Orono, ME - The University of Maine men's basketball team will play host to UMBC on Thursday night in Orono.

GAME INFORMATION:
DATE: Thursday, Feb. 12
TIME: 6:00 P.M.
SITE: Orono, ME - The Pit
2023/24 RECORDS: Maine 11-15, 3-8 - UMBC 9-18, 4-8
VIDEO: ESPN +
LISTEN: goblackbears.com
LIVE STATS
TWITTER: @maineMBB
GAME NOTES
TICKETS

Last Time Out: Maine was defeated by Vermont in their last contest in Orono on Saturday, Feb. 17, 68-57.

Kellen Tynes ended with a team-high 17 points and six rebounds.

Jaden Clayton (13) and Quion Burns (9) rounded out the top scorers for Maine.

Black Bear Rankings: Maine is allowing the 60th fewest points per game in the NCAA at 67.3 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 (37th - First in America East), turnover margin (82nd - First in America East),  three-point % defense (52nd), fewest turnovers per game (Third in America East),  and turnovers forced per game (2nd - 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 - 13.1) and is up nearly four points per game from last seasons average (9.2 - 13.1) 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 - 7.4) across his three seasons at Maine and he has become a much more reliable defender for a strong defensive minded Black Bear squad. His 7.6 rebounds per game this season are the fourth-most in the America East. He recently had 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. He recently had another monster double-double as he had 21 points and 10 rebounds against Bryant and another 20-point outing against New Hampshire.

Kellen Tynes: Tynes continues to be one of the most consistent and dominate defenders in all of college basketball. He is averaging 2.36 steals per game, which is the most per game in the America East and ranks him 12th nationally. He has 59 total steals on the season, which are the most in the America East and has him ranked 15th in the nation.

Despite his scoring average being down slightly from a season ago (14.3 - 13.1), 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 20 of 25 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 and has emerged over the past six games as one of the most consistent scorers for the Black Bears. He ranks sixth in total assists (107 - 115th in NCAA), fifth in assists per game (4.1- 127th in NCAA) and does so with the sixth-best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.53) in the America East. In a recent outing against Bryant, he had a career-high 24 points (previous best was 16) to go along with six assists, five rebounds and a steal on 8-for-11 shooting from the field. Over his past seven contests, Clayton is averaging 11.3 points per game on 55% shooting from the field.

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 21.9 points per game for the Black Bears. They have hit a combined 81 three-pointers, shooting 34.6% 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 62 steals (led by Wright-McLeish's 34) and have 16 blocks as a group.

One-Two Punch at Center: Kristians Feierbergs and Adam Cisse play two different styles of basketball, but both have made big impacts for the Black Bears.

Feierbergs began the season shooting 2-for-17 (11.7%) from three-point range, but since his early season struggles, his numbers have rose to shooting 29.5% from behind the arc and he has five of his top-six scoring performances on the season. 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. He has averaged 1.5 blocks per game in his 15 starts and 1.2 blocks per game overall. He recently had a career-best day on the defensive end of the floor as he had five blocks against Binghamton.

Program History against UMBC: This will be the 41st meeting all-time and the second meeting of the season between these two rivals. UMBC narrowly defeated Maine earlier in the season, 70-65. UMBC leads the all-time series, 25-15.

Next Up... Maine wraps up their three-game home stand on Saturday, Feb. 24 as they host NJIT.

-UMaine-