Men's Basketball Closes In On Regular-Season Title; Hosts Bryant on Thursday Evening

The Retrievers are competing in their 58th season as well as their 40th season of D1 hoops in Baltimore.
UMBC has a record of 687-958 (.414) all-time.
The Retrievers are 488-685 (.412) at the DI level.
UMBC is two wins shy of its 6th 20-win season as a DI member. The program-record for wins is 25 in 2017-18.
UMBC is off to their best start in conference play since the 2007-2008 championship season. The Retrievers finished 13-3 that year and captured their lone outright AE title.
UMBC has already clinched a top-four seed in the AE Tournament and will host a quarterfinal game on Saturday, March 7.
UMBC can clinch at least a share of the AE regular-season title with a victory against Bryant.
UMBC can win the regular-season outright (along with the #1 seed) with a win against Bryant and UMass Lowell.
UMBC last won the regular-season crown in 2020-21. The Dawgs, who joined the AE in 2003-2004, shared the title with Vermont.
The Dawgs have won six straight for the first time since 2022-2023. They last won seven straight in 2020-2021. The squad won nine straight during the 2007-2008 championship season.
The Retrievers own the highest overall winning percentage in the America East (.692).
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 78-76 at UMBC.
Ferry clinched his third 18th-win season this past Saturday.
The Retrievers are 11-2 at home this season and have the same mark in games decided by double-figures.
UMBC is 4th in the country in fewest fouls allowed per game (13.6).
The Retrievers lead the league with a +6.5 scoring margin and are 85th in the country.
UMBC is 56th in the NCAA in scoring defense (68.3 ppg.), which is tops in the AE.
UMBC leads the league with 27.0 defensive rebounds per game (32nd NCAA).
The Retrievers have outscored its 13 America East opponents by a combined total of 214-117 from the free throw line. (7.5 more makes per game).
Junior guard Jah'Likai King is 6th in the league in scoring at 14.1 ppg. and graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr is 9th (13.0 ppg.).
Armstrong leads the conference in 3-point shooting accuracy (.409, 38th in NCAA) and 3's per game (2.8, 56th in NCAA). He drilled his 200th career triple at Bryant on Jan. 15. He eclipsed 1,000 career points on Saturday against UAlbany.
Armstrong Jr. made his first 22 free throw attempts in conference play before missing two straight in the 2nd half at Vermont. Those were his only two misses in the conference as he's gone a league-best 30-for-32 (.938).
Junior guard Ace Valentine leads the conference with a 3.0 assist/turnover ratio (29th NCAA). He recorded his 250th career assist at Bryant on Jan. 15.
Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo, a career 60 percent foul shooter, has converted 34-of-39 (.872) attempts over the last nine games. He's 9th in the league in AE contests (.800).
UMBC is the only team in the league with four of the top-25 scorers in AE-play. (King, Armstrong Jr., Valentine, Diggs).

LAST TIME OUT - RETRIEVERS CLINCH TOP-FOUR SEED WITH THRILLING WIN AGAINST UALBANY

UMBC clinched a top four seed in the upcoming America East Conference Tournament after recording a thrilling 66-62 victory against the UAlbany Great Danes on Saturday afternoon at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. The Retrievers' sixth straight triumph, its first since the 2022-23 season, kept them in first place in the standings with three games remaining. UMBC will host a quarterfinal game at the 'Peake on Saturday, March 7.
Junior guard Ace Valentine scored 14 points and handed out a game-high five assists to lead four Retrievers in double-figures in scoring. Junior guard Jah'Likai King (13 points), junior forward Jose Roberto Tanchyn (10 points, five rebounds), and sophomore forward Caden Diggs (10 points, seven rebounds) provided a balanced scoring attack.
The Retrievers (18-8, 11-2) struggled in the opening half but only trailed by four, 32-28 at the break. UMBC connected on just 11-of-32 field goal attempts, including 2-for-11 from behind the arc. Tarique Foster scored all 17 of his points in the opening half as the forward drilled 5-of-6 three-pointers to spark the visitors.
UAlbany (10-18, 6-7 AE) scored the opening bucket of the second half to extend its lead to 34-28 with 19:12 remaining. However, the Retrievers responded with a 16-4 burst over the next 5:42 to take their largest lead of the game, 46-38, at the 13:39 mark. UMBC took its first lead since the 7:06 mark of the opening half after King hit a jumper to make it 38-36 with 15:17 left. Diggs eventually capped the stretch with a transition triple following a turnover.
The Great Danes refused to fade away as they managed to come all the way back to even the contest at 48-48 on a layup by Amir Lindsey with 8:19 left. But Diggs hit a jumper in the lane, Valentine followed with a layup, and graduate forward Josh Odunowo converted two free throws to restore a 54-48 advantage at the 6:29 mark.
Valentine, who has reached double-figures in six straight games, extended UMBC's lead to 64-57 after swishing a long trifecta from the top of the key with 2:43 left. However, Lindsey buried a trey and added two free throws to bring his squad within 64-62 with 1:29 left.
The visitors had an opportunity to even the game, but Valentine came up with a key steal with forty-one ticks left, and UMBC called a timeout. After the break, Valentine misfired on a 3-pointer, but Tanchyn grabbed the offensive rebound, was fouled, and finished a layup with 14 seconds left to spot UMBC a 66-62 lead. After missing the free throw, Tanchyn rejected Lindsey's layup with five seconds left, and UMBC was able to run out the clock.
Lindsey, the leading scorer in the league, finished with 15 points while Okeke added 14 points and eight boards.
UMBC, now 11-2 at home this season, shot 52 percent overall in the second half and made 6-of-9 three-pointers.
Graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr. scored all seven of his points in the second half and eclipsed 1,000 points in his career. UMBC head coach Jim Ferry reached 18 wins at UMBC for the third time in his career.

