Men's Basketball Set for Home Opener Against McDaniel on Monday Evening

In a hard-fought showdown at McCann Arena, sophomore forward Riley Jacobs erupted for a career-high 23 points, while redshirt senior guard Devin Ceaser added his first career "double-double" (21 points, 10 rebounds). Despite their heroics, the UMBC men's basketball team battled valiantly but ultimately fell to the Marist Red Foxes, 88-80, on Thursday night in the America East/Metro Challenge.
After taking a 17-9 lead in the opening half, UMBC (0-2) trailed 38-33 at halftime but burst out of the locker room with energy, launching an 8-3 run, fueled by junior forward Jovan Ristic's five quick points, to tie the game at 41-41 with 17:02 left.
The Retrievers clawed back to within 50-49 after a layup from junior forward JP Ndong at the 12:30 mark, but Marist responded with a momentum-shifting 8-0 run to push their lead to nine with 10:56 left.
UMBC still trailed by nine with 8:44 to play, but the Retrievers refused to fold. Sophomore guard Carlos Varela ignited the comeback with a conventional three-point play, and junior guard Flash Burton (13 points, 4 steals) added a pair of clutch free throws, slicing the deficit to 62-58 with 7:52 left.
But Marist seized back the momentum, stringing together five points to restore a 67-58 edge with 6:11 left. Trailing 69-61, the Retrievers were dealt a double blow: a foul on Brady MacAdams' three-point attempt, followed by two straight technicals on head coach Jim Ferry. MacAdams capitalized, going 6-for-7 from the line to balloon Marist's lead to 75-61 with 5:12 to play.
The Retrievers showed remarkable grit and refused to go quietly. Down 77-61 with just 4:33 left, UMBC roared back, unleashing a 12-1 run capped by a driving layup from Ceaser to cut the deficit to 78-73 with 1:30 remaining.
After falling behind by eight with under a minute to go, freshman guard Aidan Able (10 points) buried a clutch three-pointer to pull UMBC within five at 81-76. The Dawgs kept coming, closing to 82-78 after two free throws from Ceaser with just 23 seconds left, but their furious rally came up just short.
Guard Dwayne Chess led four Marist (1-1) players in double digits with 20 points.

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 early in the season before being shut down 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.

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. UML    31
8. Maine          19
9. UNH.    13

RETRIEVER HISTORY

The Retrievers are competing in their 60th season and their 40th season of D1 hoops in Baltimore.
UMBC has a record of 697-961 (.420) all-time.
The Retrievers are 502-678 (.425) at the DI level (40th 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 SEASON

The Dawgs accomplished their best DI conference winning percentage in program history this season (14-2, .875) and their fewest losses.
UMBC won 12 straight contests prior too 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 equals 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. Last season, 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 last season.
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 181-136 (.571) over the past 10 seasons. They are 94-67 (.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 27th season as a collegiate head coach and his sixth at UMBC.
Ferry owns an 84-79 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.