Orono, ME - The University of Maine men's basketball team hosts the Binghamton Bearcats on Saturday, Jan. 27 at the Cross Insurance Center.

Promotions: Maine will be holding their second Cub Club Day along with their Military Appreciation Game. Active or retired military members will be granted a free ticket to the game. All Cub Club members will be granted a free ticket to the game and will have the opportunity to meet and greet with the team and have an autograph session post. game.

GAME INFORMATION:
DATE: Saturday, Jan. 27
TIME: 2:00 P.M.
SITE: Cross Insurance Center - Bangor, ME
2023 RECORDS: Maine 19-10, 2-3 - Binghamton 8-10, 0-5
VIDEO: ESPN +
LISTEN: goblackbears.com
TICKETS
LIVE STATS
TWITTER: @maineMBB
GAME NOTES

Last Time Out: Maine won their second-straight America East contest as they defeated UAlbany, 81-73.

Peter Filipovity rattled off his second-straight double-double, scoring 20 or more points in back-to-back games for Maine. He's averaged 21.5 points and 12 rebounds in his last two games.

Kristians Feierbergs finished with a season-high 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Kellen Tynes and Jaden Clayton combined for a solid night in the Maine backcourt as they had 25 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and six steals between them.

Black Bear Rankings: Following four contests in conference play, Maine is allowing the 71st 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 (46th - Second in America East), turnover margin (86th - First in America East),  Three-Point % Defense (88th), fewest turnovers per game (Second in America East),  turnovers forced per game (99th - Second 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 - 14.1) and is up over four points per game from last seasons average (9.2 - 14,1) all while becoming a more efficient scorer of the basketball (47% - 59%).

To go along with the spike in scoring, he has seen a large increase in his rebounding totals (2.6 - 5.7 - 7.8) across his three seasons at Maine and he has become a much more reliable defender for a strong defensive minded Black Bear squad. His 7.8 rebounds per game this season are the fourth-most in the America East. He is coming off back-to-back career-best days against America East opponents as he had a conference career-high 20 points and 13 rebounds against NJIT, before topping his tying his career-high with 23 against UAlbany for his second-straight double-double.

Kellen Tynes: Tynes continues to be one of the most consistent and dominate defenders in all of college basketball. He is averaging 2.37 steals per game, which is the most per game in the America East and ranks him 17th nationally, a 13-spot jump from last weeks rankings. He has 45 total steals on the season, which are the most in the America East and has him ranked 17th in the nation. In two games last week, Tynes tallied 11 steals.

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 16 of 19 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 fourth in total assists (91 - 58th in NCAA), fourth in assists per game (4.6 - 79th in NCAA) and does so with the fourth-best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.75) 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 22.2 points per game for the Black Bears. They have hit a combined 66 three-pointers, shooting 34.3% 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 47 steals (led by Wright-McLeish's 28) and have 12 blocks as a group.

One-Two Punch at Center: Since switching Kristians Feierbergs and Adam Cisse in the lineup, both big men have seen their numbers drastically improved.

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 42.4% from behind the arc and he has five of his top-six scoring performances of the season coming off of the bench. He most recently hit four of five three-pointers against UAlbany.

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 12 starts. Cisse has averaged 7.3 points per game over his past two contests and just had his block-streak snapped at 10-games.

Program History against Binghamton: This will be the 45th meeting all-time between these two programs, with Maine holding a slim lead all-time at 23-21.

Last season, Maine swept the Bearcats by final scores of 78-57 and 71-67.

-UMaine-