Men's Basketball 2/5/2025 11:55:00 AM

Men's Basketball Travels to New Hampshire on Thursday Evening

Senior guard Marcus Banks Jr. scored a team-high 16 points, but the host UMBC men's basketball team dropped an 83-67 America East Conference decision against the UMass Lowell River Hawks on Saturday afternoon at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Banks Jr. hit 6-of-11 field goals, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc to pace the Retrievers. Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo was the only other Retriever in double-figures with 11 points. Senior guard Bryce Johnson contributed nine points, four steals, and four assists.
New Hampshire fell to Maine, 71-46 Thursday night at The Pit at Memorial Gymnasium. Junior guard Sami Pissis recorded 20 points and six rebounds, junior guard Anthony McComb III tallied 11 points, and freshman guard Khalil Badru tallied eight points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats.
Johnson is 3rd in the America East in scoring (17.6 ppg.), while teammate Marcus Banks Jr. is 9th (15.0 ppg.). Johnson is now 6th in the league with a .511 field goal rate. Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo is sixth in the AE in field goal percentage (.556).
The Retrievers have recorded six of the top 17 scoring performances in the America East this season. They are tied for second in the league in scoring (1.7 ppg.) and are 28th in the country.

SERIES HISTORY

UNH holds a 24-22 advantage in the series.
UMBC is 9-14 all-time in Durham.
The Retrievers defeated the Wildcats last season in Durham, 86-68. Banks Jr. hit 6-of-10 treys and scored a career-high 28 points.
UNH defeated UMBC by a score of 79-66 on Jan. 16, 2025 in Baltimore. Sami Pissis paced five Wildcats in double-figures with 17 points. Bryce Johnson scored a career-high 33 points for the Retrievers.

LAST TIME OUT: RETRIEVERS FALL TO UMASS LOWELL

BALTIMORE-Senior guard Marcus Banks Jr. scored a team-high 16 points, but the host UMBC men's basketball team dropped an 83-67 America East Conference decision against the UMass Lowell River Hawks on Saturday afternoon at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Banks Jr. hit 6-of-11 field goals, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc to pace the Retrievers. Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo was the only other Retriever in double-figures with 11 points. Senior guard Bryce Johnson contributed nine points, four steals, and four assists.
UMBC (11-12, 3-5 AE) got off to a good start as they held a 16-9 advantage with 12:57 remaining in the opening half. Banks Jr. drilled three triples and scored 11 points during the stretch.
UML (15-8, 4-4 AE), however, went on an 8-0 spurt to claim a 17-16 advantage at the 10:51 mark. Martin Sommerville (12 first-half points) and Quinton Mincey (15 first-half points) connected from deep during the run.
The Retrievers answered with a 10-5 burst to re-claim a 26-22 advantage at the 7:21 mark. Johnson swished his second trey during the run, off an assist from senior guard J.C. Harris to cap the stretch.
After UMBC fell behind again, the hosts would take their final lead of the game, 28-27, after a jumper in the paint by senior guard Devin Sapp with 6:03 left in the stanza.
The Retrievers trailed just 38-36 after another jumper by Sapp at the 2:57 mark, but the River Hawks rattled off eight straight points to close out the half and took a 46-36 lead at the break.
UMass Lowell took complete control of the game early in the second half as they extended their lead to 58-38 with 14 minutes left in the contest
UMBC was able to close within 73-61 after a layup by Odunowo with 2:58 left but could not get any closer the rest of the way.
Mincey finished with a game-high 26 points and 17 rebounds to lead the visitors, who have won six straight versus the Retrievers. Max Brooks (17 points), Covington (16 points), and Somerville (15 points, 4-5 treys) were also in double-digits.

IT'S BRYCE'S WORLD

Johnson is averaging 21.0 ppg. over his last 11 contests and is 72-of-134 (54 percent) from the floor over the span. In addition, he's knocked down 55-of-67 free throws (82 percent).
He's now 3rd in the league in scoring (17.6 ppg.) and ranks 92nd in the nation.
He joined the 1,000-point club at UAlbany late in the second half.
Johnson has reached 20+ points on nine different occasions, including seven of his last 11 games.
The nine 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.
Johnson ranks 90th in the country with 120 free throw attempts.

MONEY IN THE BANKS
The senior guard joined the 1,000-point club in the second half of the win at UAlbany.
Banks Jr. was named the America East Player of the Week (12/31/24) after his performance in UMBC's OT win at American.
Banks Jr. has already made 5+ treys in six contests this season and is fourth in the country in total makes. His 3.0 threes per game ranks first in the America East and is 30th in the NCAA. His 41 percent clip from behind the arc is 5th in the league and slots 51st in the country.
Overall, the sharpshooter is 9th on the circuit, scoring at 15.0 ppg. He's also one of the top guards in the conference in rebounding (4.4 pg.) and is 24th overall.

ACE IN THE HOLE
SO guard Ace Valentine has reached double-figures in scoring six times since moving back into the starting lineup against Howard (span of 15 games)
He's shooting 54 percent overall (56-for-104) during the stretch.
The point guard scored the go-ahead bucket in UMBC's 2OT win at American on a driving layup.
Valentine is 6th in the league with 3.5 assists per game and is third in assist/turnover ratio (2.1).

BOMBS AWAY
UMBC leads the AE with 8.9 3s made per game this season, which ranks 88th 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 (.388) and are 11th in the nation.
UMBC has reached double-figures in treys 11 different times.
Marcus Banks Jr. (3.0 pg.) and Louie Jordan (2.0 pg.) rank first and 11th respectively in treys per game. Johnson is now 14th (1.7 pg.)
Banks Jr. is 6th (.409) in the league in percentage.

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 2nd the AE in the category at 15.2 pg. and are 82nd in the NCAA.
Ace Valentine is 6th in the league with 3.5 helpers per game and is 3rd in assist/turnover ratio (2.1).

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 155-121 (.562) over the past nine seasons. They are 78-58 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 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

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