GAME INFORMATION:
DATE:Â Wednesday, Nov. 20
TIME:Â 7:00Â P.M.
SITE: Richmond,VAÂ - Robins Center
2023-24 RECORDS: Maine 2-2Â - Richmond 1-3
VIDEO:Â
ESPN+
LISTEN: goblackbears.com | 92.9 The Ticket
LIVE STATS
TWITTER:Â
@maineMBB
GAME NOTES
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- Last Time Out -Â
Maine came up just short at Quinnipiac on Friday, Nov. 15 as the fought back but ultimately fell short by a final score of 58-55.
The Black Bears trailed Quinnipiac by 15 with 4:20 remaining in regulation before going on a 14-0 run to cut the deficit to one. Falling a Bobcat bucket, Maine found itself down by three with 22-seconds on the clock. The Black Bears had two looks to tie the game but were unable to even the score. AJ Lopez led the Black Bears with 18 points, Jaden Clayton had 12.
- Two-Time Defensive Player of the Year -Â
Kellen Tynes is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in the America East, an award he was won in back-to-back seasons at the University of Maine. He is the only player in program history to win the award, which in turn has led to him being named a Left Driesell Award Finalist in back-to-back seasons. He led all of the NCAA in steals in 2022-23 with 98. He has 168 steals across his first two seasons with Maine.
To go along with his two DPOY Awards, Tynes has been the second leading scorer for the Black Bears across his two seasons at Maine. He averaged 14.3 PPG in 2022-23 and 12.6 PPG last season, resulting in back-to-back America East All-Conference Third Team selections. Tynes currently sits at 971 career points.
- Conference Leading Assists -
Jaden Clayton made an immediate impact with the Black Bears when he set foot on campus in the fall of 2022 as he earned the title of Starting Point Guard for the Black Bears. Since his debut game, he leads all of the America East in total assists with 259, averaging 4.0 for his career across his 66 games started.
To pair with his assist numbers, Clayton has taken strides in improving his scoring and shooting percentages over the past two seasons at Maine. His scoring increased from 6.9 PPG to 9.2 PPG from his freshmen to sophomore season while shooting at a higher percentage from the field (38.8%-41.2%), three-point range (26.2%-30.0%) and at the free throw line (72.9%-79.7%).
Clayton had his biggest game of the season against Brown as he scored 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 from three-point range. He also added 4 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.
-Wings Making Impacts-
AJ Lopez and Quion Burns have come out of the gates picking up where they both left off a season ago as they are the top-two scorers for the Black Bears. Lopez is averaging 13.8 PPG on 45/29/94 shooting splits while Burns is averaging 11.8 PPG on 41/19/80 shooting splits. Burns leads the Black Bears in rebounding as he is averaging 7.5 per contest. He registered 10 rebounds in back-to-back games from 11/6-11/10.
Lopez has averaged 16.3 PPG in his last three games as he has helped Maine win two of their last three contests.
- Fourth in America East Preseason Poll -
Maine was selected fourth in the America East preseason poll following a 7-9 Conference record last season, which put them in a three-way tie for fourth place. Maine ultimately was the sixth seed in the conference tournament due to tiebreakers.
The fourth place in the preseason poll for the Black Bears is their highest since the 2010-11 season. Maine is looking to host their first ever playoff game since the America East went to a higher-seed hosting format in 2015 and their first postseason victory since the 2004 Black Bears.
- 30 and Counting -
Since taking over at the helm of the Black Bears in the summer of 2022, Chris Markwood has developed the Black Bears into a Top-60 defensive program, which is leading to more victories per season than Maine has seen in over a decade. His 28 wins across his opening two season are the most wins in a two-year span since the 2009-11 Black Bears that won 34 games.
-UMaine-
