College Basketball Preview: UMBC (12-9, 4-2) at New Hampshire (3-15, 1-4)
UMBC men’s basketball will continue their two-game road trip on Saturday afternoon when they take on the New Hampshire Wildcats (3-15, 1-4) in Durham, N.H. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
The Retrievers (12-9, 4-2) are coming off a big win on the road Wednesday evening against the America East conference-leading Catamounts of Vermont (15-5, 5-1), 74-61. In that game, graduate student forward Joe Sherburne led the team with 20 points while freshman guard Joe Placer contributed 14 points and six assists.
UMBC’s calling card this year has been their defense, which played a key role in their victory over Vermont. They held the Catamounts scoreless for the first 7:45 of the second half to take control of the game. Vermont’s 61 points was 15 points below their average this season.
The win was only the sixth all-time against Vermont in 38 contests, but was the second consecutive win in the series, both at Burlington. UMBC is currently on the three-game winning streak.
Sherburne leads the Retrievers in scoring at just over 14 points per game. Junior guard K.J. Jackson checks in with an average of 11 points per contest.
New Hampshire, losers of three in a row, is coming off a poor shooting night is a 74-39 defeat at the hands of Hartford on Wednesday evening.
The Wildcats are led by a pair of guards. Senior Jordan Reed and sophomore Josh Hopkins lead the team with just over 10 points per game.
The Retrievers swept the two regular season meetings last year between the squads. Prior to last season, New Hampshire had won 8 of the previous 10 meetings in the all-time series.
