#AEMBB Championship Saturday Morning! Top-Seeded Men's Basketball Hosts No. 2 Vermont at the 'Peake

The Retrievers are competing in their 59th season and their 40th season of D1 hoops in Baltimore.
UMBC has a record of 696-959 (.420) all-time.
The Retrievers are 501-676 (.425) at the DI level (40th season).
The Retrievers have now won four regular-season championships at the Division I level (3 AE, 2 outright, 1 NEC).
The Dawgs are seeking their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament (2008, 2018)
UMBC is hosting a conference tournament championship game for just the second time in its history (2008) vs. Hartford, RAC Arena, W, 82-65).
UMBC has now 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 Dawgs accomplished their best DI conference winning percentage in program history this season (14-2, .875) and its fewest losses.
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.
UMBC last won the AE regular-season crown in 2020-21. The Dawgs, who joined the AE in 2003-2004, shared that title with Vermont.
UMBC has won 11 straight contests, tied for second with Florida for the longest current win streak in the country. High Point (14).
With a win against Vermont, the Dawgs would surpass the all-time program record with their 12th straight win (1998-99).
The Retrievers own the highest overall winning percentage in the America East (.742) and are tied for 40th in the country.
UMBC is 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 82-76 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 are 14-2 at home this season and went a perfect 8-0 in America East games at the 'Peake. It's the first time the Retrievers have gone undefeated in the league on their home floor.
UMBC is 3rd in the country in fewest fouls allowed per game (13.4).
The Retrievers lead the league with a +9.0 scoring margin and are 48th in the country in the category.
UMBC is 30th in the NCAA in scoring defense (67.3 ppg.), which is tops in the AE. Last season, the Dawgs yielded 78.8 ppg.
UMBC leads the league with 27.3 defensive rebounds per game (21st NCAA).
The Dawgs are 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. (5.9 more makes per game).
The Retrievers are 57th in the NCAA in free-throw shooting at 75.9 percent.
UMBC leads 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.

UMBC'S AMERICA EAST TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The Retrievers are 19-20 in America East postseason play since joining the conference in 2003-04.
This is the third time that the Retrievers have entered the event as the No. 1 seed. (2021, 2008)
The Retrievers have now reached the championship game seven times. The Dawgs are 2-4 thus far.
UMBC won the tournament in 2008 (d. Hartford) and 2018 (d. Vermont).
The Dawgs won in 2008 at the UMBC RAC Arena and in Burlington in 2018.
The Retrievers reached the finals in Head Coach Jim Ferry's first season in 2022 but fell at Vermont.

UMBC/VERMONT #AEPLAYOFF HISTORY

FINALS (Vermont leads 3-1)
2025-26, First match up at UMBC
2021-22, #1 Vermont d. No. 2 UMBC, 82-43
2018-19, #1 Vermont d. No. 3 UMBC, 66-49
2017-18, #2 UMBC d. No. 1 Vermont, 65-62
2009-2010, #2 Vermont d. No. 7 UMBC, 76-59

SEMIFINALS (Vermont leads 2-1)
2019-2020, #1 Vermont d. No. 4 UMBC, 81-74
2012-2013, #2 Vermont d. No. 6 UMBC, 85-72
2007-2008, No. 1 UMBC d. No. 4 Vermont, 73-64

QUARTERFINALS (Vermont leads 1-0)
2014-2015, No. 2 Vermont d. No. 7 UMBC, 66-39

FIRST ROUND (Vermont leads 1-0)
2004-2005, No. 1 Vermont d. No. 9 UMBC, 76-61

INDIVIDUAL SUPERLATIVES

Junior guard Jah'Likai King is 7th in the league in scoring at 14.0 ppg. and graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr is 10th (12.7 ppg.).
Armstrong leads the conference in 3-point shooting accuracy (.403, 37th in NCAA) and 3's per game (2.6, 88th in NCAA). He drilled his 200th career triple at Bryant on Jan. 15.
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 went 33-for-35 (.943).
Junior guard Ace Valentine leads the conference with a 3.0 assist/turnover ratio (29th NCAA) and is third in assists per game (4.0).
Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo, a career 60 percent foul shooter, has converted 38-of-47 (.809) attempts over the last 12 games. He's finished 10th in the league from the stripe in AE contests (.764).
Odunowo is five points shy of 1,000 and could become the third Retriever to hit the mark this season (Armstrrong Jr., King).
Jose Tanchyn has posted double-figure rebound totals in seven of his last 12 contests and is averaging 8.5 points and 9.2 boards during the Retrievers current 10-game winning streak.

AMERICA EAST POSTSEASON AWARDS

Three Retrievers earned America East All-Conference Team accolades. Jah'Likai King (First Team), DJ Armstrong Jr (Second Team), Ace Valentine (Second Team). It's the first time the Retrievers have had three honorees since the 2021-22 season.
Caden Diggs was named the 6th Man of the Year. He is just the second Retriever to win the award and the first since Keondre Kennedy in 2020-21.
Jim Ferry was named the Coach of the Year. It's the third time a UMBC coach has won the award and the first since Ryan Odom (2020-21).
Josh Odunowo made the All-Defensive Team
Armstrong Jr. and Valentine both made the All-Academic Team.

