America East Basketball: Vermont and Stony Brook battling for league supremacy

UMBC Retrievers

Can the Retrievers make another surprising postseason run? Last year, UMBC finished second in the conference with a 12-4 record, which was three games worse than the Catamounts. But they shocked Vermont on a last-second three-pointer by Jairus Myles to upset Vermont in the conference tournament final.

Then UMBC became the first ever No. 16 seed to win an NCAA Tournament game as the Retrievers ran over top-seeded Virginia. It was their first Tournament win and just the program’s second Tournament appearance ever.

UMBC is 63-35 over the last three years. Before this run, the Retrievers last winning season was in 2007-08.

UMBC has won seven of its past eight games. The Retrievers are 3-2 against Vermont, Stony Brook and Hartford — three of the top four teams in the AE. Their conference losses include two setbacks to Hartford along with one to each Albany and UMass-Lowell.

Sherburne, who tops the team in both scoring and rebounding, leads a well balanced eight-man rotation that features four players who average at least nine points and around four boards a game. K.J.Jackson, Arkel Lamar and Brandon Horvath are the others.

The Retrievers are not efficient offensively as they don’t shoot the ball particularly well, although they have shot better during conference play. They do like hoisting up three-pointers, ranking 65th in the nation in attempts and 93rd in makes. UMBC ranks in the bottom half of the country in turnovers.

In what has turned into a theme for the league, UMBC is not surprising excellent on the defensive end. The Retrievers may be the AEC’s best as they currently are 20th in defensive rating. They are also in the top-20 in scoring defense (63.5) as they are holding conference opponents to 61.5 a game.

A major reason that the Retrievers are tough defensively is a result of how active they are on that end. UMBC does a very good job at contesting shots, getting into the passing lanes and harassing ball-handlers. The Retrievers rank in the top-100 nationally in field goal percentage defense, 3-point percentage defense, defensive rebounds, and steals.

While it looks like UMBC will record its third straight 20-win campaign, the Retrievers will have to win the conference tournament to have any hope of making it to the NCAA Tournament again.