Men's Hoops Travels to Iowa on Wednesday Evening

Game Will Be Televised on the BIG 10 Network

UMBC is 1-6 on the road this season and have lost four of their last five contests overall.
The Dawgs recently finished a difficult span of seven games in 18 days after their last contest at Saint Peter's. They went 2-5 during the stretch.
UMBC is 1-35 all-time against teams that currently participate in the Big Ten. The one victory came against Nebraska during the 2008-09 season. The Cornhuskers were members of the Big12 at the time.
SO guard Dion Brown is 9th in the country with 86 field goals.
Graduate student forward Khydarius Smith is 29th nationally in field goal percentage at 59 percent.
Graduate student forward Max Lorca-Lloyd is 49th in the nation in rejections at 1.9 per game.
The Retrievers rank 47th in the country in bench points at 28.7 per game.
The Dawgs are 94th nationally in fastbreak points at 12.5 per game.
UMBC began their 56th season at Louisville on Nov. 6. This is the 38th season of DI hoops for the Black and Gold.

SERIES HISTORY

UMBC and Iowa have met twice.
The Hawkeyes defeated the Retrievers by a 98-81 margin during the 1990-91 season and cruised to a 77-47 triumph in 2014-15.

A GLANCE AT THE HAWKEYES

Iowa ended a three-game losing skid with an 88-54 victory over Florida A&M this past Saturday.
FR Owen Freeman posted his first career double-double of 14 points/11 rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes, who shot 54 percent from the floor.
Iowa is one of the nation's top offensive teams, averaging 85.1 ppg. They are currently 22nd nationally in the category.
Ben Krikke leads the squad in scoring at 16.7 ppg. and is shooting 58 percent from the floor.
Head Coach Fran McCaffery is five wins from becoming the winningest coach in Iowa basketball history.
Iowa is one of 10 teams in the country to make the last four NCAA Tournaments and one of only three Big Ten teams to accomplish the feat (Purdue, Michigan State).

WHO'S HOT

Brown is averaging 18.6 points over his last seven contests. He's converted 53-of-97 field goal attempts for a 55 percent clip. Brown is 4th in the America East in scoring at 16.5 ppg., 8th in fg percentage (.494), 8th in steals (1.5) and 11th in rebounding (5.6 pg.). Brown ranks 9th nationally in total field goals (86th).
Smith is 5th in the America East with a .590 shooting clip 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-45 (.444 percent) from distance and is 15th in the league in 3-pt field goals per game (1.5).
Junior guard Marcus Banks Jr. is 3rd in 3-pt fg percentage (.370) and is 5th with 2.1 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. He hit 5-of-7 shots in just 15 minutes of action.
FR guard Ace Valentine has started the last four contests at point guard and has averaged 6.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists during the span. He grabbed a career-high nine boards at Coppin State and dished a career-best nine helpers versus Towson.
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 .679 from the charity stripe as a team this year, are a combined 48-63(.762) 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.
UMBC's leading scorer and rebounder, poured in 15 of his team-high 17 points in the win at Hampton on Nov. 27.
Brown scored 16 of his 18 points in the final stanza at William & Mary in the game prior.
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 eligibilty at UMBC, is 4th in the America East with 19 blocks (1.9 per game.
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 Ivy last season in blocks per game at UPenn, averaging 1.2 bpg.

BENCH MOB

The Retrievers' bench is averaging 28.7 ppg. UMBC ranks 43rd in the nation in the category.

UMBC FALLS AT SAINT PETER'S

UMBC sophomore guard Dion Brown scored a game-high 24 points in a losing cause as the visiting Retrievers dropped a 66-60 decision against the Saint Peter's Peacocks, Tuesday evening at Yanitelli Center.
Brown (team-high eight rebounds) hit 8-of-16 field goal attempts, including 3-of-7 treys, and was 5-for-7 from the foul line. Graduate student forward Khydarius Smith added 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Graduate student forward Max Lorca-Lloyd blocked three shots after missing the last three contests.
UMBC (5-8, 0-0 America East) took their biggest lead of the game at 34-26, after a jumper by Khydarius Smith with 18:54 left in the contest.
Saint Peter's (4-5, 2-0 MAAC) embarked on a 17-9 run to even the game at 43-43 with 12:21 remaining and then went on a 6-0 mini run to take the lead for good, 49-43 at the 9:16 mark.
UMBC was within 53-51 after Smith converted a layup with 5:37 left, however, the Peacocks rattled off eight straight points to widen their lead to 61-51 at the 3:51 mark.
Latrell Reid scored 20 points to lead the Peacocks while Corey Washington added 12.
The hosts outscored the Retrievers by a 20-2 margin in points off turnovers as the visitors committed 20 turnovers compared to six by the hosts.
The Retrievers shot 47.9 percent overall, made 5-of-17 three-pointers, and were 9-for-18 from the foul line.
Saint Peters made 22-of-69 (31.9 percent), were just 2-for-21 (9.5 percent) from deep and made 20-of-28 free throws (71.4 percent).

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)
800 career points - Khydarius Smith (751)
600 career points - Bryce Johnson (588)
400 career points -Marcus Banks, Jr. (376)
400 career rebounds - Marlon Short (340).
400 career rebounds - Khydarius Smith (377)
300 career field goals - Marlon Short (282)
300 career field goals -Khydarius Smith (330)
200 career field goals - Bryce Johnson (201)
100 career assists - Marlon Short (99)
100 career 3pt-fg - Bryce Johnson (100)
100 career free throws - Marlon Short (101)
100 career blocks - Khydarius Smith (82)
75 career blocks - Max Lorca-Lloyd- (64)

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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