Men's Hoops Travels to Saint Peter's on Tuesday Evening

UMBC is 1-5 on the road this season and have lost three of their last four contests.
The Dawgs will finish a difficult span of seven games in 18 days after Tuesday's contest at Saint Peter's. They are 2-4 thus far during the stretch.
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.

SERIES HISTORY

UMBC has dropped all three of their meetings against Saint Peter's.
The Peacocks and Retrievers last played during the 2006-07 season, a 67-56 decision in Jersey City.
Two of the three meetings have taken place at Saint Peter's.

A GLANCE AT THE PEACOCKS

Saint Peter's (3-5) is coming off a 68-59 loss at Duquesne on Friday night. The Peacocks, who have played just one home game this season, had won two straight games prior to the contest.
Corey Washington paced the Peacocks with 12 points while Armoni Zeigler (6 assists) and Mouhamed Sow each added 10 points.
Washington was selected to the Preseason All-MAAC Third Team after averaging 6.8 points and 4.9 rebounds as a freshman in 2022-23. He was named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team.
The Peacocks were picked 10th out of 11 squads in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

WHO'S HOT

SO guard Dion Brown is averaging 17.7 points over his last six contests. He's converted 45-of-87 field goal attempts for a .517 percent clip. Brown is 6th in the America East in scoring at 15.8 ppg., 8th in fg percentage (.494) and 13th in rebounding (5.4 pg.).
Graduate student forward Khydarius Smith is 5th in the America East with a .584 shooting rate and is 12th in scoring (13.1 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.
Junior guard Devan Sapp has had the touch from long-range during the early going this season. Sapp, who made just 8-of-29 (.276) treys in his initial season in Baltimore last year, is 20-for-44 (.455 percent) from distance and is 14th in the league in 3-pt field goals per game (1.7).
Junior guard Marcus Banks Jr. is 5th in the conference in free throw percentage as he's hit 26-of-30 attempts for a .867 percent clip overall. Additionally, he's 3rd in 3-pt fg percentage (.380) and is 4th with 2.3 treys per game.
FR guard Franck Emmou is 17-for-30 (.557) from the floor over his last six games. He's also 20-for-21 from the line this season (.952).
Emmou scored a career-high 16 points, all in the second half versus Towson on Saturday afternoon. He hit 5-of-7 shots in just 15 minutes of action.
FR guard Ace Valentine has started the last three contests at point guard and has averaged 6.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists during the span. He grabbed a career-high nine boards at Coppin State and dished a career-best nine helpers versus Towson on Saturday.
Valentine was named the America East Rookie of the Week on 12/11/23.

COOL UNDER PRESSURE

The Retrievers have been much better from the foul line during crunch time this season.
UMBC, who is shooting .694 from the charity stripe as a team this year, are a combined 46-58(.793) over the final four minutes of play.
Banks is 14-of-15 (.933) to lead the squad.

BROWN'S HUGE SECOND-HALF PERFORMANCES

Dion Brown has enjoyed some terrific second half performances thus far this season.
Most recently, UMBC's leading scorer and rebounder, poured in 15 of his team-high 17 points in the win at Hampton on Monday night.
Brown scored 16 of his 18 points in the final stanza at William & Mary.
He also scored 16 of his game-high 28 points in the season-opener at Louisville.
Brown scored 15 of his game-high 25 points in the final stanza versus Lehigh.
Brown was named the America East Player of the Week (Nov. 13) for the first time in his career.

MAD MAX

Graduate student Max Lorca-Lloyd, who will have two seasons of eligibility at UMBC, is 4th in the America East with 16 blocks (1.8 per game.
Lorca-Lloyd, who has missed the last three games, came off the bench for the first time versus Loyola Maryland and swatted a career high four shots.
Lorca-Lloyd was 5th in the Ivy last season in blocks per game at UPenn, averaging 1.2 bpg.

