
TIME: 2:00 P.M.
SITE: Newark, NJ
2023 RECORDS: Maine 8-10, 0-3 - NJIT 4-12, 0-4
VIDEO: ESPN +
LISTEN: goblackbears.com
LIVE STATS
TWITTER: @maineMBB
GAME NOTES

Last Time Out: Maine was defeated at UMBC on Thursday night, 70-65.

Kellen Tynes and Krisitans Feierbergs led the way in scoring as they each had 13 points. Tynes had a season-high six steals.

Maine grabbed 20 offensive rebounds in the contest.

Black Bear Rankings: Following three contests in conference play, Maine is allowing the 77th fewest points per game in the NCAA at 67.1 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 (50th - First in America East), turnover margin (70th - First in America East),  fewest turnovers per game (81st - Second in America East),  turnovers forced per game (First in America East) and free throw percentage (93rd - First 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 - 13.2) and is up over four points per game from last seasons average (9.2 - 13.2) all while becoming a more efficient scorer of the basketball (47% - 57%).

To go along with the spike in scoring, he has seen a large increase in his rebounding totals (2.6 - 5.7 - 7.3) across his three seasons at Maine and he has become a much more reliable defender for a strong defensive minded Black Bear squad. His 7.3 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 2.24 steals per game, which is the most per game in the America East and ranks him 29th nationally. He has 38 total steals on the season, which are the most in the America East and has him ranked 31st in the nation.

Despite his scoring average being down slightly from a season ago (14.3 - 13.8), 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 14 of 17 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 sixth in total assists (79), sixth in assists per game (4.4) and does so with the fourth-best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.68) 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 58 three-pointers, shooting 33.1% 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 45 steals (led by Wright-McLeish's 26) 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 37% from behind the arc and he has four of his top-five 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 1.2 blocks per game in his 10 starts, including nine-straight games with a blocked shot.

Program History against NJIT: This will be the 11th meeting all-time between these fresh America East opponents. NJIT leads the all-time series 8-2.

Last season, NJIT swept the Black Bears in two games, winning 91-83 and 65-50.

Next up... Maine returns to Orono on Thursday, Jan. 25 to host UAlbany in the first of two home games, the second being on Saturday, Jan. 27 at the Cross Insurance Center.

-UMaine-