Men's Hoops Set to Conclude Virginia Road Trip; Battle Hampton On Monday Night

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.
The Retrievers had won three straight heading into Tuesday's contest at Maryland.

SERIES HISTORY

UMBC is 2-0 all-time versus the Pirates.
The Retrievers defeated the Pirates in 2007, 83-63, in Baltimore.
The Dawgs downed Hampton 56-49 the previous season in Virginia.

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

Gradute student forward Khydarius Smith is second in the America East with a .643 shooting rate (35th in country) and is 5th in scoring (15.3 ppg.).
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 made his first start as a Retriever 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 53 blocks (2.1 per game) and is 39th in the country
Lorca-Lloyd came off the bench for the first time 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 (63 percent) from downtown this season

BENCH MOB

The Retrievers' bench is averaging 32.5 ppg. UMBC ranks 25th in the nation in the category.

A GLANCE AT THE PIRATES

With Hampton picking up a huge win over Florida Gulf Coast at the Paradise Jam, The Pirates were named the HBCU Team of the Week according to the Field of 68 Mid-Major Show. In HU's route over the Eagles, Coach Joyner's squad scored 90 or more points on a Division I opponent for the first time since the 2021-22 season. With the Pirates Kyrese Mullen, Tristan Maxwell, and Tedrick Wilcox Jr. all scoring three or more threes, Hampton made a season-high 12 threes.
Hampton picked up another award from the Field of 68 Mid-Major Show with the suburb play from Wilcox Jr. He would be named the HBCU Player of the Week with his consistent performances throughout this past week. In Hampton's win over Florida Gulf Coast, the Pawtucket, R.I., native, did not miss a single free throw down the stretch for HU. He also had a game-high 24 points while grabbing six rebounds. Wilcox Jr. currently sits 11th in the country for made threes and second in the CAA. He would also be named the HBCU Independent Player of the Week.
The Pirates went 1-2 at the Paradise Jam as they defeated FGCU and lost to Kent State and San Jose State.

HOT SHOOTING WILLIAM & MARY DEFEATS UMBC IN WILLIAMSBURG ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON

UMBC held a one-point halftime lead at William & Mary but eventually dropped a 96-81 decision against the Tribe on Saturday afternoon at Kaplan Arena.
UMBC graduate student forward Khydarius Smith scored 20 points to pace four Retrievers in double-figures. Smith converted 8-of-11 field goal attempts and was 4-for-5 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Dion Brown scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half and added a pair of steals. Junior guards Devan Sapp (15 points) and Marcus Banks Jr. (15 points, 5 assists) combined for nine three-point field goals with Sapp making a career high five treys. Junior forward Marlon Short garnered a season high seven caroms.
The Retrievers got off to a good start as they took a 12-3 lead at the 16:08 mark after an outside jumper by Smith. The Tribe responded with 11 straight points to move ahead with 12:57 left as forward Caleb Dorsey ignited the stretch with back-to-back triples.
UMBC (3-4) still trailed by as many as four points at 33-29 with 5:04 left in the opening stanza but managed to go on an 8-4 spurt to get even at 37-37 with 2:10 left. Sapp would give the Retrievers a 42-39 edge with his fourth trifecta of the half with 39 ticks remaining and the visitors settled for a 42-41 halftime advantage.
William & Mary (3-4) opened the second half by hitting eight of their first nine field goal attempts and took a double-digit lead of 58-48 at the 15:11 mark.
The Tribe's lead widened to 69-54 when guard Charlie Williams converted a turnover into a layup with 9:21 on the clock.
The Retrievers managed to get the game back to single-digits when Banks drilled a triple and then knocked down three free throws to make it 81-73 at the 3:50 mark. It capped an 8-0 run for UMBC after the fell behind by an 81-65 margin.
William & Mary, however, responded with a 10-2 burst to put the game out of reach at 91-75 with just over two minutes remaining in the contest.
Dorsey scored a game-high 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting and hit 6-of-12 attempts from behind the arc. Guard Chase Lowe recorded 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Trey Moss (17 pts) and Williams (15 pts, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) were also in double-figures.
The hosts shot 55.6 percent overall (35-of-63) and were even better in the final half as they made 19-of-28 attempts for a 67.9 percent clip. The Tribe made 9-of-25 treys (36 percent) and were 17-for-22 (77 percent) from the charity stripe.
UMBC went 31-of-64 (48.4 percent) overall from the floor, hit 10-of-27 3-pointers (37 percent) and were 9-for-11 (82 percent) from the foul line.
William & Mary, who outrebounded UMBC by a 35-30 margin, won the battle of the paint as they outscored UMBC by a 48-30 total.

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.

MILESTONE WATCH

700 career points - Marlon Short (670)

700 career points - Khydarius Smith (688)

600 career points - Bryce Johnson (518)

300 career points -Marcus Banks, Jr. (301)

400 career rebounds - Marlon Short (332)

350 career rebounds - Khydarius Smith (344)

300 career field goals - Marlon Short (274)

300 career field goals -Khydarius Smith (303)

200 career field goals - Bryce Johnson (179)

100 career assists - Marlon Short (96)

100 career 3pt-fg - Bryce Johnson (94)