Men's Basketball Returns To The Peake on Thursday Evening; Host New Hampshire at 6:00 P.M.

Retrievers Have Not Played at Home in Over a Month

UMBC is coming off an 87-64 victory over the NJIT Highlanders last Thursday evening at Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center.
UMBC is 23rd in the country in 3-pt field goal percentage (38.7 percent).
Senior guard Bryce Johnson is 3rd in the America East in scoring (16.9 ppg.) while teammate Marcus Banks Jr. is 9th (14.4 ppg.). Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo is sixth in the AE in field goal percentage (.529).
The Retrievers have recorded six of the top 17 scoring performances in the America East this season. They lead the league in scoring (83.4 ppg.) and 43rd in the country.

ABOUT UNH

UNH defeated Binghamton, 79-72 on Saturday afternoon at Lundholm Gymnasium.
The victory versus Binghamton broke a nine-game losing skid.
Junior guard Sami Pissis scored his UNH career-high of 30 points and recorded three rebounds for the Wildcats. Junior guard Anthony McComb III added 13 points for the 'Cats.
The Wildcats are 0-10 on the road this season.

SERIES HISTORY

UNH holds a slight 23-22 edge in the all-time series.
UMBC and UNH have split the season series three years in a row.
The Retrievers are 7-3 over the last 10 games versus UNH.
UMBC is 12-9 at home in the series
Last season, the Wildcats pulled out a 64-58 victory in Baltimore while the Dawgs won big in Durham, pasting the Wildcats, 86-68.

LAST TIME OUT: UMBC ENJOYS HUGE SECOND HALF ROAD PERFORMANCE; DOWN NJIT

Newark,NJ – UMBC guard Bryce Johnson continued his torrid shooting, matching his career-high with 28 points in the Retrievers 87-64 victory over the NJIT Highlanders on Thursday evening at Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center. UMBC evens their America East record at 1-1 and improves to 9-8 on the campaign.
Johnson (team-high five assists) scored 20 points in the second half to help the visitors reverse a 37-30 halftime deficit. UMBC, who entered the game 0-7 when trailing at intermission this season, shot a blistering 64.3 percent in the final stanza as they connected on 18-of-28 field goal attempts. UMBC also went 17-for-20 from the foul line and finished 19-for-22 (86.4 percent) for the contest.
In addition to Johnson, three other Retrievers were in double figures in scoring on the evening. Junior forward Regimantas Ciunys recorded 13 points and grabbed a team-high eight boards in 17 minutes off the bench. Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo (12 points) and senior guard Marcus Banks Jr. (10 points) were also key contributors on the offensive end.
UMBC trailed by as many as 11 points with 11:37 left in the opening half after Sebastion Robinson's layup made it 20-9.
Robinson paced NJIT (3-13, 0-1 AE) with 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting.

IT'S BRYCE'S WORLD

Johnson is averaging 22.8 ppg. over his last five contests and is 40-of-60 (58 percent) from the floor over the span.
In addition, he's knocked down 28-of-31 free throws, including his last 24 in a row.
He needs just 61 points to hit 1,000 for his career.
Johnson has reached 20+ points on six different occasions, including four of his last five games.
The six 20-pt games are tied for second in the league.
He's also drawing a team-high 4.7 fouls per game.
Johnson's nine drawn fouls at American was a career-high and he followed that up with eight at Binghamton.

MONEY IN THE BANKS

The senior guard is just 33 points shy of 1,000 for his career. 727 of those have come as a Retriever.
Banks Jr. matched his career high with 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting, including 6-for-13 from three-point territory in UMBC's 96-93 double-overtime victory at American. He also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, just one shy of his career-high. Banks Jr. was named the America East Player of the Week after that performance.
Banks Jr. has already made 5+ treys in five contests this season and is fourth in the country in total makes. His 3.2 threes per game ranks first in the America East and is 36th in the NCAA. His 43 percent clip from behind the arc slots 54th in the country
Overall, the sharpshooter is ninth on the circuit, scoring at 14.4 ppg. He also leads all guards in the conference in rebounding (4.6 pg.) and is 14th overall.

ACE IN THE HOLE

SO guard Ace Valentine is averaging 12.3 ppg. over his10 outings since moving back into the starting lineup.
He's shooting a sizzling 59 percent overall (48-for-82) during the stretch
The point guard scored the go-ahead bucket in UMBC's 2OT win at American on a driving layup.
Valentine is 4th in the league with 3,9 assists per game and is second in assist/turnover ratio (2.5).

BOMBS AWAY

UMBC leads the AE with 9.0 3s made per game this season, which ranks 61st in the country.
The Retrievers 17 makes against Valley Forge were an America East single-game high.
The Retrievers lead the league in 3-pt field goal percentage (.387) and are 23rd in the nation.
UMBC has reached double-figures in treys nine different times.
Marcus Banks Jr.(3.1) and Louie Jordan (2.0) rank first and 9th respectively in treys per game.
Jordan is 2nd in 3-pt percentage (.478) while Banks Jr. is 5th (.433).

SHARING IS CARING

UMBC dished an America East high 31 assists in the win versus Valley Forge. It was their highest output since they handed out 29 vs. Coppin St. on 11/30/2022.
It was also the most in the conference since Maine and Bryant recorded 32 during the 2022-23 season.
The Retrievers are first in the league in the category at 15.8 pg.
Ace Valentine is 4th in the league with 3.9 helpers per game and is 2nd in assist/turnover ratio (2.5).

KINGS OF BALTIMORE

The Retrievers won the Charm City Classic by virtue of their victories against Morgan State and Towson. UMBC, who had not defeated Towson since 2012, broke an eight-game losing skid against their Beltway rivals The Retrievers also knocked off Coppin State earlier this season.

A PROGRAM ON THR RISE

UMBC is enjoying their best stretch in program history as the Retrievers have gone a combined 149-114 (.562) over the past nine 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 led the Retrievers to consecutive 18-14 records as well as an appearance in the America East Finals in 2021-22.
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 (8)                 64
2          UMass Lowell (1)         55
3          Bryant                          52
4          Maine                          39
5          UMBC                          31
6          Binghamton                30
7          UAlbany                      26
8          NJIT                             15
9          New Hampshire          12

MILESTONE WATCH
1000 career points -Marcus Banks, Jr. (967)
900 career points - Bryce Johnson (939)
900 career points - Marlon Short (825)
700 career points, Josh Odunowo, (623)
200 career 3-pointers-Marcus Banks, (192)
450 career rebounds - Marlon Short (424).
400 career field goals - Bryce Johnson (314)
150 career 3pt-fg - Bryce Johnson (132).

Print Friendly Version