Orono, ME - The University of Maine men's basketball program heads on the road for a one-game trip to Burlington to battle the Vermont Catamounts on Thursday Night.

- Last Time Out - 

The Black Bears continued their winning ways as they picked up their sixth-straight victory in a one-sided victory over New Hampshire in the Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle, 71-46. Thr six-game winning streak continues the longest win streak under Chris Markwood and is the third time in the last five games that Maine has defeated an America East team by at least 20 points. Quion Burns ended with 26 points on 9-for-12 shooting, including a season-best 5-for-5 from three-point range. Kellen Tynes finished with 14 points, 4 steals, 3 assists and 2 blocks. He currently sits at 242 career steals at Maine, 1 shy of the program record of 243. Jaden Clayton ended with 8 points and 5 assists.

- Two-Time Defensive Player of the Year... and More - 

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 recently scored his 1000th career point as part of a 12-point outing against Holy Cross.

Tynes is currently leading the NCAA with 74 steals on the season. He also ranks in the top-20 in the America East in scoring as he is averaging 12.9 PPG, which ranks third on the Black Bears and 19th in the America East.

- Wings Making Impacts -

Quion Burns and AJ Lopez and making the most of their first season as starters for the Black Bears as they are both ranked in the Top-18 in the America East in scoring. Lopez leads the Black Bears with 15.3 PPG (5th in America East) while Burns averages the second-most points on the team and 18th in the America East at 13.0 per game.

Lopez is averaging 19.6 PPG in seven conference games, which is the fourth-highest mark in the conference. Lopez is also leading the America East in 3PT% at 55.3% and is third in the conference at 59.0% from the field overall.

Burns is coming off his best offensive performances in back-to-back games as a Black Bear as he scored a career-high 28 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field and 4-for-5 from behind-the-arc and UMass Lowell before scoring 26 points on 9-for-12 shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range. His 141 total rebounds on the season is the 7th-most in the America East.

- NCAA Leaderboards - 

Maine sits in the top-three in the America East in 15 of the 28 major categories that the NCAA tracks, while also being ranked in the top-100 in all of the NCAA in 11 of the 15 categories. Highlighted by the defense and limiting turnovers, Maine's national and conference rankings sit as follows (National-America East): 4.5 - Turnover Margin (11th-1st), 9.5 - Steals Per Game (22nd-1st), 15.5 - Turnovers Forced Per Game (22nd-1st), 66.0 - Fewest Points Allowed Per Game (42nd-2nd), 15.1 - Fewest Fouls Per Game (44th-3rd), 47.2% - Field Goal% (64th-3rd), 76.6% - Free Throw% (69th-2nd), 1.37 - Assist-to-Turnover Ratio (70th-1st), 11.0 - Fewest Turnovers Per Game (82nd-2nd), 35.7% - Three-Point% (91st-3rd), 12.1 - Fast Break Points Per Game (95th-3rd), 15.0 - Assists Per Game (100th-3rd), 63.6% - Winning% (1st in AE), 7.0 - Scoring Margin (3rd in AE) and 42.4% - Defensive Field Goal% (2nd in AE).

- 42 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. He has the Black Bears off to their best conference start in over 15 years as they sit at 5-1 in America East action and six-games over .500 at an 14-8 record overall. Maine is currently on their longest winstreak since the 2010-11 season as they have won six-straight games, five of which by double-digits.

- History vs Vermont -

These two long-stranding rivals will square off for the 152nd time on Saturday, with Vermont holding a slight lead in the all-time series at 81-70. Vermont has gotten the better of the Black Bears over the past 15 years as Maine has just 2 wins in the last 34 matchups against the Catamounts. The last time the Black Bears took down Vermont was in 2013 and the last time Maine won on the road against Vermont was 2011.

-UMaine-
 
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