UMBC (5-4) at Georgetown (6-1) | Monday, December 2, 6:30 p.m. | Wshington D.C. | Capital One Arena | FSI | Live Stats
SETTING THE STAGE
- The Retrievers completed a seven-game home stand against Morgan State on Wednesday and have been off since then.
- UMBC just finished a stretch of seven games over a span of 17 days in November. All of those games were at home.
- The Retrievers went a combined 26-of-50 from 3-point range in their victories versus Howard and Morgan State last week.
- UMBC is 17th in the country in 3-pt field goal percentage (40.4).
- Senior guard Bryce Johnson is 4th in the America East in scoring (15.9 ppg.).
- The Retrievers have recorded five of the top 12 scoring performances in the America East this season. They are third in the league in scoring (83.1 ppg.).
SERIES HISTORY
- UMBC has never defeated the Hoyas and trail 6-0 in the series..
- The Retrievers dropped a 79-70 decision at Capital One Arena during the 21-22 season.
- The two teams met in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2008 when the Hoyas came away with a 66-47 victory in Raleigh, NC.
LAST TIME OUT: UMBC PULLS AWAY FROM MORGAN STATE WITH BIG SECOND HALF EFFORT
- The host UMBC men’s basketball team cruised to a 92-69 victory against the Morgan State Bears on Wednesday afternoon at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. Senior guard Marcus Banks Jr. led a balanced scoring attack with a team-high 14 points and six rebounds.
- “We came out with a mindset to play as a team today,” UMBC head coach Jim Ferry explained. “We guarded the heck out of them early and were connected defensively. Offensively, 21 assists on 29 makes is how we dream of playing basketball here. That’s two games in a row now that we’ve been able to play our style, and hopefully, we continue to build on that.”
- The Retrievers led 37-26 at intermission and then outscored Morgan State (3-6) by 23-5 margin over the first 5:18 of the second half to put the game away at 60-31.
- Leading 40-28 at the 19:12 mark, Banks Jr. scored eight straight points to spot UMBC with their first 20-point lead. Classmate guard Bryce Johnson (11 points, team-high six assists) then got into the act by connecting on a pair of triples while graduate student forward Louie Jordan also swished a trifecta.
- UMBC led by as many as 32 points, the latest coming with 4:35 remaining after sophomore forward Alpha Chibambe’s conventional three-point play.
- In the opening half, Morgan State took their final lead of the game, 10-8, with just under 14 minutes left. UMBC responded with seven straight points, capped by a trey by junior guard Chaydon Stone from the left wing.
- The Retrievers widened their lead to 23-12 after back-to-back long-range bombs from sophomore guards Ace Valentine and Ashton Reese.
- UMBC took their biggest lead of the first stanza at 34-22 after senior guard Devan Sapp (10 points) converted a pair of free throws with 1:45 left.
- The Retrievers hit 14-of-26 three-point field goals for a 53.8 percent clip while going 29-for-60 (48.3 percent) overall.
- UMBC had 21 assists in the contest, their second-highest total of the season (31 vs. Valley Forge).
- Wynston Tabbs and Amahrie Simpkins each scored 16 points to lead Morgan State.
BOMBS AWAY
- • UMBC leads the AE with 9.8s made per game this season, which ranks 51st in the country.
- • The Retrievers 17 makes against Valley Forge were an America East single-game high.
- • The Retrievers lead the league in 3-pt field goal percentage (.404) and are 17th in the nation.
- • Marcus Banks Jr. (2.9) and Louie Jordan (2.3) rank 2nd and 8th respectively in treys per game.
- Jordan is third in 3-pt percentage (.487) while Banks Jr. is 5th (.473).
SHARING IS CARING
- UMBC dished an America East high 31 assists in the win versus Valley Forge. It was their highest output since they handed out 29 vs. Coppin St. on 11/30/2022.
- It was also the most in the conference since Maine and Bryant recorded 32 during the 2022-23 season.
- The Retrievers lead the league in the league in the category at 16.1 pg.
- Ace Valentine is fourth in the league with 3.8 helpers per game and is 2nd in assist/turnover ratio (2.4)
TAKING A LICKING & KEEP ON TICKING
- Bryce Johnson drew a career-high eight fouls in back-to-back games against Coppin State and Saint Peter’s.
- Johnson leads the squad with 40 fouls drawn thus far in 2024-25.
- Johnson is 25th in the country with 51 free throw attempts.
A PROGRAM ON THE RISE
- UMBC is enjoying their best stretch in program history as the Retrievers have gone a combined 149-112 (.570) over the past nine seasons. 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 23rd season as a collegiate head coach and his third at UMBC.
- 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.
AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL
Rank Team (First-Place Votes) Points
1 Vermont (8) 64
2 UMass Lowell (1) 55
3 Bryant 52
4 Maine 39
5 UMBC 31
6 Binghamton 30
7 UAlbany 26
8 NJIT 15
9 New Hampshire 12
MILESTONE WATCH
900 career points -Marcus Banks, Jr. (843)
800 career points – Marlon Short (771)
800 career points – Bryce Johnson (795)
600 career points, Josh Odunowo, (530)
200 career 3-pointers-Marcus Banks, (166)
450 career rebounds – Marlon Short (402).
300 career field goals – Bryce Johnson (270)
150 career 3pt-fg – Bryce Johnson (127).
UP NEXT
UMBC will travel up the beltway to local rival Towson on Saturday.
