Men's Basketball Travels to William & Mary On Saturday Afternoon

The Retrievers had won three straight heading into Tuesday's contest at Maryland.
William & Mary have dropped four straight after opening the season with a pair of wins.
UMBC began their 56th season at Louisville on Nov. 6. This is the 38th season of DI hoops for the Black and Gold.
In season openers, UMBC now holds a 15-23 mark in DI play.
The Retrievers last road opening day win came at Coppin State in 1999-2000.
UMBC's last opening day win was a 134-46 triumph over Valley Forge in 2019.
UMBC had won seven straight home openers until falling to Marist.
SO guard Dion Brown was named the America East Player of the Week (Nov. 13) for the first time in his career.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS?

UMBC is one of just six DI programs that did not return a single player who started one game for their current team last season. The others are Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Northwestern State and Utah State.

WHO'S HOT

Prior to Tuesday's 7-point output at Maryland, graduate student forward Khydarius Smith was averaging 19.3 ppg. over his previous three contests while shooting 71 percent from the floor (25-for-35).
The USC Upstate transfer erupted for a career high 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting in the win versus Sacred Heart. He hit 7-of-9 clutch free throws, also a career best against the Pioneers.
Smith is second in the America East with a .627 shooting rate (49th in country) and is 7th in scoring (16.0 ppg.).
Smith made his first start as a Retriever last Sunday versus Loyola Maryland.

MAD MAX

Graduate student Max Lorca-Lloyd, who will have two seasons of eligibilty at UMBC, is 2nd in the America East with 13 blocks (2.2 per game).
Lorca-Lloyd came off the bench for the first time on Sunday versus Loyola Maryland and swatted a career high four shots.
Lorca-Lloyd was 5th in the IVYlast season in blocks per game at UPenn, averaging 1.2 bpg.

REESE A PLEASANT SURPRISE

Freshman guard Ashton Reese has been a huge surprise in the early season and has forced his way into Coach Ferry's rotation.
The 6'5' sharpshooter converted a clutch, conventional 3-pt play in the win versus Sacred Heart and also added a trifecta in the game.
The Scottsdale, Arizona native played a then career high 20 minutes in the victory against Loyola on Sunday. He made 3-of-5 shots and went 2-for-4 from behind the arc.
Reese is 5-of-8 from downtown this season

BENCH MOB

The Retrievers' bench is averaging 31.6 ppg.
UMBC ranks 38th in the nation in the category.

A GLANCE AT THE TRIBE

After having just four returning players and 10 newcomers last season, W&M has nine returning letterwinners in 2023-24, including six players that have earned starts in their careers. The Tribe welcomes back two starters in juniors Gabe Dorsey and Noah Collier, who had their seasons cut short in 2022-23 due to injury, while junior Matteus Case and sophomore Jack Karasinski started nine and five games, respectively, down the stretch.
The Tribe welcomes five newcomers to the roster this season, including a trio of transfers. W&M adds a power five transfer in forward Caleb Dorsey from Penn State, a group of five transfer in point guard Trey Moss from South Florida, and a graduate transfer in guard Sean Houpt from Florida Tech. The Tribe's two freshmen are guard Jayden Lemond and forward Tai Hamilton.
Junior Gabe Dorsey was one of eight players named to the honorable mention Preseason All-CAA team. In total, he was among 18 recognized by the league during the preseason. One of the top shooters in the country, Dorsey started 25 games last season and finished the year ranked 25th in the CAA at 10.9 points per game.
Gabe Dorsey ranked among the national leaders in 3-point shooting a season ago. He led the CAA in both 3-point % at 44.4% and 3's made per game at 3.04. Those numbers ranked fourth and 18th nationally, respectively.
Houpt joins the Tribe with a reputation as an elite shooter over his three years at Florida Tech. He scored over 1,000 points and averaged 17 per game for the Panthers in his career. Houpt was a D2CCA All-South Region Second Team pick and an All-SSC Second Team selection after averaging 21 points per game last season. He connected on 176 3-pointers over his career and last season shot 35.7% from long range, while hitting 91 triples.
Collier was a force on the block for W&M last season before missing the final seven games due to injury. He led the team and ranked fourth in the CAA in rebounding at 8.2 per game. Collier also led the Tribe with seven double-doubles, which ranked third in the CAA, including a 22-point, 16-rebound performance vs. N.C. A&T.
Last season, the Tribe excelled beyond the 3-point arc. W&M ranked second in the CAA and 48th nationally in 3-point % a season ago. It's 36.7 3FG% was the 10th best in school history. The Tribe connected on 256 3-pointers in 2022-23, which was the seventh-best total in program history. Over the last 12 games, W&M connected on double-digit 3-pointers on five occasions, including a DI season-high 14 in the CAA Quarterfinal win over Elon.

