Men's Basketball Looks to Get Back on Track at UAlbany on Thursday Night

UMBC has dropped two straight as they fell to UNH and Maine at The Peake last week. The Dawgs allowed a combined 24 treys in the two contests.
The Retrievers are now 6-5 at home this season.
UAlbany is coming off a 70-65 victory at Binghamton last Saturday. Byron Joshua led the Great Danes in scoring with 15 points.
Senior guard Bryce Johnson is 3rd in the America East in scoring (17.3 ppg.) while teammate Marcus Banks Jr. is 11th (14.1 ppg.). Johnson is now 7th in the league with a .518 field goal rate. Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo is sixth in the AE in field goal percentage (.523).
The Retrievers have recorded six of the top 17 scoring performances in the America East this season. They are second in the league in scoring (81.8 ppg.) and are 26th in the country.
UMBC's home game vs. Bryant on Jan. 30 will be televised nationally on ESPNU at 7pm.

SERIES HISTORY

The Retrievers are 16-30 all-time against UAlbany.
UMBC has won two straight and are 7-3 over the last 10 meetings.
UMBC has won five of their last six games in Albany.
Last season, the Retrievers won 114-102 at the Broadview Center and pulled out an 80-75 triumph at The Peake.

IT'S BRYCE'S WORLD

Johnson is averaging 22.1 ppg. over his last seven contests and is 55-of-96 (57 percent) from the floor over the span.
In addition, he's knocked down 33-of-37 free throws (89 percent)
He needs just 20 points to hit 1,000 for his career.
Johnson has reached 20+ points on seven different occasions, including five of his last seven games.
The seven 20-pt games are second in the league.
He's also drawing a team-high 4.3 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 10 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 2.9 threes per game ranks first in the America East and is 36th in the NCAA. His 42 percent clip from behind the arc slots 54th in the country
Overall, the sharpshooter is tenth on the circuit, scoring at 14.1 ppg. He's also one of the top guards in the conference in rebounding (4.3 pg.) and is 23rd overall.

ACE IN THE HOLE

SO guard Ace Valentine is averaging 11.5 ppg. over his12 outings since moving back into the starting lineup.
He's shooting 54 percent overall (50-for-92) during the stretch.
The point guard scored the go-ahead bucket in UMBC's 2OT win at American on a driving layup.
Valentine is 5th in the league with 3.8 assists per game and is third in assist/turnover ratio (2.2).

BOMBS AWAY

UMBC leads the AE with 9.1 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 1st in 3-pt percentage (.500) while Banks Jr. is 6th (.418).

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 15.5 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. (990)
900 career points - Bryce Johnson (980)
900 career points - Marlon Short (831)
700 career points, Josh Odunowo, (639)
200 career 3-pointers-Marcus Banks, (196)
450 career rebounds - Marlon Short (433).
400 career field goals - Bryce Johnson (338)
150 career 3pt-fg - Bryce Johnson (140).

LAST TIME OUT: UMBC FALLS TO HOT-SHOOTING MAINE ON SATURDAY

BALTIMORE- The UMBC men's basketball team dropped an 87-62 decision against the Maine Black Bears, in an America East Conference contest at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena on Saturday afternoon. UMBC fell to 9-10 and 1-3 in the league.
Senior guard Marcus Banks Jr. scored 13 points to lead the Retrievers and is now just 10 points shy of joining the 1,000-point club. Senior guard Bryce Johnson contributed eight points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds with three assists.
Maine (12-8, 4-1) never trailed as they raced out to a 14-0 lead just 3:40 into the contest.
Trailing 19-4 at the 15:14 mark, the hosts went on a 12-5 run to pull within 24-16 midway through the opening stanza. Senior guard Marlon Short ignited the burst with four straight points, and Banks Jr. and junior Louie Jordan hit consecutive treys to cap the stretch.
UMBC was still within eight, 33-25, at 4:34, but Maine outscored the hosts by a 12-2 margin to grab a 45-27 advantage at the break.
The Black Bears opened the second half on an 11-3 spurt to take a 26-point lead at 56-30.
The Retrievers closed within 66-48 after a layup by Johnson with 10:11 remaining, but that was as close as they could get the rest of the way.
Guard A.J. Lopez scored a game-high 24 points to lead Maine, while guard Quion Burns added a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Maine shot 56.3 percent (35-of-64) overall, were 11-for-23 (47.8 percent) from three, and converted 28 points off UMBC's 19 turnovers.