UMBC men’s basketball is riding a six-game winning streak and now has the inside track to the No. 1 seed in the America East playoffs, which carries home-court advantage throughout the weeklong tournament.
The Retrievers are 18-8 overall and 11-2 in the conference. Two wins in their final three games — Bryant (Feb. 26), at UMass Lowell (Feb. 28) and at NJIT (March 3) — guarantees them the top seed and home-court advantage. The America East playoffs run from March 7-14, with games taking place on campus sites of the higher seeds.
UMBC’s most recent victories came at home against Vermont and UAlbany, with the Retrievers’ defense taking center stage. UMBC held Vermont to 62 points on 34.9 percent shooting and UAlbany to 62 points while forcing 12 turnovers.
The Retrievers are first in the nine-team America East in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom, a college hoops analytics site. They’re first in the conference in points allowed per game (68.3). They’re third in opponents’ field-goal percentage (.433) and second in opponents’ 3-point percentage (.321). They’re fourth in rebounding margin.
UMBC ranked at or near the bottom in all of those categories last year, but head coach Jim Ferry targeted size and length last offseason when turning over the roster. It worked. Ferry is playing a less frenetic style, and all the pieces fit.
“From the first day these guys all stepped on campus, all we talked about was rebounding and 50-50s,” Ferry said. “[We] didn’t talk about offense. It was rebounding and 50-50s.”
One of the key additions has been junior Jose Roberto Tanchyn, who transferred from Division II Palm Beach Atlantic. The 6-foot-10, 235-pound big man has started each of the past nine games, piling up four double-digit scoring efforts and five double-digit rebounding efforts.
Tanchyn’s overall numbers (6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game) don’t pop, but he is trending in the right direction and does a lot of the dirty work for the Retrievers.
“I think like Coach says, we have to do that every game — be tough, rebound, 50-50 balls. I’m just trying to help the team as much as I can,” Tanchyn said. “But also, it doesn’t show in the stats but … all of our players, they box out their guys so that makes it easier for me to get the rebound, for example. I just feel we are all connected and we are all tough fighting for those 50-50 balls.”
Tanchyn provides a presence inside that UMBC simply didn’t have last year, when the Retrievers had little to no rebounding or rim protection.
“Defensively, he’s just a really smart basketball player, as you guys see positional-wise,” Ferry said. “He’s rebounding the hell out of the basketball for us right now. He’s excellent in ball-screen defense. He’s a fantastic anchor on both sides of the ball. To have that in a center like that, a 6-10 kid, no doubt it’s helped us immensely on both sides of the ball, but certainly the defensive side.”
LUKUSA FILLS IN FOR BROADUS
Morgan State head coach Kevin Broadus was not on the sideline against Delaware State on Feb. 21 due to an illness, meaning associate head coach Chretien Lukusa served as the head coach during the Bears’ 82-68 win.
Broadus and Lukusa have known each other for years. Broadus coached Lukusa at Binghamton from 2007-2009, and the two reconnected when Broadus became the head coach at Morgan State in 2019. Broadus hired Lukusa as an assistant coach and then later promoted him to his current role of associate head coach.
Lukusa said the contest against Delaware State likely marked the first game of Broadus’ head coaching career in which he and Lukusa weren’t shoulder to shoulder in some form or fashion.
“I’ve learned a lot from Coach. Coach is a competitor. He’s fiery. He loves his guys,” Lukusa said. “We always talk about 40-year relationships. We don’t talk about coming in for one year, especially in this transfer-portal environment that we’re in. We wanted to try to build 40-year relationships. He’s one guy that was at my wedding. He’s been at funerals for family members. We want to be in our players’ lives the way he’s been in mine, so I took a lot from that relationship.”
The win pushed Morgan to 11-14 overall and 7-3 in the MEAC.
“It means a lot to us because we love ‘Coach Crush,'” said senior guard Alfred Worrell Jr., who poured in 25 points. “This was really important to us. We took this personally. We weren’t going to let him down. We were confident. It was no drop-off at all. It was a great win, for sure.”
PATRIOT LEAGUE HAS PERKS FOR FURMAN
Four times this season, Army freshman guard and Upper Marlboro native Jackson Furman has played close to home.
The Black Knights won at UMBC in December, fell at Navy in January and most recently split two games in five days at American and Loyola. Furman scored 12 points against both the Eagles and Greyhounds.
By choosing to attend Army, Furman has three chances per year to play in front of friends and family on the Patriot League circuit.
“It’s wonderful. I love it,” said Furman, a graduate of Riverdale Baptist. “It guarantees me the chance to see the people that helped me get here and supported me my whole life to achieve my dreams.”
Furman has started 11 of the Black Knights’ 28 games so far this year. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound guard is averaging 9.6 points per game with shooting percentages of 37.3, 36.4 and 82.2. Furman didn’t hesitate when asked the biggest thing he’s learned while going through the Patriot League grind for the first time, with games typically on Wednesday and Saturday.
“Take care of your body. It’s the most important thing,” he said. “Doing the little things to make sure you’re ready every Wednesday-Saturday.”
Furman started his career with 17-, 15- and 20-point outings, with the latter effort coming at Duke. It’s been up and down since then for Furman, which isn’t surprising to Army head coach Kevin Kuwik, who saw junior guard Ryan Curry go through the same thing as a freshman.
“I’m like, ‘Jackson, it’s going to be up and down. You’re going to get focus in the scouting report,'” Kuwik said. “He’s very talented. He’s done some great things. He’s had some of your typical freshman peaks and valleys. I think he’s maturing. His game is evolving from a high school game to a college game, and that’s what I’m proud of.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of UMBC Athletics