Men's Basketball Returns Home Against Iona for America East/Metro Challenge on Monday Evening

UMBC dropped a 68-42 decision to the Towson Tigers in the Under Armor 410 Invitational Championship game Saturday evening at SECU Arena. The Retrievers fell to 2-3 on the season.
Freshman guard Aidan Able went 3-for-6 from beyond the arc and finished with a team-high nine points. Redshirt senior guard Devin Ceaser (5 boards) added seven points, and sophomore forward Riley Jacobs grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Junior forward JP Ndong came up with a season-high three steals.
The score was deadlocked at 10-10 at the 14:19 mark of the opening half, but the hosts scored nine straight points over the next six minutes to take the lead for good.
The Retrievers trailed 36-19 at halftime and never made a push in the second stanza.
UMBC went just 10-of-54 (18.5 percent) overall from the floor while the Tigers were 25-of-58 (43.1 percent).
Jaquan Womack led Towson (3-2) with 17 points.

DAWG BITES

Redshirt senior guard Devin Ceaser ranks fourth in the America East in scoring at 15.4 ppg. and is fourth in the conference with a .826 free-throw mark.
Freshman guard Aidan Able leads the conference with 3.0 threes per game.
Junior forward Jovan Ristic is sixth on the circuit with 6.8 rebounds per game. His 13 caroms against McDaniel last Monday evening are tied for the third most in the league this season.
Sophomore forward Riley Jacobs is fourth in the league with 1.6 steals per game and is third in the league with 1.6 blocks per game.
UMBC leads the league in 3-point fg's made (8.8 per game) and free-throw percentage (.761).

ALL-TIME vs. IONA

The Retrievers and Gaels have never met.

ABOUT THE GAELS

The Gaels went 18-14 last season in Dan Geriot's first season in New Rochelle.
Iona opened the season with victories against Vermont and NJIT, but have fallen to #13 St. John's, Fordham, and Hofstra.
Iona is coming off a 62-59 setback against Hofstra in overtime on Friday evening.
The Gaels are finishing up a four-game road trip against the Retrievers.
Kevon Vanderhorst is netting a team-best 14.0 ppg. while Kosy Akametu is alsoo in double-digits at 10.2 ppg.
Keyshawn Mitchell averages a team-high 8.8 caroms per game.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH

The Retrievers return just one player, sophomore forward Riley Jacobs, who played meaningful minutes last season. Jacobs made 16 starts and averaged 15.3 minutes per game over his 32 appearances. Redshirt senior guard Devin Ceaser played three games during the early season before being shutdown with a leg injury.
Redshirt senior forward Regimantas Ciunys missed the entire 25-26 season with a leg injury while sophomore guard Evan Morton enrolled at the school prior to the second semester but did not dress.
The Retrievers have 12 newcomers in total.

PRESEASON POLL
2026-27 Preseason Poll
1. Vermont      62 (7)
2. UMBC          46 (1)
3. Binghamton 45 (1)
4. NJIT 38
5. Bryant         36
6. UAlbany      34
7. UMass Lowell 31
8. Maine          19
9. New Hampshire 13

RETRIEVER HISTORY

The Retrievers are competing in their 60th season and their 41st season of D1 hoops in Baltimore.
UMBC has a record of 671-943 (.416) all-time.
The Retrievers are 503-689 (.422) at the DI level (41st season).
UMBC has competed in the East Coast Conference, Big South, NEC, and America East
The Dawgs have won four regular-season championships at the Division I level (3 AE, 2 outright, 1 NEC ) and three AE Tournament titles.
Last season, UMBC recorded its 6th 20-win season as a DI member and its first since 2018-19. The program's win record was set in 2017-18 with 25. The 2007-08 squad also won 24 games.
The Retrievers went 17-3 (.850) in league play as a member of the Northeast Conference in 1998-99 under Tom Sullivan. That squad won a previous DI program-best 11 straight games

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The Dawgs made their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season (2008, 2018, 2026).
The Retrievers dropped an opening round game to Georgetown in Raleigh in 2008 and fell to Howard last season in the NCAA play-in round.

HISTORIC 25-26 SEASON

The Dawgs accomplished their best DI conference winning percentage in program history last season (14-2, .875) and their fewest losses.
UMBC won 12 straight contests prior to falling to Howard in the NCAA play-in game.
UMBC tied for the third-best single-season conference win improvement (+8) in league history after winning just five AE games last season.
Head Coach Jim Ferry recorded his 400th career win at Maine. He is the first coach in program history to reach that mark. He's now 83-76 in five years at UMBC.
Ferry has won at least 18 games in three of his five seasons at UMBC and has recorded his first 20-win season as a Retriever in 25-26. It's the 7th 20-win season of his career.
The Retrievers went 15-2 at home this season and were a perfect 8-0 in America East regular season games at the 'Peake + three more in the AE Tournament. It's the first time the Retrievers have gone undefeated in the league on their home floor. The 15 wins equaled a program record (2007-08).
UMBC is 2nd in the country in fewest fouls allowed per game (13.3).
The Retrievers led the league with a +9.2 scoring margin and are 46th in the country in the category.
UMBC was 28th in the NCAA in scoring defense (67.3 ppg.), which was tops in the AE. In 2024-25, the Dawgs yielded 78.8 ppg.
UMBC paced the league with 27.3 defensive rebounds per game (21st NCAA).
The Dawgs were 24th in the country with just 9.6 turnovers per game.
The Retrievers outscored their 16 America East opponents by a combined total of 255-150 from the free-throw line during the regular season. (5.9 more makes per game).
The Retrievers were 47th in the NCAA in free-throw shooting at 76.2 percent.
UMBC led the America East in the following categories: Points Per Game, Points Per Game Allowed, Scoring Margin, FT Percentage, Field Goal Percentage, 3-Point Field Goal Percentage, and Turnover Margin.

'PEAK CAPACITY

The Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena ('The Peak) drew a capacity record crowd of 4,753 rowdy fans for the America East Championship game versus Vermont this past Saturday morning.
It was UMBC's first championship in the sport of basketball, won on the "Peake floor.

A PROGRAM ON THE RISE

UMBC is enjoying its best stretch in program history, as the Retrievers have gone 182-136 (.571) over the past 10 seasons. They are 95-67 (.584) in AE play.
UMBC enjoyed three straight 20+ win seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19. Their 25 victories in 2017-18 were 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 postseason 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 owns an 86-80 record (.525) in Baltimore. He holds the 2nd-best winning percentage at UMBC behind Ryan Odom (.660)
Ferry is the 7th DI head coach at UMBC.
Ferry picked up his 400th career win against Maine this season.
Ferry led the Retrievers to consecutive 18-14 records as well as an appearance in the America East Finals in 2021-22.
Ferry is the third UMBC Head Coach to take the Retrievers to the NCAA Tournament.
Ferry was recently named the America East Coach of the Year, the third time a UMBC coach has won the award.
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, including 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.