MORGAN STATE at UMBC | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10 | "THE PEAKE" | 5:30 PM | TICKETS | GAME TELEVISED ON MASN | ESPN3 | INTERNATIONAL FEED | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES

LAST TIME OUT - A GRITTY WIN IN NYC
UMBC graduate seniors Colton Lawrence (Myerstown, Pa., The Hill School / Bentley) and Tra'Von Fagan (Waterloo, Iowa, Cedar Falls / Buffalo) recorded double-doubles to help lead the Retrievers to a gritty, 73-66, victory against the Columbia Lions at Levien Gymnasium in New York, NY on Tuesday evening. Lawrence paced the Retrievers with 15 points and added a season-high 10 caroms while Fagan contributed a season-high 13 points and tied his career-best with 14 boards. Senior wing Jacob Boonyasith (Grand Rapids, Mich., Jenison / American) was also in double-figures with 13 points. UMBC (6-4) struggled from three-point range but converted 17-of-20 of their free throw attempts on the night and pulled away late in the game. UMBC outrebounded Columbia by a 28-10 margin in the 2nd half after the Lions held a 21-14 advantage in the opening stanza. The last time the Retrievers had two players with double-doubles in the same game was at UAlbany on 2/20/20 (Brandon Horvath/RJ Eytle-Rock). Columbia made 13-of-28 3-pointers (46.4 percent) while UMBC was just 6-for-21 (28.6 percent). The Lions, however, were just 3-of-7 from the line.

ABOUT MORGAN STATE
Morgan State (4-6) enters Saturday's game averaging 82.7 points per contest while yielding 69.9 to their opponents. Senior guard Isaiah Burke is leading the team in scoring at 18.1 ppg. He's been on fire from deep, making 31-of-69 attempts for a .449 rate. Classmate Malik Miller is adding 16.6 ppg. and leads the team in rebounding at 9.7 per game.

SERIES HISTORY         
Morgan State leads the all-time series by a 14-13 margin. The Bears have won the last  four meetings. The teams have not met since the 2011-2012 season when the Bears came up with a 73-60 victory at the RAC. UMBC last defeated Morgan State by a score of 84-76 at home during the 2007-08 season
 
BOONYASITH NAMED AE POW
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. Boonyasith has made 15-of-23 field goals (.652) over his last 3 contests and is 9-for-12 (.750) from long-distance.
 
PICARELLI COMING INTO HIS OWN   
Junior guard Matteo Picarelli (Milan, Italy, Inter-Community School of Zurich (Switzerland)) has been the biggest surprise for the Retrievers through the first 10 contests and is the second-leading scorer on the squad at 11.9 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 23.0  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 2.8 3's per game leads the AE and he's also 2nd in accuracy (.474).
 
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 victory over Coppin State on November 30. The Retrievers attempted 40 shots from distance in the contest. UMBC ranks 8th in the country with 10.9 3's made per game.  The Retrievers are 15th in attempts per game at 28.6.
 
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
UMBC ranks 42nd in the country with a 1.37 assists/turnover ratio. Starting point guard Craig Beaudion II (Chicago, Ill., Whitney Young / Cleveland State) is 35th in the country in the category (3.10). UMBC is 5-2 when they win the turnover battle.

UP NEXT
UMBC will make the short trip to Loyola (MD) on Tuesday to battle the Greyhounds at 7:00 p.m. The Retrievers have dropped nine straight games against their local rival but have not played them since the 2015-16 campaign.