UMBC men’s basketball team beats Vermont, heads to NCAA tournament

The UMBC Retrievers men’s basketball team is going to the NCAA tournament.

The Retrievers earned an automatic bid by knocking off the Vermont Catamounts 74-59 in the America East championship game Saturday at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore County.

This will be the third NCAA appearance in the team’s history.

The victory marked UMBC’s third win over Vermont this season, and it capped a 16-2 run through league play.

UMBC entered the title game riding a 10-game winning streak and outscoring opponents by nine points per game on the season.

DJ Armstrong made seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points, leading top-seeded UMBC over No. 2-seeded Vermont.

The Retrievers (24-8) earned their first NCAA bid since 2018, when they famously became the first 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed, upsetting Virginia 74-54.

Three 3-pointers by Armstrong, with the second one resulting in a four-point play, gave UMBC a 64-56 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Armstrong and Josh Odunowo then combined to go 10-for-10 from the free-throw line to finish off the win.

Armstrong was 9-for-11 from the field and 8-for-9 from the foul line. Ace Valentine scored 13 points and was 7-for-7 at the line. UMBC made 22 of 26 free throws.

TJ Long scored 17 points, and TJ Hurley and Gus Yalden each scored 11 for Vermont (22-12). The Catamounts made only four of 10 free throws.

A 3-pointer by Long gave Vermont a 17-12 lead with 9 1/2 minutes left in the first half, and the Catamounts led 23-22 with five minutes remaining. A three-point play by Armstrong put UMBC out front and opened a run in which he scored all eight of UMBC’s points over the final three minutes of the half. The Retrievers led 30-28 at the break.

Vermont’s last lead was 51-48 with seven minutes left in the second half.

The Retrievers finished 15-2 at home this season and were undefeated at home against America East opponents.

NCAA tournament pairings will be announced Sunday.