the Informer

The University of Maryland Baltimore County men’s basketball team is entering the tournament as the No. 7 seed and will be playing the University of Vermont in the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 6, at 6 p.m.

The regular season did not quite go as well as UMBC had hoped. The Retrievers finished with an overall record of 4-25 and a conference record of 3-13. Winning zero games at home, UMBC had much more success on the road this season.

It took the Retrievers 10 games before winning their first game of the season at American University. This season-opening losing streak included losses to James Madison, George Washington and a blow out at Penn State.

Unfortunately, after their victory at American another losing streak followed. This time, 11 games ended with a loss, including defeats to Virginia Tech and conference foes Boston University, Hartford and Albany. UMBC then won two of its next four games at Maine and at Hartford and then lost the rest until they finished the season at New Hampshire with a victory.

If UMBC is planning to cause some upsets in the tournament they will need huge production from sophomores Chauncey Gilliam and Chris De La Rosa at the guard positions. Other players to keep an eye on are seven-foot junior center Robbie Jackson and freshman guard Shawn Grant. Although a young team, if they can utilize their skills at the guard positions, UMBC could be tough team to match up with come tournament time.

As a team, UMBC needs to focus on putting up points to match their opponents. On the season, their opponents outscored them by 300 points. They were out rebounded, out blocked, out shot from beyond and inside the arc as well as the free throw line. The one thing the Retrievers had going for them was their turnover margin which was +1.1.

Ending the season with an upset victory on the road may be what UMBC needs to do what they have done in each of the past three seasons, make it to the semi final round. Last season UMBC upset No. 3 seed Boston University in the opening round, then upset Albany in the following round, only to lose to Binghamton by 10 in the championship game. UMBC won their first and only championship title in 2008 as the No. 1 seed against Hartford.

This year’s UMBC team will not have the luxury of being the highest seed, but they will have the opportunity to knock off No. 2 seed Vermont in the first round. To defeat the Catamounts, the Retrievers will need smart ball handling and good decisions from guards. Although UMBC has not had nearly as successful a season as Vermont, if they can contain reigning America East Player of the Year Marqus Blakely they might just have a shot at pulling an upset and again going deep into the America East tournament.