UMBC (6-3, 0-0 AE) vs. Buffalo (8-1, 0-0 MAC) | Tuesday, December 9, 5:00 pm | Baltimore, Md. | The Peake | Tickets |  Watch | Live Stats | International Broadcast | Game Notes | 

RETRIEVER TIP-OFF    

• The Retrievers are competing in their 58th season as well as their 40th season of D1 hoops in Baltimore.
• UMBC has a record of 675-953 (.414) all-time.
• The Retrievers are 478-680 (.412) at the DI level
• UMBC was selected to finish seventh in the America East Preseason Poll.
• Graduate student Josh Odunowo was named to the America East Preseason All-Conference Team after averaging 11.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season.
• The Retrievers have nine new faces in 2025-26.
• UMBC is off to their best start since the 2020-21 season when the opened with a 7-1 record
• The Retrievers are 4-0 at home.
• The Dawgs own the highest winning percentage in the America East (.667).
• UMBC leads the America East with 27.9 defensive rebounds per game (57th in the country).
• The Dawgs lead the league with a +4.8 scoring margin.
• Junior guard Jah'Likai King was named the America East Player of the Week on Monday, December 8 after averaging 19.5 ppg. against Georgetown and Bucknell

 
LAST TIME OUT - UMBC CLOSES OUT BUCKNELL DOWN THE STRETCH

• UMBC came through with a hard-fought 73-66 road victory against the Bucknell Bison on Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion.
• Junior Jah'Likai King led the Retrievers with a game-high 20 points, shooting 6-for-11 from the field, including 2-for-5 from behind the arc. He also converted 6-of-7 free throw attempts. Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo contributed 12 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, along with two blocks. Freshman center Riley Jacobs achieved a career-high 11 points, added five rebounds, and recorded a career-best three blocks. Graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr. also scored 11 points, hitting a crucial three-pointer in the final moments of the game.
• The Retrievers shot 51.9 percent overall, making 27 of 52 field goal attempts. They were 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) from three-point range and 12-for-15 (80 percent) from the free-throw line.
• UMBC (6-3) held Bucknell to a 39.3 percent shooting percentage as the Bison made 24-of-61 field goals. Bucknell struggled from beyond the arc, hitting only 6-of-24 attempts and shooting 12-for-17 (70.6 percent) from the foul line.
• The game featured 13 lead changes and was tied four times before the Retrievers took control in the final four minutes.
• Trailing 26-25 at halftime, UMBC opened the second half with a 14-6 run, taking their largest lead of the game at 39-32 with 14:11 remaining. King scored eight points during this stretch.
• Bucknell (2-9), losers of nine straight, took their first lead of the second half at 48-47 after Jayden Williams made a driving layup at the 9:30 mark.
•  The game remained closely contested, with three more ties, the latest at 57-all after King hit a pull-up jumper with 5:18 left.
•  Bucknell forward Grgur Bricic, who scored 14 points and collected 16 rebounds, provided the Bison their final lead at 59-57 on a layup with 4:51 remaining. Armstrong Jr. answered with a driving layup on the next possession, followed by sophomore forward Caden Diggs, who gave UMBC the lead for good with a driving layup at the 3:36 mark.
•  The Retrievers produced two consecutive defensive stops, and Diggs and Odunowo each scored in the paint, extending their lead to 65-59 with just 2:14 left on the clock. Bucknell responded with five straight points to come within one point with 57 seconds remaining. However, Armstrong Jr. hit a clutch three-pointer from the top of the key with 39 seconds left.
• Amon Dorries (16 points) scored for the Bison to bring them within 68-66 on the next possession, but Diggs made two free throws to extend the lead to 70-66 with 27 seconds remaining. This was as close as Bucknell would get, as they missed their final three shots.