REESE A PLEASANT SURPRISE

Freshman guard Ashton Reese has been a nice 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. He made 3-of-5 shots and went 2-for-4 from behind the arc.
Reese is 5-of-12 (.417 percent) from downtown this season

BENCH MOB

The Retrievers' bench is averaging 29.5 ppg. UMBC ranks 39th in the nation in the category.

UMBC FALLS AT MORGAN ST ON WEDNESDAY EVENING

UMBC freshman Franck Emmou scored a career-high 16 points, but the host Retrievers were defeated by the Towson Tigers, 89-73, on Saturday afternoon at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Emmou, who did not play in the opening stanza, buried 5-of-7 field goals, including 2-for-4 from behind the arc. The guard also went 4-for-4 from the foul line in 15 minutes of action. Graduate student forward Khydarius Smith contributed 14 points, five boards, and two blocks while sophomore guard Dion Brown had 12 points. Freshman point guard Ace Valentine dished a career-best nine assists and added a pair of steals.
UMBC (5-7) held a 7-3 advantage after a dunk by Smith at the 17:13 mark of the opening half. The Tigers went ahead for good, 10-9, following a jumper in the paint by Tyler Tejada with 14:53 left in the stanza.
The Retrievers were within just one point, 21-20, after a jump hook in the paint by Smith with 9:42 left, however, the visitors answered with a 12-2 burst to build a 33-22 advantage at the 5:17 mark. Sophomore guard Christian May, who had 19 first-half points, drained a pair of triples for the Tigers during the spurt.
UMBC answered with a 14-7 run to close within 40-36 with 1:36 left in the half. Junior guard Marcus Banks Jr. swished two trifectas to key the stretch for the hosts. May then nailed back-to-back treys for the visitors, who settled for a 46-38 halftime advantage.
Towson (5-5) opened the second half on a 14-6 run over the first 4:14 to double their eight-point intermission edge, 60-44. Once again, May was the catalyst as he tallied the first five points of the stanza.
The Dawgs managed to get as close as 12 points, 76-64, after Valentine hit a pair of attempts from the line with 5:42 left. The Tigers, however, put the game away by scoring eight of the game's next 10 points to grab an 84-66 lead with just 3:19 remaining.
May paced five Towson players in double-figures with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 6-for-10 from long-distance. Tomiwa Sulaiman contributed 16 points while Dylan Williamson had 11 points, eight assists, and four steals. Tejada (14 points) and Charles Thompson (10 points, 8 rebounds) were also in double-digits.
The Tigers doubled up the hosts on the glass, 42-21, and garnered 16 offensive caroms compared to just one by the Retrievers. Towson held a 20-0 advantage in second chance points for the contest.
UMBC shot 50 percent (28-of-56) overall but struggled from long-range as they made just 6-of-21 attempts for a 28.6 percent mark. They did shoot 84.6 percent from the line as they converted 11-of-13 attempts.
The visitors shot 52.2 percent (35-of-67) overall and a solid 42.3 percent from distance, knocking down 11-of-26 tries. They converted 8-of-13 attempts (61.5 percent) from the charity stripe.

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.

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.

AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL

Rank Team (First-Place Votes) Points

1 Vermont (6) 62
2 UMass Lowell (3) 55
3 Bryant 51
4 Binghamton 44
5 Maine 36
6 UMBC 25
7 UAlbany 23
8 New Hampshire 18
9 NJIT 10

MILESTONE WATCH

700 career points - Marlon Short (687)
750 career points - Khydarius Smith (738)
600 career points - Bryce Johnson (580)
400 career points -Marcus Banks, Jr. (376)
400 career rebounds - Marlon Short (337)
400 career rebounds - Khydarius Smith (372)
300 career field goals - Marlon Short (282)
300 career field goals -Khydarius Smith (324)
200 career field goals - Bryce Johnson (198)
100 career assists - Marlon Short (98)
100 career 3pt-fg - Bryce Johnson (99)
100 career free throws - Marlon Short (101)
100 career blocks - Khydarius Smith (82)
75 career blocks - Max Lorca-Lloyd- (61)

