Men's Basketball 2/27/2026 1:40:00 PM

Men's Hoops Travels to UMass Lowell on Saturday; Retrievers Can Clinch Regular Season Championship Outright

The Retrievers are competing in their 58th season as well as their 40th season of D1 hoops in Baltimore.
UMBC has a record of 688-958 (.418) all-time.
The Retrievers are 489-685 (.416) at the DI level.
UMBC is one win shy of its sixth 20-win season as a DI member and first since 2018-19. 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.
The Retrievers have already clinched a top four seed in the AE Tournament and will host a quarterfinal game on Saturday, March 7.
UMBC clinched at least a share of the AE regular-season title with their victory against Bryant.
UMBC can win the regular season outright (along with the #1 seed) with a win against UMass Lowell or NJIT.
The Retrievers have now won four regular-season championships at the Division I level. (3 AE, 1 NEC)
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 seven straight for the first time since 2020-2021 when they won eight in a row. The squad won nine straight during the 2007-2008 championship season.
The Retrievers own the highest overall winning percentage in the America East (.704).
UMBC is tied for the third-best single-season win improvement 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 79-76 at UMBC.
Ferry clinched his third 18-win season at UMBC.
The Retrievers are 12-2 at home this season and went a perfect 8-0 in conference games at the Peake.
UMBC is 4th in the country in fewest fouls allowed per game (13.6).
The Retrievers lead the league with a +6.7 scoring margin and are 85th in the country.
UMBC is 56th in the NCAA in scoring defense (68.0 ppg.), which is tops in the AE.
UMBC leads the league with 27.1 defensive rebounds per game (32nd NCAA).
The Retrievers have outscored its 13 America East opponents by a combined total of 231-131 from the free throw line. (7.1 more makes per game).
UMBC is the only team in the league with four of the top 25 scorers in AE-play. (King, Armstrong Jr., Valentine, Diggs).
Junior guard Jah'Likai King is 7th in the league in scoring at 13.8 ppg. and graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr is 9th (12.9 ppg.).
Armstrong is second in the conference in 3-point shooting accuracy (.398, 38th in NCAA) and lead the AE in 3's per game (2.7, 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 30-for-32 (.938).
Junior guard Ace Valentine leads the conference with a 2.9 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 39-of-45 (.867) attempts over the last 10 games. He's 8th in the league in AE contests (.804). Odunowo is 30 points shy of 1,000 and could become the third Retriever to hit the mark this season (Armstrong Jr., King).

LAST TIME OUT - RETRIEVERS CLINCH SHARE OF AE REGULAR-SEASON TITLE

UMBC captured at least a share of its third America East Conference regular-season championship after defeating the Bryant Bulldogs, 70-58, on Thursday evening at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. The Retrievers can clinch the conference championship outright, along with the top overall seed in the Army Reserve #AEPlayoffs, with one more victory against either UMass-Lowell or NJIT. UMBC will host a league quarterfinal game on Saturday, March. 7.
The Retrievers, who have won seven straight, finished a perfect 8-0 at home in conference play and improved to 12-2 at the 'Peake overall.
Fifth-year head Coach Jim Ferry has now won regular-season conference titles at four different stops, including Plymouth State, Adelphi, LIU Brooklyn, and UMBC.
Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo and junior guard Ace Valentine paced UMBC with 15 points apiece. Odunowo went 5-for-5 from the floor and added six rebounds, while Valentine connected on 6-of-10 attempts and added four assists and four caroms. Graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr. added 10 points while junior forward Jose Roberto Tanchyn chipped in with nine points, a game-high 13 rebounds (tied season-high for third time), along with a season-best three blocks.
The Retrievers (19-8, 12-2 AE) led 36-30 at intermission as they shot an even fifty percent in the opening half and held the Bulldogs to just a 34.6 percent clip.
Bryant took their first lead of the night at 39-38 with 17:14 left in the contest after Aaron Davis knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing to cap a 9-2 spurt. The score was deadlocked at 43-43 with 14:10 left, but the Retrievers scored eight straight points over the next 2:25 to take the lead for good at 51-43. Valentine splashed a triple from the top of the key, and senior guard Cougar Downing followed with another long-range bomb to ignite the run. Armstrong Jr. capped the key burst with a driving layup.
The hosts took their first double-digit lead when Valentine finished a layup to make it 55-45 with 10:07 remaining. Bryant answered with five straight to slice the lead in half with 8:07 left, but Downing buried another trifecta, and the Dawgs received back-to-back layups from Valentine and Odunowo to give the Retrievers their largest lead at 62-50 with 5:43 remaining.
The Bulldogs (8-20, 4-10) managed to close within 62-55 with 4:24 left on a three-pointer by Keegan Harvey. Tanchyn, and Valentine answered with layups, and the Retrievers held the visitors without a point for over three minutes to put the game away.
UMBC held a 40-23 advantage on the boards and outscored the Bulldogs by a 34-16 margin in the paint.