 ABOUT BUFFALO

• Buffalo (8-1, 0-0 MAC) lost their first game of the season at the hands of the visiting St. Bonaventure Bonnies (9-1, 0-0 A10) in front of a crowd of 5,616 in Alumni Arena on Saturday afternoon, 77-69.
• Buffalo's 8-0 start will go down as the second-best start to a season in program history.
• Saturday's game was the biggest crowd in Alumni Arena since March 1, 2022, when the Bulls hosted the Toledo Rockets in front of 5,470 fans.
• Ryan Sabol led the Bulls with 21 points, shooting 5-for-10 from three-point range. Daniel Freitag scored 17 points with a career-high seven assists. Angelo Brizzi rounded out the top scorers for Buffalo with 12 points. Tim Oboh secured three steals, a career high.

SERIES HISTORY WITH BUFFALO
UMBC leads, 3-0.
The squads have not met since the 1991-92 season as members of the East Coast Conference.
 
PLAY THAT HIT AGAIN MR. DJ

• DJ Armstrong's trey against Morgan State (11/11) was the first time UMBC hit a game-winner in the final five seconds since Craig Beaudion II. (11/20/22 vs. Central Conn.).
• Armstrong Jr. followed that up with a buzzer-beater to defeat Wagner in overtime on Nov. 16.
• Armstrong Jr. was named the America East Co-Player of the Week on Nov. 17.
• Armstrong Jr. was featured on #SCTop10 twice. Teammate Jah'Likai King also made the list after his crossover move and hoop against Penn State York.
• Armstrong Jr. is 13th in the America East in scoring (11.6 ppg.) and is first in 3s per game (2.8). He also leads the circuit in 3-point field goal percentage (.455).

 THE KING HITS A GRAND; NAMED AE PLAYER OF WEEK

• Jah'Likai King went over the 1,000 mark for his career at GW on November 18.  King scored 934 points in his first two seasons at New Haven (DII) before coming to Baltimore this season.
• King was named AE Player of the Week on December 8. The Newburg, New York native averaged 19.5 points while shooting an impressive 54% from the field during two road games last week against Georgetown and Bucknell.
• King started the week by scoring 19 points in a loss to Georgetown on Wednesday and followed it up with 20 points in a victory over Bucknell on Saturday. After trailing 26-25 at halftime against the Bison, UMBC opened the second half with a 14-6 run, establishing their largest lead of the game at 39-32 with 14:11 remaining. King contributed eight points during this crucial stretch.
• Currently, King leads the team in scoring with an average of 14.3 points per game, ranking fifth in the league. He is also tenth in the league in rebounding, averaging 5.0 rebounds per game.

 ACE IN THE HOLE

• Guard Ace Valentine continues to play a key role on both end of the floor.
• Valentine leads the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.6) and is second in assists per game (4.6).
• The junior has shot the ball well from behind the arc going 12-for-27 (.444).

 DICKERSON DELIGHTS

• Junior forward Daylon Dickerson has been perhaps the biggest surprise for the Retrievers in the early going.
• Dickerson is playing 20.0 minutes per game after just 7.8 minutes per game in his first season in Baltimore in 24-25.
• Dickerson recorded his first career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the victory at Morgan State (11/11). Both were career highs.
• He's averaging 8.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

 
NOT JOSHING AROUND

• Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo has been a model of consistency throughout this first two seasons as a Retriever.
• Odunowo is sixth in the league in field goal percentage (.556) and is a career .565. shooter.
• Odunowo is also 17th in the league in rebounding at 4.7 per game.

 
A PROGRAM ON THR RISE

• UMBC is enjoying their best stretch in program history as the Retrievers have gone a combined 166-155 (.517) over the past ten seasons. They are 84-80 (516) in AE Play.
• 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 26th season as a collegiate head coach and his fifth at UMBC.
• Ferry own a 66-69 record in Baltimore,
• 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

 MILESTONE WATCH   
1000 career points, Jah'Likai King (1,063)
200 career assists, Jah'Likai King (192)
300 career rebounds, Jah'Likai King (269)
800 career points, Josh Odunowo (826)
500 career rebounds, Josh Odunowo (433)
100 career blocks, Josh Odunowo (75)
500 career points, Cougar Downing (523)
500 career points, Ace Valentine, (525)
250 career assists, Ace Valentine (222)
500 career rebounds, Paul Greene (465)
500 career points, Paul Greene (491)