LAST TIME OUT - MEN'S HOOPS STEAMROLLS UML; ADVANCE TO AE FINALS

Top-seeded UMBC will host the 2026 Air Force Reserve America East Conference championship after defeating No. 4-seeded UMass Lowell, 91-69, in front of an energized crowd at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena on Tuesday evening. The Retrievers will face No. 2-seeded Vermont at 11:00 a.m. Saturday for an automatic NCAA Tournament berth. UMBC's 11th win in a row tied a program-record that dates back to the 1998-99 season.
Junior guard Jah'Likai King scored a game-high 24 points, drilling 5-of-8 treys, to lead four Retrievers in double-figures. Junior guard Ace Valentine added 15 points and a team-high three steals, while graduate student forward Josh Odunowo (13 points, six rebounds) and sophomore forward Caden Diggs (12 points) were also in double-figures. Junior forward Jose Roberto Tanchyn grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and chipped in with nine points.
UMBC (23-8) hit 54.1 percent (33-of-61) of its field goal attempts, including 9-of-20 (45 percent) from behind the arc. UMBC committed just six miscues and outscored the visitors 22-2 in points from turnovers. The Retrievers' bench also outscored the River Hawks by a 21-1 margin.
UMass Lowell (15-18) led 10-9 early, but UMBC responded with a nine-point run, highlighted by Odunowo's free throws and buckets from Armstrong Jr., King, and Diggs, taking control at the 12:44 mark. Odunowo later reached 1,000 career points in the second half.
After the River Hawks made it 20-16 with 11 minutes left, King hit two free throws, then a three-pointer, and Diggs added another, pushing the score to 28-16 with 8:33 remaining.
UMBC's lead swelled to 17 points, 35-18, after Armstrong Jr. and Tanchyn nailed back-to-back treys with 6:32 left. The Retrievers carried a 43-29 advantage into intermission.
The Retrievers widened the lead to 18 points, 54-36, just 2:44 into the second half when Valentine hit a trifecta.
UMass Lowell twice cut the deficit to 11, most recently at 13:19, but a six-point UMBC run re-extended the lead to 68-51 with 11:09 left.
The River Hawks never cut the deficit below 14 points for the rest of the contest.
Angel Montas Jr. scored 20 points for the visitors, and Austin Green produced a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Saturday's championship will mark the first time UMBC has hosted a championship at the 'Peake. It's the fifth time the Retrievers will battle Vermont for the America East Championship. UMBC last won the AE crown in 2017-2018, defeating Vermont, and went on to beat Virginia in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

SERIES HISTORY WITH VERMONT

The Retrievers are 11-45 against the Catamounts all-time.
UMBC is 2-8 against Vermont during the Jim Ferry era.
Vermont came up with a 64-55 win this season in Burlington on Jan. 29. UMBC trailed 57-55 with 1:39 left but were unable to get over the hump. Diggs scored a team-high 14 points for the Retrievers while TJ Hurley paced Vernont with 18 points.
Junior guard Jah'Likai King scored a season-high 24 points to lift UMBC to a 75-62 victory over the Vermont Catamounts at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena on February 19.
King, who scored 16 points in the opening stanza to spot the hosts a 38-26 halftime advantage, tied his season-high by splashing 5-of-9 3-pointers, four of which came in the opening half. He also went 7-for-8 from the foul line and grabbed five rebounds.
The Dawgs had lost four straight at home and are now 5-19 all-time in Baltimore against the Catamounts.
The Retrievers won a landmark game in Patrick Gymnasium in 2018, defeating the Catamounts 65-62 in 2018 to win the AE Tourney. Just a week later, the Dawgs knocked off #1 overall seed UVA to become the first #16 seed to win in March.
Vermont has won nine of the last 12 overall meetings.

ABOUT THE CATAMOUNTS

For the eighth time in the past 10 seasons, two-seeded Vermont (22-11, 12-4 AE) has advanced to the Air Force Reserve America East Championship game, defeating No. 3 NJIT (16-17, 10-6 AE) 63-54 in the semifinal round on Tuesday night from Patrick Gymnasium. The Catamounts have advanced to the title game for the 11th time in 15 seasons under Cioffi Men's Basketball Head Coach John Becker.
TJ Hurley and Sean Blake each scored a team-high 14 points.
Hurley, Blake, TJ Long, and Lucas Mari all recorded a team-high five rebounds.
Vermont's streak of 25 straight home playoff games end on Saturday at UMBC.
The last road game for Head Coach John Becker was the 2016 AE Title Game.
The Cats went 22-3 with six AE Titles in the 10 years of home playoff games.