SERIES HISTORY WITH UML

The Retrievers are 9-18 against the River Hawks all-time.
The series dates back to 1/5/2014.
The Dawgs had dropped five straight in the series before winning in Baltimore on Jan. 24, 79-56
UML has won nine of the last 11 contests.
UMBC is 4-9 against the River Hawks in Lowell.

ABOUT THE RIVER HAWKS

The Senior Austin Green paced his team with 16 points and 14 rebounds, as UML fell in the final seconds to the Vermont Catamounts, 66-64, on Thursday night.
Green, who added three assists and a block, was one of four River Hawks to finish with double-digit points. Right behind him, junior Angel Montas Jr. added 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while junior Xavier Spencer chipped in 15 points and six rebounds. Rounding things out, junior Darrel Yepdo finished with 11 points and three rebounds
Rebounding has been a key stat for the River Hawks this year, as the team is 12-6 when outrebounding the opposition and just 1-10 when rebounding less than. UMass Lowell currently leads the America East with a +5.0 rebounding margin.
The River Hawks also lead the circuit in scoring (75.7 ppg.) but are last in defense (76.2 ppg.).
Montas is fourth in the league in scoring at 14.7 ppg. and has averaged a league-best 19.8 ppg. in league play.

INSIDE THE 7-GAME WIN STREAK

The Retrievers have won five of the seven games by double-figures.
UMBC owns a 12.4 ppg. margin of victory (74.4-62.0).
UMBC is holding opponents to a combined .401 field goal percentage.
UMBC is shooting .819 from the foul line (118-for-144).
King is 20-for-22 (.909) from the foul line and Odunowo is 28-32 (.875).
Five Retrievers are averaging double-figures in scoring (Valentine, Armstrong Jr., King, Diggs, Odunowo) led by Valentine's 13.4 ppg.
Tanchyn is averaging 9.7 rebounds per game.

THANKS FOR THE CHARITY

The Retrievers have outscored its 13 America East opponents by a combined total of 231-131 from the free throw line (7.1) more makes per game).
UMBC is shooting a league-best .808 percent in the AE play while its foes are at a league-worst .630 percent).
UMBC is first overall (.755) 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 (12.9 ppg.) and is 1st in 3s per game (2.8) and 2nd in 3-point field goal percentage (.398). He's swished at least two treys in 20-of-27 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 1,293 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 13.8 points per game, ranking 7th in the league. He is also 20th in steals (0.9). Additionally, King is 4th 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 (2.9) and is fourth in the AE in assists per game (4.0).
Valentine is averaging a team-high 13.4 ppg. during UMBC's current seven-game winning streak.
The junior has shot the ball well from behind the arc going 33-for-83 (.398) and is 108-for-214 overall (.505, 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 nine of the last 11 contests and is averaging 12.8 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 14 AE contests and is averaging 11.0 ppg. during the stretch.
Diggs is 10th in the league in field goal percentage in conference play (.487)

TANCHYN GAINING MAJOR STEAM

Junior forward Jose Tanchyn has started 11 of the last 13 games in the frontcourt.
Tanchyn is 4th on the circuit with 7.5 rpg. in conference play.
He's averaging 23.8 mpg, 8.2 ppg. and 7.5 rpg. in AE contests.
Tanchyn averaged 4.2 ppg. and 2.7 rpg. in just 12.1 mpg. during the non-conference season.
He recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 boards in the home victory against Binghamton on Feb. 5.
Tanchyn has posted double-figures in rebounds in six of his last nine contests and is averaging 9.2 rebounds during the stretch.
He needs 20 rebounds to reach 500 in his career.

A PROGRAM ON THR RISE

UMBC is enjoying their best stretch in program history as the Retrievers have gone a combined 177-158 (.528) over the past ten seasons. They are 94-82 (534) 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 79-76 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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