- Regular Season review - 

The Black Bears concluded the regular season with an 18-13 record, an 10-6 conference record and the 3-seed in the America East Playoffs, all of which were the highest marks in the program since the 2009-10 season. The Black Bears were the fifth-ranked offense, the second ranked defense and had the third-best scoring margin in the America East.

- Tynes Matches history - 

Kellen Tynes solidified himself among the greatest defenders in the history of the America East as he earned his third-straight America East Defense Player of the Year award, becoming only the second player to do so (Marcus Blakely - UVM 2007-10). Tynes recorded 97 steals during the regular season, the second-most in all of the NCAA and the most in a single regular season in his career. For his career, Tynes has 301 steals, making him the all-time NCAA leader in steals for a canadian-born player.

To pair with his DPOY award, Tynes earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team as he posted career-highs nearly across the board. He set new career-highs in the regular season in assists (143), assists per game (4.6), blocks (21), three-pointers (23), three-point% (33.9%) and free throw% (75.3%). He also averaged the second-most points per game of his career at 12.7 per game.

- Lopez Earns Accolade - 

AJ Lopez earned his spot on the America East All-Conference Second Team as he ranked in the top-10 in every scoring category in the America East in conference games. He ranked 10th in points per game (15.8), eighth in total points (253), 10th in field goal% (50.3%) and first in free throw% (91.1%). He set new career-highs in every statistically category besides blocks that is tracked by the NCAA, most impressively a six-point jump in his scoring average per game from a season ago (8.6-14.6) and an 8% jump in his three-point% (34.2%-42.2%). His 91% shooting from the free-throw line was the seventh-highest mark in all of the NCAA.

- NCAA Leaderboards - 

Maine sits in the top-three in the America East in 13 of the 28 major categories that the NCAA tracks, while also being ranked in the top-100 in all of the NCAA in 12 of the 13 categories. Highlighted by the defense and limiting turnovers, Maine's national and conference rankings sit as follows (National-America East): 4.1 - Turnover Margin (13th-1st), 8.9 - Steals Per Game (26th-1st), 14.7 - Turnovers Forced Per Game (31st-1st), 66.5 - Fewest Points Allowed Per Game (40th-2nd), 1.43 - Assist-to-Turnover Ratio (48th-1st), 15.2 - Fewest Fouls Per Game (51st in NCAA), 36.2% - Three-Point% (65th-2nd), 10.6 - Fewest Turnovers Per Game (65th-1st), 75.0% - Free Throw% (74th-2nd), 15.2 - Assists Per Game (83rd-2nd), 46.6% - Field Goal% (86th-3rd), 11.7 - Fastbreak Points Per Game (88th-3rd), 5.1 - Scoring Margin (3rd in AE) and 58.1% - Winning% (3rd in AE).

- Reshaped Program - 

In three seasons, Chris Markwood and his staff have taken the Black Bears from being one of the bottom-10 teams in all of the NCAA in 2021 to a top-three seed, a winning regular season record and their first home playoff game in 30 years. Maine is looking to win their first playoff game in 20 years against the River Hawks on Saturday.

- History vs UMass Lowell -

This will be the third matchup of the season between these two teams and second-straight game they have played against one another. Maine has defeated the River Hawks by one-point in both games on the season, winning 86-85 in overtime at Lowell before concluding the regular season with a 71-70 victory.

- Burns vs River Hawks -

Quion Burns has never scored more points in a single season against one opponent than what he did in the 2024-25 season against UMass Lowell. He averaged 23.5 PPG in their two matchups on 62/50/100 shooting splits. He scored a career-high 28 points in their first matchup of the season. He's averaging 4.5 RPG against UMass Lowell while only having committed two total turnovers.