INSIDE THE 11-GAME WIN STREAK

The Retrievers have won nine of the 11 games by double figures.
UMBC owns a 17.0 ppg. margin of victory (79.2 - 62.2).
UMBC is holding opponents to a combined .391 field goal percentage.
Opponents are shooting .303 percent (72-for-241) from behind the arc.
UMBC is shooting .806 from the foul line (175-for-217).
The Dawgs are outrebounding opponents by an average of 6.2 rebounds per game.
Six Retrievers are averaging at least 8.5 ppg. (Valentine (14.0), King (13.9), Armstrong Jr. (11.4), Odunowo (10.4), Diggs (9.), and Tanchyn (8.5) is averaging 8.5 points and 9.2 rebounds.
Valentine is netting a team-best 14.0 ppg. and is shooting .551 overall (54-for-98) and .410 (18-for-43) from 3-point land. He also has a team-best 13 steals and 39 helpers.
UMBC is shooting .374 from behind the arc (88-for-235).

WOULDN'T IT BE GRAND

Three Retrievers have reached the 1,000th career point mark during the current season.
Jah'Likai King went over the mark at George Washington on Nov. 19.
DJ Armstrong Jr. reached the plateau at home against UAlbany on Februaryb 21.
Josh Odunowo entered the club this past Tuesday evening against UMass Lowell in the semifinals.

THANKS FOR THE CHARITY

The Retrievers outscored their 16 America East opponents by a combined total of 255-150 from the free-throw line. (5.9 more makes per game).
The Retrievers are 53rd in the NCAA in free-throw shooting at 75.9 percent.
UMBC shot a league-best .799 percent in the AE play while its foes went a league-worst .636 percent.
UMBC is first overall (.753) from the charity stripe in the AE this season. (53rd NCAA).

PLAY THAT HIT AGAIN, MR. DJ

Armstrong Jr. earned Second Team America East honors on Friday. He was also named to the AE All-Academic Team.
He's 10th in the America East in scoring (12.6 ppg.) and is 1st in 3s per game (2.6) and 3-point field goal percentage (.404). He's swished at least two treys in 22-of-31 contests this season.
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 throws 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-high game at Coppin State, scoring 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting. He drilled a career-best eight treys in 14 tries.

THE KING OF BALTIMORE

King was named to the America East All-Conference First Team.
Currently, King leads the team in scoring with an average of 14.3 points per game, ranking 7th in the league. He is also 19th in steals (0.9). Additionally, King is 4th in free-throw percentage at .828.
King has scored 20 or more points a team-high eight times this season and has been in double-figures in a team-best 24-of-30 games played.
King went over the 1,000-pt 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 1,364 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.
King also recorded his 300th career rebound at Vermont.
UMBC is 8-2 when King records UMBC's first bucket of the game.

ACE IN THE HOLE

Guard Ace Valentine continues to play a key role on both ends of the floor and earned his first America East All-Conference selection last Friday. He also earned All-Academic Team honors.
Valentine, a Second Team pick, leads the conference and is 32nd 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 14.0 ppg. during UMBC's current 11-game winning streak and is shooting .551 percent during the stretch. He's reach double-figures in scoring in 10 of the 11 games.
The junior is fourth in the league overall in field goal percentage (.514) and also ranked sixth in conference games (.522).
Valentine surpassed 300 career assists in the AE quarterfinal win against UNH.
Ace, who now has 810 points in his career, had reached double-figures in scoring in a career-best eight straight games until being held to eight points in the regular-season finale at NJIT.
The Retrievers are 7-0 when Valentine records UMBC's first bucket of the game.

CAN YOU DIG IT?

Sophomore forward Caden Diggs was named the America East Sixth Man of the Year.
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 reached double figures in scoring in 11 of 16 AE contests and averaged 10.4 ppg. during the stretch.

TANCHYN GAINING MAJOR STEAM

Junior forward Jose Tanchyn has started 14 of the last 15 games in the frontcourt, and the team is 13-2 in his starts.
Tanchyn finished 4th on the circuit with 7.8 rpg in conference play.
He averaged 23.5 mpg, 8.5 ppg. and 7.8 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 and added another one at UMass Lowell (12 pts, 13 reb).
Tanchyn has posted double-figures in rebounds in eight of his last 13 contests.
He's averaging 8.5 points and 9.4 rebounds during UMBC's 11-game winning streak.
Tanchyn recorded his 500th career rebound in the AE quarterfinal win against UNH.

A PROGRAM ON THE RISE

UMBC is enjoying its best stretch in program history, as the Retrievers have gone 179-158 (.528) over the past 10 seasons. They are 95-82 (.534) 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 82-76 record (.517) 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 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.

MILESTONE WATCH

1400 career points, Jah'Likai King (1,364)
250 career assists, Jah'Likai King (225)
350 career rebounds, Jah'Likai King (327)
100 career steals, Jah'Likai King (94)
1,000 career points, Josh Odunowo (1008)
550 career rebounds, Josh Odunowo (551)
100 career blocks, Josh Odunowo (81)
850 career points, Ace Valentine (810)
350 career assists, Ace Valentine (305)
1100 career points, DJ Armstrong Jr. (1056)
250 career 3-pointers, DJ Armstrong Jr. (234)
550 rebounds, Jose Tanchyn (515)

2025-26 AE PRESEASON POLL
1. Vermont                  63 (7)
T2. Maine                    47 (1)
T2. UAlbany                47
4. UMass Lowell         39 (1)
5. Binghamton            37
6. Bryant                     35
7. UMBC                     31
8. NJIT                        13
9. New Hampshire     12

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