Men's Basketball Set to Complete Historic Regular-Season at NJIT on Tuesday Evening

The Retrievers are competing in their 58th season and their 40th season of D1 hoops in Baltimore.
UMBC has a record of 689-958 (.419) all-time.
The Retrievers are 490-685 (.417) at the DI level.
The Retrievers have now won four regular-season championships at the Division I level (3 AE, 2 outright, 1 NEC).
UMBC has now recorded its 6th 20-win season as a DI member and its first since 2018-19. The program-record for wins is 25 in 2017-18.
At 13-2, UMBC is enjoying its best DI start in conference play since the 2007-2008 championship season under Randy Monroe. The Retrievers finished 13-3 that year and captured their only other AE title outright.
A win against NJIT would give the Dawgs its best AE conference mark in program history (14-2) as well as its best DI conference winning percentage ever (.875).
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 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 eight straight contests, tying for the fifth-best streak in the country.
The Dawgs last won nine straight during the 2007-2008 championship season. The squad can equal that mark with a win against NJIT.
The Retrievers own the highest overall winning percentage in the America East (.714) and are 50th in the country.
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 80-76 at UMBC.
Ferry has won at least 18 games in three of his five seasons at UMBC and recorded his first 20-win season as a Retriever in 25-26. It's the 7th of his career.
The Retrievers are 12-2 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 +7.3 scoring margin and are 70th in the country.
UMBC is 36th in the NCAA in scoring defense (67.7 ppg.), which is tops in the AE.
UMBC leads the league with 27.3 defensive rebounds per game (29th NCAA).
The Dawgs are 30th in the country with just 9.7 turnovers per game.
The Retrievers have outscored their 15 America East opponents by a combined total of 242-138 from the free-throw line. (6.9 more makes per game).
The Retrievers are 72nd in the NCAA in free-throw shooting at 75.3 percent.
UMBC is the only team in the league with four of the top-26 scorers in AE-play. (King, Armstrong Jr., Valentine, Diggs).

INDIVIDUAL SUPERLATIVES

Junior guard Jah'Likai King is 7th in the league in scoring at 14.2 ppg. and graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr is 9th (12.7 ppg.).
Armstrong is second in the conference in 3-point shooting accuracy (.396, 53rd in NCAA) and leads the AE in 3's per game (2.6, 104th 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 31-for-33 (.939).
Junior guard Ace Valentine leads the conference with a 3.1 assist/turnover ratio (25th NCAA). He recorded his 250th career assist at Bryant on Jan. 15.
Valentine has reached double-figures in scoring in a career-high eight straight games.
Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo, a career 60 percent foul shooter, has converted 36-of-43 (.837) attempts over the last 10 games. He's 9th in the league from the stripe in AE contests (.792).
Odunowo is 19 points shy of 1,000 and could become the third Retriever to hit the mark this season (Armstrong Jr., King).
Jose Tanchyn Tanchyn has posted double-figure rebound totals in seven of his last 10 contests and is averaging 9.6 rebounds during the stretch.
During UMBC's eight-game win streak, Tanchyn is netting 9.0 points and 10.1 rpg.

LAST TIME OUT - RETRIEVERS WIN AE REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP OUTRIGHT

The UMBC men's basketball program captured its first America East regular-season outright championship since 2008 after knocking off the UMass Lowell River Hawks, 84-60, on Saturday afternoon at the Kennedy Family Athletic Complex. UMBC, which has won eight straight games for the first time since 2007-2008, earned the top seed in the upcoming Army Reserve #AEPlayoffs, which begin next Saturday. The Retrievers will host a quarterfinal contest at 1:00 p.m. against an opponent yet to be determined.
UMBC (20-8, 13-2 AE) is tied for the third-best single-season win improvement in league history after winning just five AE games last season. The squad, which has won nine conference games by double figures, was also predicted to finish seventh in the preseason conference poll.
Junior guard Jah'Likai King drilled 9-of-13 field goal attempts and tied his season-high with 24 points to lead four Retrievers in double-figures. Junior forward Jose Roberto Tanchyn continued his fine play, collecting his second double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Junior guard Ace Valentine (team-high four assists) scored 14 points and has now reached double-figures in a career-high eight straight contests. Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo added 11 points and four rebounds.
The Retrievers, who earned their sixth 20-win season in program history, held a slim 37-33 lead at intermission despite shooting 55.6 percent and leading by as many as 12 points. UMBC, however, scored the first six points of the second half, with the first two buckets produced by King, taking a 43-33 edge with 17:43 left in the contest.
Leading 47-38 with 14:37 left, UMBC scored eight consecutive points to take a 55-38 advantage at the 12:28 mark. Freshman forward Riley Jacobs ignited the run with a sensational transition dunk, King hit four free throws, and graduate guard DJ Armstrong Jr. nailed a jumper to account for the scoring.
The lead continued to swell as the Dawgs took their first 20-point lead, 64-44, with just under nine minutes remaining. The hosts were unable to get any closer than 18 points the rest of the way, with the visitors leading by as many as 26 points down the stretch.
JJ Massaquoi paced the River Hawks (13-17, 8-7 AE) with 17 points.
UMBC shot a blazing 60.3 percent (35-for-58) from the floor, their best clip of the season.
The Retrievers, who won their fourth regular-season conference crown in program history, will round out the regular season with a road contest at NJIT on Tuesday evening.

