UMBC at Columbia | Tuesday, 12/6/22 | 7:00 PM | Levien Gymnasium | New York, NY | Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes

LAST TIME OUT - LAWRENCE HITS 1,000
The visiting UMBC Retrievers shot a sizzling 55 percent and cruised to an 88-62 victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Saturday afternoon at Stabler Arena. Senior Jacob Boonyasith continued to have the hot-hand as the wing paced UMBC with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 4-for-6 from behind the arc. Senior forward Yaw Obeng-Mensah produced 15 points and nine rebounds and graduate student Colton Lawrence added 15 points. Lawrence also picked up his 1,000th career point on an early second-half jumper.
 
Game Notes
UMBC outrebounded Lehigh by a 42-22 margin…The Retrievers hit 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) from long range…UMBC scored 36 points in the paint and held the Mountain Hawks to just 10 in the interior…Boonyasith led the Retrievers in scoring for the second straight contest after netting a season-best 24 against Coppin State on Wednesday…UMBC has reached double-digits in 3-point field goals in five straight contests.
 
BOONYASITH NAMED AMERICA EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
UMBC senior wing Jacob Jacob Boonyasith was named the America East Men's Basketball Player of the Week, it was announced Monday by the league office. Boonyasith grabs his first America East honor after averaging 20.5 points in a pair of non-conference victories against Coppin State and Lehigh. Boonyasith shot 54 percent overall and was even better from behind the arc as he drilled 9-of-13 attempts (69 percent). In addition, he averaged 4.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds. Boonyasith scored a career-high 24 points and added a career-best eight assists in the 109-82 victory at "The Peake" last Wednesday. He made his first five treys and scored the final 10 points during a key 13-1 run that extended a modest first-half lead. He followed that up with a team-high 17 points and four rebounds in the 88-62 win against Lehigh on Saturday. Boonyasith scored 12 points in the opening half as the Retrievers led 48-21 at the break.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
The Lions have won two straight after dropping three in a row. Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa leads the team in scoring (13.9 ppg.) and rebounding (6.2 rpg.). Columbia averages 69.3 ppg. and are yielding 71.1 ppg. The Lions are 4-1 at home.

SERIES HISTORY          T
The Retrievers have won both off their previous meetings against the Lions. UMBC won 66-52 in New York on 11/22/2008 and ran away from the Lions in their last meeting, 98-60, on 12/1/21 in Baltimore.
 
BOMBS AWAY
The Retrievers swished 17 triples for the 5th time in program history at UNCG (11/22/22).  UMBC attempted 37 treys, just six shy of their all-time single-game mark. The squad then broke the record with 21 bombs in their blowout victoy over Coppin State. The Retrievers attempted 40 shots from distance in the contest. UMBC ranks 5th in the country with 11.4 3's made per game.  The Retrievers are 7th in attempts per game at 29.9.
 
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
UMBC ranks 32nd in the country and leads the AE witha 1.42 assists/turnover ratio. Starting point guard Craig Beaudion II is 22nd in the country in the category (3.62).
 
PICARELLI COMING INTO HIS OWN   
Junior guard Matteo Picarelli has been the biggest surprise for the Retrievers through the first eight contests and is the second-leading scorer on the squad at 13.0 ppg.  The Milan, Italy native went for 19 points in the victory against Lafayette and followed that up with a new career-high 21 points in the triumph over Central Connecticut State.  Picarelli is averaging 23.4  minutes per game this season after playing just 8.6 mpg. in 21-22.  He's already surpassed last season's scoring total of 63 points.  His 3.0 3's per game leads the AE and he's 2nd in accuracy (.474).