UMBC (15-10, 5-5 America East) vs. NJIT (6-16, 3-6 America East | Wednesday, February 8, "The Peak" | Tickets | Watch | International Feed  | Liive Stats | Game Notes

LAST TIME OUT - UMBC FALLS IN FRIGID MAINE
- The Retrievers dropped an 84-49 decision against the Maine Black Bears in an America East Conference contest at Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
- UMBC trailed 36-26 at halftime but the hosts scored the first 14 points of the final stanza and the visitors were unable to get back in the game.
-  Freshman guard Dion Brown scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting to pace the Retrievers. Brown also pulled down a team-high six rebounds and went a career-best 4-for-6 from three-point range. He was named the AE Rookie of the Week this past Monday for the second time.
- Guard Gedi Juozapaitis led four Black in double figures with 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 4-for-7 from behind the arc.
-  The game was deadlocked at 21-21 after Brown splashed a trey with 8:13 left in the opening half, but Maine went on a 17-5 run to close out the stanza.
 
ABOUT NJIT
- The Highlanders have dropped four of their last five contests with the lone win coming against UMBC in Newark on Jan. 25.
- NJIT is 8th in the league in scoring at 66.9 ppg and are 6th in scoring defense (72.2 ppg.).
- The Highlanders are 4th in the AE in blocked shots at 3.14 per game.
- Miles Coleman is 6th in the league in scoring (14.5 ppg.) but will miss the remainder of the season (knee injury). Kevin Osawe is third in rebounding (8.4 pg.)
- Adam Hess leads the league with a .438 3-point goal percentage.
 
SERIES HISTORY
- NJIT holds a 4-3 advantage in the all-time series.
- The Retrievers had won three straight games until the Highlanders pulled off a last second win in Newark just two weeks ago.
- Last season, UMBC defeated NJIT in Baltimore, 73-69.
 
LAST MEETING
- UMBC senior forward Yaw Obeng-Mensah scored a game-high 19 points but the Retrievers dropped a heartbreaker against the NJIT Highlanders, falling 69-65 at the NJIT Wellness and Events Center on Wednesday, January 25th.
- After trailing 38-26 at the half, UMBC outscored the hosts by a 14-1 margin and led 40-39 with 16:40 left in the contest. The game went back-and-forth, and the Retrievers had an opportunity to go ahead in the closing seconds but could not do so.
 - NJIT guard Mekhi Gray scored on a driving layup with 3.7 seconds left to break a 65-65 deadlock and the hosts held on for the victory.
 - Mensah converted 9-of-14 field goal attempts and scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half. Graduate student forward Jarvis Doles added nine points and a team-high nine rebounds while also coming up with a season-high three rejections.
- Gray paced the Highlanders with 18 points and added seven boards.
 
DOG BITES
- UMBC picked up their program-record 10th non-conference regular-season victory versus Hartford.
- UMBC is 15-4 when they shoot 40 percent or higher. The four losses all came on the road (UNC Greensboro, UMass Lowell, NJIT and Vermont).
- The Retrievers are 14-1 when they outshoot their opponent. The defeat came at UMass Lowell.
- The Retrievers are 10-1 when they hold opponents under 70 points. The lone loss came at NJIT two weeks ago.
- Yaw Obeng-Mensah leads the AE with a .585 field goal percentage  (48-of-82) in conference games.
- Obeng-Mensah drew a UMBC season-high 11 fouls at Vermont.
- UMBC is a combined 47-of-57 (82 percent)  from the foul line in the final four minutes this season.
- Guard Craig Beaudion III is third in the AE with 4.3 assists per game in conference games. He's also third with a 3.1 assists/turnover ratio.
- Beaudion has a team-high 12 steals and seven blocks in AE contests.
- UMBC is averaging a league-high 14.4 assists per game in AE contests.
 
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. The Retrievers attempted 40 shots from distance in the contest.
-The 21 3s are tied for the 5th most in the country this season.
-UMBC ranks 67th in the country with 8.5 3's made per game and 77th in attempts per game at 24.1.
-On the flip side, UMBC is 343rd out of 352 in 3-point field goal percentage defense (38.2 percent).
 
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
- UMBC ranks 21st in the country with a 1.42 assists/turnover ratio.
- The Dawgs are 15th in the country in fewest turnovers per game (10.4).
- UMBC committed a season-low 5 miscues at Bryant.
- Starting point guard Craig Beaudion II is 27th in the country in assists/turnover ratio and is 2nd in the AE (2.77).
- UMBC is 11-5 win they win the turnover battle.
 
BENCH MOB
- UMBC's bench ranks 29th in the country with 26.6 ppg.
- Matteo Picarelli leads the charge at 9.8 ppg. while Dion Brown is adding 7.9 ppg.
 
THAT 70'S SHOW
- The Retrievers scored 70 or more points in 10 straight before the 64-point output at Maryland. It was the first time they had hit the mark 10 straight times since the 2000-01 season.
- UMBC is 13-3 when they score 70+ this season.
- The Retrievers are 62nd in the country in scoring offense at 76.8 ppg.
 
UP NEXT
- UMBC will host Bryant on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.