SERIES HISTORY WITH NJIT

The Retrievers are 8-5 against the Highlanders all-time.
The Dawgs have won four straight in the series.
UMBC is 5-3 against NJIT in Newark.
UMBC defeated the Highlanders on Jan. 22, 87-74, at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Junior guard Ace Valentine paced six Retrievers in double-figures with 19 points to tie his season-high. Valentine went 7-for-10 from the field and added four caroms. Junior guard Jah'Likai King, the third leading scorer in the league, added 17 points, including 10 in the opening half. Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo (five boards) and sophomore forward Caden Diggs (6-of-12 field goals) each had 12 points, while graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr. (2-of-4 treys) and junior forward Daylon Dickerson contributed 10 points apiece.

ABOUT THE HIGHLANDERS

NJIT men's basketball team dropped a 69-52 decision to Bryant on Saturday afternoon, moving the Highlanders to 10-5 in America East play.
Junior Sebastian Robinson led NJIT with 15 points, while sophomore Ari Fulton added 10 points as the only other Highlander in double figures.
NJIT has dropped three straight to fall into third-place in the standings.

INSIDE THE 8-GAME WIN STREAK

The Retrievers have won six of the eight games by double figures.
UMBC owns a 13.8 ppg. margin of victory (75.6-61.8).
UMBC is holding opponents to a combined .394 field goal percentage.
UMBC is shooting .806 from the foul line (129-for-160).
Six Retrievers are averaging at least 9.0 ppg. (Valentine, Armstrong Jr., King, Diggs, Odunowo, Tanchyn) led by Valentine's 13.5 ppg.
Tanchyn is averaging nearly a double-double (9.0 points, 10.1 rebounds).

THANKS FOR THE CHARITY

The Retrievers have outscored their 15 America East opponents by a combined total of 242-138 from the free-throw line. (6.9 more makes per game).
UMBC is shooting a league-best .801 percent in the AE play while its foes are at a league-worst .630 percent.
UMBC is first overall (.753) 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 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.
Armstrong Jr. is 9th in the America East in scoring (12.7 ppg.) and is 1st in 3s per game (2.6) and 2nd in 3-point field goal percentage (.396). He's swished at least two treys in 20-of-28 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 1,317 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 14.2 points per game, ranking 7th in the league. He is also 19th in steals (0.9). Additionally, King is 3rd in free-throw percentage at .819.
King has scored 20 or more points a team-high seven times this season and has been in double-figures in a team-best 21-of-27 games played.
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 (3.1) and is fourth in the AE in assists per game (4.0).
Valentine is averaging a team-high 13.5 ppg. during UMBC's current eight-game winning streak and is shooting 55 percent during the stretch.
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 10 of the last 13 contests and is averaging 13.0 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 15 AE contests and is averaging 10.5 ppg. during the stretch.

TANCHYN GAINING MAJOR STEAM

Junior forward Jose Tanchyn has started 12 of the last 13 games in the frontcourt, and the team is 10-2 in his starts.
Tanchyn is 4th on the circuit with 7.9 rpg in conference play.
He's averaging 24.0 mpg, 8.4 ppg. and 7.9 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 seven of his last 10 contests and is averaging 9.6 rebounds during the stretch.
During UMBC's eight-game win streak, Tanchyn is netting 9.0 points and 10.1 rpg.
He needs seven rebounds to reach 500 in his career.

A PROGRAM ON THE RISE

UMBC is enjoying its best stretch in program history, as the Retrievers have gone 178-158 (.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 80-76 record in Baltimore.
Ferry picked up his 400th career win against at 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.
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.

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