UMBC sophomore point guard Ace Valentine tied a career high in scoring in the Retrievers’ victory at Towson on Dec. 7, and the former Baltimore high school hoops star says he is becoming more and more comfortable in head coach Jim Ferry’s system as his second season in Catonsville progresses.
Ferry runs an up-tempo system predicated on ball and player movement designed to create open shooters and cutters. Sure enough, UMBC is No. 22 in the country in adjusted tempo, according to KenPom, a college hoops analytics site. And the Retrievers believe their ball movement has taken a big step forward since the start of the season.
It all continued in UMBC’s 84-71 win at Towson, which pushed the Retrievers to 6-5 overall. UMBC established the pace of the game early on by jumping out to an early 27-11 lead and ended up assisting on 16 of its 31 field goals on the day.
“That’s our whole identity, playing team ball,” said senior guard Marcus Banks Jr., who scored a game-high 22 points to continue his strong start to the season. “There’s no one-man show. We’ve got to have … all five guys on the court be in tune and connected, so when opportunities present themselves for an open man or a pass, you’ve got to take it. [Like] today, the results show when we play our ball.”
But Valentine was a worthy wingman, scoring 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting and dishing out four assists. It marked his fourth straight start, his fourth game of the season with four or more assists and his second game scoring in double figures. He also played 35 minutes, his most of the campaign.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound point guard starred at nearby Mount Saint Joseph, which plays a different style than UMBC.
“Being basically a year and a half into the system now, I know what Coach Ferry [expects],” Valentine said. “I know our offense, when it works the best, what it’s supposed to look like, what our defense is supposed to look like when I set the tone, like picking up full ball pressure and all that. I had to learn, coming from a way different high school program where we play all slow and stuff like that. Coming here, I just feel like now I know what I’m supposed to do.”
Valentine is averaging 7.7 points and 3.6 assists per game, but UMBC has gotten a peek at what its offense looks like when the point guard is cooking. Valentine had 11 assists in a 92-point effort against Coppin State and seven assists in a 95-point output against Howard.
Ferry expects his point guard to continue to improve, which will help unlock the Retrievers’ offense on a consistent basis.
“He’s a sophomore. That’s his job now. He’s got to keep getting better,” Ferry said. “We discuss it. Ace sometimes does hold the ball. He knows it, too. Sometimes he doesn’t get rid of it quick enough. You guys see what the work in progress is. The games where Ace is getting downhill and he’s getting 11 assists, we’re dynamic. I thought today he was good. He didn’t hold the ball. When it did get held, it wasn’t necessarily his fault.”
UMBC hosts Division III Cairn University on Dec. 10, then hits the road for matchups against Georgia Tech, Marist College and American before America East play gets underway. The Retrievers already look like they’re going to score a lot of points — they’re second in conference in adjusted offensive efficiency — but the rest of nonconference play serves as an opportunity to shore up everything else.
Valentine explained that UMBC’s defensive fundamentals — like rotations, ball pressure and active hands — have to all be on point considering the team’s lack of size. The Retrievers don’t have any player taller than 6-foot-9, meaning there’s no traditional rim protector around to erase mistakes.
“Make passes hard so they can’t get it down low,” Valentine said, “because teams are going to try to bully us since we’re smaller.”
MAY, TEJADA RETURN FOR TIGERS
Towson’s 84-71 loss to UMBC featured the returns of wings Christian May and Tyler Tejada. May had missed the previous two games due to a concussion, while Tejada had missed the last six with a sprained ankle.
The Tigers (4-6) have a full week of practice ahead of their game against Duquesne in the LeBron James Classic in Akron, Ohio, on Dec. 14. That’s probably for the best for a team on a four-game losing streak that needs to find its way ahead of Coastal Athletic Association play.
Tejada played 31 minutes in his return, scoring 18 points on 7 of 19 shooting. May played 30 minutes and scored 4 points on 2 of 7 shooting.
“Tyler was certainly off for a longer period of time, but when you’re missing a few pieces and you kind of have a smaller group and then all the sudden other pieces come back into the mix, trying to integrate everybody and get them all on the same page,” Towson associate head coach Pat O’Connell said. “We had about two full practices, minus a couple guys who got sick throughout the week.”
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