SERIES HISTORY WITH BRYANT

UMBC trails, 6-2.
Bryant has won five straight contests in the series.
The Retrieves dropped a 79-74 overtime decision at the Chace Athletic Center on January 15.
Graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr. led four Retrievers in double-digits in scoring with 20 points, including 17 in the second half. Armstrong, who buried his 200th career 3-pointer, connected on five treys on the evening and added five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Sophomore forward Caden Diggs sparked the Retrievers with 14 points off the bench, while junior forward Jose Roberto Tanchyn added 13 points in his first start at UMBC. Junior guard Jah'Likai King contributed 12 points, and classmate Ace Valentine handed out a team-high six assists, including the 250th of his career.
Bryant forced overtime on a driving layup by Timofei Rudovskii (22 points) with thirty-two seconds left. UMBC had an opportunity to win the game in regulation, but Armstrong Jr. was called for a traveling violation with a second left.
UMBC struggled in overtime as they connected on just 2-of-6 shots, including 0-for-4 from behind the arc. Diggs hit a jumper in the lane to tie the game at 69-all with 4:01 left, but Bryant went on a 6-1 spurt and never looked back.

ABOUT BRYANT

The Bulldogs have dropped three straight contests and are currently tied with UNH for 7th in the AE standings.
Bryant is second to last in the league in scoring (64.6 ppg.) and are fourth in defense (72.6 ppg.).
The Bulldogs are last on the circuit in three-point shooting (.297).
Freshman Timofei Rudovski is 11th in the league in scoring (12.3 ppg.)
Ashley Simms II is 11th in the conference in rebounding (5.0 pg.).

INSIDE THE 6-GAME WIN STREAK

The Retrievers have won four of the six games by double-figures.
UMBC owns a 12.5 margin of victory (75.2-62.7). Four of the six opponents have scored exactly 62 points.
UMBC is holding opponents to a combined .408 field goal percentage.
UMBC is shooting .808 from the foul line (101-for-125).
King is 20-for-22 (.909) from the foul line and Odunowo is 23-26 (.885).
Five Retrievers are averaging double-figures in scoring (Valentine, Armstrong Jr., King, Diggs, Odunowo).
Tanchyn is averaging 9.2 rebounds per game and is shooting a team-high .541 percent from the floor (20-for-37).

THANKS FOR THE CHARITY

The Retrievers have outscored its 13 America East opponents by a combined total of 214-117 from the free throw line. (7.5 more makes per game).
UMBC is shooting a league-best .801 percent in the AE play while its foes are at a league-worst .622 percent).
UMBC is 2nd overall (.749) from the charity stripe in the AE this season. (97th NCAA).

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.
He also came up clutch by hitting two free thows in a one-and-one situation with 0.9 on the clock in the 75-74 win over UNH (1/10).
DJ also enjoyed a career game at Coppin State with 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting. He drilled a career-best eight treys in 14 tries.
Armstrong Jr. is 9th in the America East in scoring (13.0 ppg.) and is 1st in 3s per game (2.8) and 3-point field goal percentage (.409). He's swished at least two treys in 20-of-26 contests this season.

THE KING OF BALTIMORE

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. He currently has a team-high 1,286 career points.
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 against Georgetown and Bucknell.
Currently, King leads the team in scoring with an average of 14.1 points per game, ranking 6th in the league. He is also 36th in the league in rebounding, averaging 3.6 caroms per game and is 19th in steals (0.9). Additionally, King is 3rd in free throw percentage at .818.
King also recorded his 300th career rebound at Vermont.

ACE IN THE HOLE

Guard Ace Valentine continues to play a key role on both ends of the floor.
Valentine leads the conference and is 25th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (3.0) and is fourth in the AE in assists per game (4.0).
The junior has shot the ball well from behind the arc going 32-for-80 (.400) and is 102-for-204 overall (.500, 6th in the AE).
Valentine dished his 250th career assist in the loss to Bryant on Jan. 15.
Ace has reached double-figures in scoring in eight of the last 10 contests and is averaging 12.5 ppg. during the stretch.

CAN YOU DIG IT?

Sophomore forward Caden Diggs erupted for a career-high 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting in 24 minutes off the bench against Buffalo. Diggs also knocked down a career-best three 3-pointers.
Diggs recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds earlier in the season against Wagner.
Diggs has reached double-figures in scoring in 11 of 13 AE contests and is averaging 11.4 ppg. during the stretch.
Diggs is 9th in the league in field goal percentage in conference play (.505)

TANCHYN GAINING STEAM

Junior forward Jose Tanchyn has started 10 of the last 11 games, his first as a Retriever.
Tanchyn is 4th on the circuit with 7.1 rpg. in conference play.
He's averaging 8.1 ppg. and 7.1 rpg. in conference play.
He recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 boards in the home victory against Binghamton on Feb. 5.
Tanchyn has recorded double-figures in rebounds in five of his last eight contests and is averaging 8.8 rebounds during the stretch.

A PROGRAM ON THR RISE

UMBC is enjoying their best stretch in program history as the Retrievers have gone a combined 176-158 (.527) over the past ten seasons. They are 93-82 (531) 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 owns a 78-76 record in Baltimore.
Ferry picked up his 400th career win against Maine on Thursday evening.
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.

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