FORMER RETRIEVERS IN THE PRO'S

Daniel Akin (6'9''-F-1998, played in 2017-21, plays pro in France) could not help one of league's weakest teams SIG Strasbourg (3-1) in their last game. Despite his good performance SIG Strasbourg lost 72-87 on the road to the leading Pinar Karsiyaka. Akin recorded 11 points in 24 minutes. It was SIG Strasbourg's first loss after three consecutive victories. There are only two games left until the end of the Basketball Champions League Regular Season. So now every game will be critical. This year Akin averages 5.3ppg and 3.9rpg in seven games he played so far.
Szymon Wojcik (6'10''-F-1999, played in 2020-22, plays in Poland) led Grupa Sierleccy-Czarni Slupsk to a victory against the fifth-ranked Wilki Morskie (6-4) 86-82 in the Polish OBL on Sunday night. He recorded 13 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. Grupa Sierleccy-Czarni Slupsk (4-5) is placed tenth in the OBL. But this is still an early stage of the season and everything may happen. It's Wojcik's first year with the team. This season Wojcik averages 8.3ppg and 4.1rpg.
Keondre Kennedy (6'6''-G/F, played in 2019-22, currently in Italy) contributed to an easy victory against the sixth-ranked Juvi Cremona (6-5) 96-80 in the Italian Serie A2 (second division) in Sunday night's game. He scored 15 points in 23 minutes; quite an impressive performance considering it's only Kennedy's first season in pro basketball. Reale Mutua Basket Torino (1-6) is placed 11th in Group Green. Kennedy has relatively good stats this year 14.1ppg, 4.0rpg and 3.4apg in 11 games.
Brandon Horvath (6'10''-F/C-1999, played in 2017-21, plays pro in Belgium) contributed to an easy victory against the ninth-ranked Leuven Bears (3-8) 79-64 in the BNXT League last Sunday. Horvath scored 6 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. Brussels Basketball (6-4) is placed fourth in the BNXT League. It was his team's first victory after three consecutive loses. Horvath has relatively good stats this season 10.4ppg and 5.7rpg.
KJ Jackson (6'2''-G-1998, played in 2018-20, plays in France) was not able to help Aix-Maurienne Savoie Basket in their game against Pau-Lacq-Orthez (5-3) in the French ProB (second division). Jackson scored 5 points and grabbed 4 rebounds in 32 minutes. Aix-Maurienne Savoie Basket was badly defeated93-73 on the opponent's court by the lower-ranked (#8) Pau-Lacq-Orthez. But the season just started, so everything may happen. It's Jackson's first year with the team. He has relatively good stats this season 14.0ppg, 3.1rpg, 5.6apg and 2.0spg in seven games.
Jacob Boonyasith (6'3''-G, played in 2020-23, currently in Spain) was not able to secure a victory for Tarragona in their game against Cartagena in the Spanish LEB Silver (third division). Despite his very good performance in Sunday night's game He was the second best scorer with 13 points. Boonyasith has relatively good stats this season 13.7ppg, 2.6rpg, 2.3apg and 1.1spg.

MORE RETRIEVERS WHO PLAY PROFESSIONALLY

Kevin Maura (5'8''-PG-1995, played in 2016-18) plays for Gigantes de Carolina in Puerto Rican BSN
Craig Beaudion (6'3''-G-1998, played in 2022-23) signed for KK Joker Sombor in Serbian KLS
Jarvis Doles (6'8''-F-1998, played in 2022-23) signed for Garveys Tralee Warriors in Irish Super League
Arkel Lamar (6'6''-F-1996, played in 2016-20) plays for Western Mass Zombies in the ECBL
Quentin Jones (6'0''-G-1990, played in 2020-14) plays for Wenatchee Bighorns in the TBL
Anyang Garang (6'9''-F-2000, played in 2021-23) plays for Darwin Salties in Australian NBL One
Jakob Stenhede (6'10''-F-1995, played in 2013-16) plays for Sloga Uppsala in Swedish Superettan

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