Men's Hoops Set to Entertain Maine on Saturday Afternoon

UMBC is coming off a 79-76 home loss against UNH on Thursday evening. Bryce Johnson scored a career-high 33 points and added eight rebounds to lead the Retrievers.
UMBC is now 6-4 at home this season.
Saturday is Autism Awareness Day at The Peake
Senior guard Bryce Johnson is 2nd in the America East in scoring (17.8 ppg.) while teammate Marcus Banks Jr. is 11th (14.1 ppg.). Johnson is now 6th in the league with a .523 field goal rate. Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo is seventh in the AE in field goal percentage (.520).
The Retrievers have recorded six of the top 17 scoring performances in the America East this season. They lead the league in scoring (82.9 ppg.) and are 26th in the country.

ABOUT MAINE

Maine used a big second-half to pick up their third America East victory of the season over the NJIT Highlanders on Thursday, Jan. 16, 57-44.
Maine outscored NJIT 34-18 in the second half as AJ Lopez finished with a game-high 18 points.
Kellen Tynes had 12 points, 8 assists and 4 steals while Killian Gribben tied his season-high with 8 rebounds, 5 of which were offensive rebounds.

SERIES HISTORY

This will be the 42nd meeting all-time between these two America East rivals.
UMBC holds the all-time lead at 26-15.
Last season, the two sides split the season series as they both picked up a win at their home courts.
UMBC won the first matchup, 70-65, before the Black Bears bounced back in Orono as they won 62-56.

IT'S BRYCE'S WORLD

Johnson is averaging 24.5 ppg. over his last six contests and is 51-of-86 (59 percent) from the floor over the span.
In addition, he's knocked down 33-of-37 free throws (89 percent)
He needs just 28 points to hit 1,000 for his career.
Johnson has reached 20+ points on seven different occasions, including five of his last six games.
The seven 20-pt games are 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 23 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 11.5 ppg. over his11 outings since moving back into the starting lineup.
He's shooting a sizzling 56 percent overall (49-for-88) during the stretch
The point guard scored the go-ahead bucket in UMBC's 2 OT 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 9.2 3s made per game this season, which ranks 63rd 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 20th in the nation.
UMBC has reached double-figures in treys 10 different times.
Marcus Banks Jr.(2.9) and Louie Jordan (2.1) rank first and 8th respectively in treys per game.
Jordan is 2nd in 3-pt percentage (.492) while Banks Jr. is 2nd (.417).

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 lead the AE in the category at 15.8 pg. and are 78th in the NCAA.
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. (977)
900 career points - Bryce Johnson (972)
900 career points - Marlon Short (827)
700 career points, Josh Odunowo, (633)
200 career 3-pointers-Marcus Banks, (193)
450 career rebounds - Marlon Short (428).
400 career field goals - Bryce Johnson (334)
150 career 3pt-fg - Bryce Johnson (140).

LAST TIME OUT: UMBC EDGED AT HOME BY UNH

BALTIMORE – Senior guard Bryce Johnson poured in a career-high 33 points; however, the UMBC men's basketball team dropped a 79-76 decision against the New Hampshire Wildcats in an America East Conference game on Thursday evening at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Johnson, who has scored over 20 points in five of his last six contests, hit 11-of-18 field goals and matched his career-best with six treys. He also led the Retrievers (9-9, 1-2 AE) with eight rebounds and played a team-high 38 minutes.
Junior forward Louie Jordan (13 points, six rebounds), senior guard Marcus Banks Jr. (10 points, two steals), and graduate student forward Josh Odunowo (10 points, five rebounds) were all in double-figures in scoring.
The Retrievers trailed by as many as 14 points with 17:04 remaining in the game but clawed their way back and had an opportunity to even the game in the closing seconds.
Trailing 57-45 at the 13:40 mark, UMBC scored 11 consecutive points to close within 57-56 with 10:13 left in the contest. Banks Jr. ignited the run with a trey, and Johnson followed up with back-to-back threes. Johnson then converted a driving layup to cap the stretch.
The visitors (4-15, 2-2 AE) answered right back and outscored the Retrievers by a 13-4 margin to extend their lead back to double digits at 70-60 with 6:56 left.
Jordan hit a pair of free throws and then buried a trifecta with 1:52 left to bring UMBC within 74-71 with 1:52 on the clock.
Poser hit a clutch three-pointer on the next possession to give the Wildcats a 77-71 edge with 1:23 left, however, Johnson swished his final trey of the night to bring the hosts within 77-74 with just over a minute left.
UNH misfired on their next trip down, and Banks Jr. converted a fast break layup to make it 77-76 with thirty-three seconds left.
Anthony McComb III delivered two free throws, but UMBC still had a chance to get even in the final seconds. Banks Jr. had an open look from the left wing, but his long-range attempt rimmed in and out with just three ticks left.
The Retrievers put McComb III back on the line, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one. UMBC got the ball to sophomore guard Ace Valentine. However, his desperation heave from the three-quarter court was well off to the left at the buzzer.
UMBC led for the last time at 26-25 after Jordan's bucket in the paint with 7:56 remaining in the opening half. UNH finished the stanza on a 21-12 run to take a 46-38 advantage at intermission.
Guard Sami Pissis led the Wildcats with 17 points, and guard Khalil Badru recorded a double-double of 10 points and 10 caroms.