Orono, ME - The University of Maine men's basketball team heads out on the road for a quick one-game trip to UMass Lowell on Thursday night.

GAME INFORMATION:
DATE: Thursday, Feb. 1
TIME: 6:30 P.M.
SITE: Costello Athletic Center - Lowell, MA
2023/24 RECORDS: Maine 10-11, 2-4 - UMass Lowell 14-5, 5-1
VIDEO: ESPN +
LISTEN: goblackbears.com
LIVE STATS
TWITTER: @maineMBB
GAME NOTES

Last Time Out: Maine was defeated by Binghamton on Saturday, Jan. 28, 51-50.

Jaden Clayton led the way on offense for the Black Bears as he scored 15 points. Quion Burns had a season-high 13 points while Adam Cisse had his best defensive outing for the Black Bears as he had five blocks.

Black Bear Rankings: Following six contests in conference play, Maine is allowing the 54th fewest points per game in the NCAA at 66.5 per game, which ranks second 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 (51st - Second in America East), turnover margin (89th - First in America East),  three-point % defense (59th), fewest turnovers per game (Second in America East),  turnovers forced per game (99th - First in America East) and free throw percentage (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 - 13.6) and is up over four points per game from last seasons average (9.2 - 13.6) 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 - 7.6) 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 2.35 steals per game, which is the most per game in the America East and ranks him 18th nationally, a 12-spot jump over the past two weeks in the national rankings. He has 47 total steals on the season, which are the most in the America East and has him ranked 20th in the nation.

Despite his scoring average being down slightly from a season ago (14.3 - 13.3), 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 20 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 (92 - 80th in NCAA), fifth in assists per game (4.4- 98th in NCAA) and does so with the fourth-best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.70) in the America East. In his last outing against Binghamton, Clayton had his best scoring performance against  an America East rival as he scored 15 points. He also has 26 assists across his six conference games played on the season.

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 points per game for the Black Bears. They have hit a combined 67 three-pointers, shooting 33.8% 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 49 steals (led by Wright-McLeish's 29) and have 13 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 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 1.4 blocks per game in his 13 starts. He is coming off a career-best day on the defensive end of the floor as he had five blocks against Binghamton.

Program History against UMass Lowell: This will be the 19th meeting all-time between these two America East rivals.

Last season, the two sides split the regular season series, with the River Hawks winning game one, 72-70, before the Black Bears took game two, 75-70.

UMass Lowell knocked Maine out of the 2023 playoffs in the America East quarterfinals, 85-54.

-UMaine-