UMBC OUTSCORES MARYLAND IN 2ND HALF BUT FALL IN COLLEGE PARK

UMBC freshman guard Ace Valentine scored a career high 15 points, but the visiting Retrievers dropped a 92-68 decision against the Maryland Terrapins, in front of 13,146 fans at the XFINITY Center on Tuesday evening.
Valentine connected on 6-of-8 field goal attempts and scored all 15 of his points in the second stanza. He also pulled down a career best six rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench. Sophomore guard Dion Brown registered 13 points along with a team high seven caroms while junior guard Devan Sapp also reached double-digits in scoring with 10 points.
UMBC (3-3), who had won three straight contests, were within striking range as they trailed just 25-18 with 9:33 left in the opening half after Brown converted two free throws, however that was as close as they would get for the remainder of the night.
Maryland (2-3) outscored the Retrievers by a 32-6 margin from that point to grab a 57-24 advantage at halftime and led by as many as 36 points on three different occasions early in the second stanza.
The Retrievers, however, never quit in the second half and outscored the hosts by a 44-35 margin over the final 20 minutes of play. After shooting just 25.7 percent (9-for-35) in the opening half, the Dawgs made 18-of-33 attempts for a 54.5 percent clip in the second stanza. Junior forward Marlon Short contributed seven points and added four boards in the second half.
The Terrapins, who finished the game with a 45.6 percent shooting mark, never trailed in the contest and outscored UMBC by a 48-30 margin inside the paint. They also enjoyed a 24-6 advantage in points off turnovers. The Retrievers also committed a season high 23 miscues and were outscored by 15 points from the charity stripe.
Graduate student forward Khydarius Smith (7 points), UMBC's leading scorer entering the contest, played just 12 minutes, and fouled out for the first time this season.
Graduate student guard Jahmir Young paced Maryland with 20 points while junior forward Julian Reese recorded a double-double of 15 points and 13 boards.

SERIES HISTORY

UMBC is 2-1 all-time versus the Tribe
Senior guard Jacob Boonyasith led a balanced attack with 19 points, including 7-of-7 from the charity stripe as UMBC downed W&M last sason in Baltimore, 78-62. Graduate student guard Colton Lawrence scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half, while freshman guard Dion Brown posted double figures for the second consecutive game with a dozen points on 6-of-7 shooting.
The Retrievers finished the game on a 17-6 run to extend their home winning streak to five.
Noah Collier led the Tribe with 14 points.

A PROGRAM ON THR RISE

UMBC is enjoying their best stretch in program history as the Retrievers have gone a combined 136-88 (.614) over the past seven seasons. UMBC enjoyed three straight 20+ win seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19. Their 25 victories in 2017-18 was a program-high.
UMBC became the first #16 seed to knock off a #1 seed when the Retrievers shocked Virginia, 74-54, in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena (formerly the UMBC Event Center) officially opened on Feb. 3, 2018, as the UMBC men's basketball team hosted the Vermont Catamounts before a capacity crowd of 4,753. Both the men's and women's basketball teams played their February and March games in the new facility, which included three post-season victories.
The on-campus facility can accommodate nearly 6,000 patrons for commencements, concerts, featured speakers, and other events. It includes spectator facilities, such as concessions, catering, hospitality, restrooms, security and guest services.

COACH FERRY

Jim Ferry is in his 23rd season as a collegiate head coach and his third at UMBC.
Ferry has led the Retrievers to consecutive 18-14 records as well as an appearance in the America East Finals in 2021-22. The Retrievers finished fourth in the league a season ago.
Prior to his arrival in Baltimore, Ferry served in 2020-21 as the interim head coach at Penn State. He led the Nittany Lions to an 11-14 overall mark and a 7-12 Big Ten record that included wins over NCAA Tournament teams No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 15 Virginia Tech , Rutgers, and Maryland (twice).
Ferry spent 10 seasons as head coach at LIU Brooklyn, guiding the program to unprecedented levels of success. He led the Blackbirds to the Northeast Conference regular-season titles and tournament championships in 2011 and 2012, including their first NCAA Championship appearance in 14 years.

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