UMBC Retrievers Men’s Basketball falls in season opener vs. SMU 78-67
The UMBC Retrievers kicked off their season last night with a 67-78 loss to the SMU Mustangs.
With George W. Bush in attendance, the Retrievers put up a surprising and impressive fight against a Mustangs team ranked 16th in the NCAA’s Men’s basketball RPI.
One of my colleagues and fellow MSB writer Sam Smith expected a complete blowout. In an article previewing the game, he wrote: “If UMBC loses by less than 20 points, they will have gone above and beyond what I expect of them.”
I myself didn’t expect a close game so I tried to stay quiet. Although the Mustangs did come out with the win, it was nowhere near Sam’s expected blowout.
The Retrievers started off the game slow looking confused on defense and lacking chemistry on offense. They started off in a 9-0 slump but were able to regroup and overcome it after a Jairus Lyles three-pointer.
Throughout the game, 10 players saw action for UMBC but the Retrievers big 3 combined for 59 of the team’s 67 points.
Lyles played 36 of 40 minutes last night and was the leading scorer and assister for UMBC totaling 24 points on 8/21 shooting along with 5 assists on the night. All rookie guard Arkel Lamar had a more efficient night recording a double-double, going 10/19 for 23 points and 12 rebounds. Lastly, senior Jourdan Grant totaled 12 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds.
While forwards Max Curran and Max Portman saw 17 minutes each but only combined for 3/10 shooting for 6 points.
What lost them this game is what can possibly plague their season: their lack of depth.
Lyles, Lamar, and Grant accounted for 89% of the team’s points and the fact that the three saw an average playing time of 36 minutes last night puts, even more, pressure on the three. And pressure, as we saw last night, can often lead to turnovers as the three combined for 8 turnovers on the night. The only three that kept them in the game were drained of their energy towards the end of the 2nd period as they failed to hold on to a 10 point lead.
The Retrievers continue their 2 game quest out west tomorrow against the 3rd ranked Arizona Wildcats.
If the Retrievers have any chance of staying in this game Lyles, Lamar and Grant are gonna need a lot more from the rest of the team on both sides of the ball.
Prediction: Arizona 90-58 UMBC
