GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS | ESPN 3
BALTIMORE-- UMBC men's basketball returns to the hardwood this weekend after a week hiatus to take on New Hampshire in a key America East series in Durham. The Retrievers are coming off a week break following the postponement of their series with Stony Brook. Last time out, UMBC split a weekend set with Binghamton to move to 7-2, 3-1 AE on the year.
New Hampshire Series Info:
What: UMBC Retrievers (7-2, 3-1 AE) at New Hampshire Wildcats (4-3, 3-1 AE)
Where: Lundholm Gym - Durham, N.H.
When: Saturday-Sunday, January 9-10 - Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at noon
How to Watch: Both games on ESPN 3 and ESPN app, live stats at UNHWildcats.com
Social Media: @UMBC_MBB, #RetrieverNation, #AEHoops
Scouting the Retrievers:
-The Retrievers are heading to The Granite State at 7-2, 3-1 AE on the year, winners of seven of their last eight, and are in a tie with the Wildcats for second in the conference. UMBC defeated Binghamton 74-67 on Saturday behind 20 points from Brandon Horvath (West River, Md./Southern) and a career-high 18 points from Keondre Kennedy (Atlanta, Ga.) before falling 75-69 on Sunday.
-All five Retriever starters are averaging at least 9.0 ppg led by Horvath at 16.4 ppg and a team-best 8.5 rpg and rank second and third respectively in both categories in the league. R.J. Eytle-Rock (London, England) and Darnell Rogers (Baltimore, Md./Indian Land (SC)/New Mexico JC) are also in double figures at 11.4 and 10.2 ppg respectively. Rogers leads the team averaging 2.9 apg.
-UMBC is fourth in the America East in scoring (72.1 ppg) and scoring defense (65.8 ppg) and is first in scoring margin at +6.3 ppg. The Retrievers are also tops in the league in field goal percentage (45.9) and field goal defense (38.6), the only team holding opponents below 40 percent.
Scouting the Wildcats:
-New Hampshire enters the weekend at 4-3, 3-1 AE on the year after a weekend split at Maine last weekend. The Black Bears won a slim 59-56 contest on Saturday before the Wildcats picked up a 62-58 decision on Sunday. It was the first win on the road for UNH on the year, but they are 3-1 on the year at home.
-Nick Guadarrama leads the Wildcats averaging 14.8 ppg and is second on the team at 9.0 rpg. Jayden Martinez is just behind him at 14.7 ppg and a team-best 9.1 rpg. Josh Hopkins is the only other Wildcat in double figures at 11.5 ppg.
All-Time Series:
-The Retrievers and Wildcats have met 37 times prior to this weekend with New Hampshire leading the all-time series 20-17. UMBC won two of the three meetings last year, including a 73-67 win in the America East Quarterfinals in Baltimore.
-UMBC has had the upper hand in the series of late, winning six of the last seven dating back to the 2017-18 season with the lone loss coming last year in Durham. Of those last seven games, everyone has been decided by single digits with the largest margin of victory coming in in 2018 when the Retrievers won by nine on the road.
Odom Climbing the Ranks:
-Head coach Ryan Odom is back for his fifth season at the helm of the Retrievers. Odom led the Dawgs to their third-straight America East Semifinal appearance, finishing fourth in the league at 8-8. He will be looking for his fourth 20-win season in five years and is the third-winningest coach in program history with 90 wins.
-He is now behind Tom Sullivan in second (106 wins) and Billy Jones (145 wins) in first. Sullivan hit his mark in nine seasons and Jones was on the sidelines for 12 years.
Horvath Chasing 1K:
-Senior Brandon Horvath played in his 100th career contest against Coppin State on December 13. He is also fast approaching 1,000 career points, just 131 points away from reaching the milestone, and will be the 24th Retriever all-time to hit the mark.
Up Next:
-The Retrievers will return to Baltimore to take on Hartford on Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 16-17 with both games starting at 1 p.m.
